My coverage of this business goes back to the dinosaurs—actually the late 1970s when Chevron’s animated dinosaurs were all the rage in commercials. The lauded creations came out of Kurtz & Friends, then in Hollywood, now in Burbank, with Bob Kurtz in the director’s chair and Robert Peluce the lead designer.
Peluce passed away on April 12 from lung cancer. He was 66. Well known throughout the industry, Peluce may nonetheless be a new name to younger generation ad artisans. Kurtz put his colleague’s contributions into perspective.
"Robert was very influential in terms of affecting animation design. He directed, designed and was the main designer here," related Kurtz. "He got copied a lot. We’d say, ‘they’re copying Robert again—and they’re doing bad Roberts.’ "
Kurtz recalled the genesis of the Chevron fare. "Both of us wanted to do metamorphic animation and couldn’t get a client to buy off on it until Chevron, first at BBDO San Francisco and then at J. Walter Thompson, San Francisco."
The result: a whopping 50 commercials in the popular dinosaur series spanning the late ’70s and early ’80s—a high profile endeavor that brought Kurtz and Peluce to top-of-mind status among numerous agency creatives. Over the years, Peluce went on to do assorted amazing commercials spanning marching chickens for Burger King, some recent Smokey the Bear work (including "Smokey N’ Da Boyz," an inspired parody of pop idols NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys) and offbeat humor for the Louisiana Lottery.
Peluce also made his mark in other disciplines, designing the animated DNA sequence for Jurassic Park and serving as the primary designer—working with director Kurtz on story—for Edith Ann’s Christmas Special, starring Lily Tomlin. The latter went on to win a Peabody Award.
Kurtz noted that Peluce was difficult to copy not only because he was an original artist but also because he had so many styles, which sprang out of the content and the needs of the project at hand.
Peluce’s originality is what first attracted Kurtz back when the former was a student in a class taught by the latter at Southern California’s Chouinard Art Institute. "I remember Robert being a unique talent—and also a young guy who came in and challenged me," related Kurtz. "He was the best student I ever had during all the years I taught off and on."
However, no one was willing at that time to take a chance on a young talented student. Kurtz tried to open up some industry doors for Peluce, but ultimately Kurtz decided he should be the one to extend an opportunity via Kurtz & Friends. Peluce began working at the studio and soon made his mark. The shop’s modus operandi was to have designers compete for assignments—Kurtz, an outside designer and Peluce vied for Chevron. "The client loved Robert’s drawings," said Kurtz.
When Peluce joined Kurtz & Friends, he had never done animation before. "From there, he went on for almost thirty years to being a major driving force in animation," affirmed Kurtz.
Peluce, though, didn’t rest on his animation laurels. In recent years, he became a noted painter whose creations combined wit, whimsy, the fantastic and the allegorical. His work was the centerpiece of many exhibitions at varied venues, including the Glass Garage Fine Art Gallery in West Hollywood.
Peluce is survived by his wife Gyorgyi, his sons Tony and Vincent, his daughter Poppy, and his brother Floyd. The family requests that donations be made in Robert Peluce’s memory to the American Lung Association of Los Angeles County, 5858 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 300, Los Angeles, CA 90036; (323) 935-5864.
