Graham Anderson

Games Michael Anderson (October 9, 1909-September 28, 2004), referred to as Games Anderson, was a Canadian-American filmmaker, producer, animator, and was the owner of Games Animation, Inc. and Krusty Krab Productions. He was known for producing The Grand Showtime, The Chalkboard, Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat, Rocko's Modern Movie, CatDog's Big Movie, and more.

Anderson taught at the California State University in Los Angeles, up until his death in September 2004. He died on September 28 at the age of 94 due to a heart attack.

Early life
Anderson was born on October 9, 1909 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to parents Joseph Christopher Anderson (1871-1945) and Jessica McGill-Anderson (1883-1957). He and his family moved to San Jose, California in January 1915 and resided there. Games was interested in film-making in 1948 at the age of 39, and applied to California State University in Los Angeles, and got a Master's degree in film production. From 1949 until 2003, he was an accomplished filmmaker, producer, director, animator, and was a teacher at California State University for over 20 years during his film-making period.

In 1949, he departed from his house on his own, and moved to Los Angeles, California, particularly Hollywood Boulevard, to produce with 20th Century Studios from 1959-1994, and Paramount Pictures from 1994-2004.

Film career
Games Anderson became a filmmaker in 1949. He produced and co-wrote films for big studios, including 20th Century Studios in 1959, until 1994 when he left to work with Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies.

1959-1994; 20th Century Studios
Games Anderson went to 20th Century Studios, at the time known as 20th Century Fox, in 1959 to produce drama films. In 1970, Anderson starred as himself in a documentary film "Games M. Anderson: From Nothing to Millions", which was released on November 30, 1970.

Anderson left 20th Century Studios in 1994, to work with its competitor, Paramount Pictures, as well as Nickelodeon Movies.

Games Animation Studios/Games Animation, Inc. and Krusty Krab Productions
On August 1, 1985, Anderson founded the company Games Animation, Inc. as "Games Animation Studios", being owned by 20th Century Fox. Its first film, being The Grand Showtime, was its debut film. He later sold its units to Viacom, Inc. after Fox disbanded any further projects. It was later rebranded as "Games Animation, Inc." on October 23, 1994, after the acquisition from Viacom was completed. He operated the company from 1985, up until his death on December 14, 2003.

Anderson later founded Krusty Krab Productions as "Mr. Krabs Industries" on February 14, 2000. It was originally owned by Viacom, Inc. until 2001, when it was sold to NBCUniversal. It was rebranded to "Universal Studios Animation Canada" from 2001, until 2003, when Viacom, Inc. re-acquired the company, and rebranded it to "Krusty Krab Entertainment". He operated the company from its founding, up until his death on December 14, 2003.

Games Animation Kids
Anderson founded GAI's children's division, Games Animation Kids, on January 2, 2002. The division is currently operated under Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. label and Corus Entertainment, Inc.'s Treehouse TV and Nelvana Enterprises subsidiaries, and is owned by Paramount Global/Nickelodeon Movies (51.5%) and Corus Entertainment, Inc. (48.5%).

Personal life
Throughout Anderson's life, overall, he was healthy for his age.

Games Anderson was diagnosed with SARS-CoV (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus) on December 21, 2002, at the time of the 2002-2004 SARS outbreak. Anderson would not let the virus get the better of him, and continued his career of film-making. However, the sickness would continue to worsen over the following months. Thankfully, he recovered from the virus, and continued in film-making, until June 18 the next year.

On June 18, 2003, Anderson was rushed to hospital after contracting pneumonia and was hooked up on life support. Doctors monitored Anderson's health closely during his time at the hospital, and was released a few months after, on October 28, 2003, after being provided a cure. He would continue to direct upcoming films that he had been in production for.

From November 2003 until August 2004, Anderson had produced and released several feature films, including A Blue Christmas: A Blue's Clues Movie, which in turn would become his most successful film, grossing over $672.1 million worldwide. However, it was only a matter of time before his film career would come to an end.

Death
On September 26, 2004, at 11:38 PM, Games Anderson was rushed to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after suffering a massive heart attack. He was immediately hooked up on life support and doctors monitored his health closely. Unfortunately, the conditions were already worsening, and doctors had to make the difficult decision to remove him from life support, and Games Anderson died on September 28, 2004 at 12:52 AM. He was 94 years old.

Public reaction
Once word of Games Anderson's death got out from the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the public was immediately shook by his passing. William Anderson, his son, hired a group of animators and created an animated tribute to his father. Publicly, on September 29, 2004, the finished animation was released, to positive public reception. A statue of Games Anderson was built at the Games Animation, Inc. headquarters in Studio City, Los Angeles, where it has remained a national statue.