Paul Driessen
(born in 1940,Nijmegen,Holland) drew cartoons from an early age.
In 1964 he graduated from the Art Academy in Utrecht and started his animation career at an animation film & TV studio in Hilversum.

In 1967 he was invited to London, UK, to work on George Dunning’s THE YELLOW SUBMARINE.

In 1970 Paul Driessen emigrated to Canada and began freelancing, animating his personal short films for the National Film Board of Canada.

Since 1976 he also animated and directed many of his films for independent producers in Holland.

In the late eighties Paul Driessen began teaching at the Gesamthochschule Kassel in Germany. Under his guidance his students have won two Oscars.
Besides making animated films,  Paul Driessen wrote and illustrated children’s books, typical of the style which characterizes the rest of his work; most of them were published in English and French by Les Editions 400 coups in Montreal.
Up to now Paul Driessen has won over 70 international awards for his films.

His film 3MISSES earned him an Oscar nomination in 2000.
In 1987 ASIFA Hollywood presented the ANNIE AWARD to him for “his distinguished contribution to the art of animation”.

In 1994, at the Ottawa Animation Festival, the International Association of Animated Films gave Paul Driessen the ASIFA-International “Life Achievement Award”.

In 2002, the Zagreb International Animation Festival gave him another “Life Achievement Award”.

In October 2005,  in Kracow, Poland, he was given the “Special Golden Dinosaur Award for an outstanding artist and teacher”.

all images © Paul Driessen / Nico Crama Films / Netherlands Institute for Animation Film

www.pdriessen.com

cartoon@pdriessen.com