Robert Balser began his career in 1955 as a layout artist at Norman Wright Productions. A year later he was Layout Production Supervisor on the title sequence of Michael Todd’s Around the World in Eighty Days.
In 1958, Bob was the Title Designer for The Brain Eaters. Bob was the Animated Director on The Yellow Submarine, a 1968 animated featured based on The Beatles. From 1971-1973 Bob was Supervising Director on Rankin-Bass’s Jackson Five series. The next season he opened Pegbar Productions in Barcelona, Spain, and continued his Jackson Five work. Over the next two decades he did nearly a dozen other series for European TV, in addition to contract work for US television.
In 1974, he directed Little Boa Peep, By Hoot or by Crook, Big Beef at the OK Corral and The Badge and the Beautiful. In 1989, he directed the TV series The Pink Panther and Friends, and in 1994 he directed the series Les Tres Bessones (The Triplets).
Below is original Jack Davis art from The Jackson Five series, shared by Robert Balser from his collection.
2 Comments
Love the drawings of Diana Ross.
I love this article. The Jackson 5 cartoon was a great series. It’s great to read about the talented people who worked on the show behind the scenes!