Don Dohler
| Don Dohler | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Donald Michael Dohler 27 January 1946 Baltimore, Maryland |
| Died | December 2, 2006 (aged 60) Perry Hall, Maryland |
| Spouse(s) | Pam Merenda (1965–1992) Lynn Eschenbach (m. 1996) Leslie McFarland (2006-2006) |
Donald Michael "Don" Dohler (January 27, 1946 – December 2, 2006) was an American film director known for making low-budget science fiction and horror films as well as work in underground comix and publishing.
Dohler was born in Baltimore, Maryland. When he was a child, his mother bought him a film projector and one day he drew stick figures on a piece of scotch tape. He ran the tape through the projector and just before the tape burned up inside of the projector, he saw the animated figure dance on the wall and that’s when he knew he wanted to make films.
In 1961 at the age of 15, Dohler started a MAD-style fanzine called WILD. MAD had Alfred E. Neuman as a mascot so Dohler used his middle-school creation, ProJunior as WILD’s mascot. In WILD’s peak it had contributors such as Jay Lynch, Art Spiegelman, and Skip Williamson, who later went on to be famous in the underground comix movement of the late 60’s and early 70’s.
In the early 70’s Jay Lynch and Art Spiegelman were fooling around and they started drawing WILD’s mascot, ProJunior, again, but this time in a leopard skin leotard. Robert Crumb saw ProJunior and decided to draw a comic about him. As a result, Jay Lynch rounded up 22 underground comix artists, including Dohler, to draw their own interpretation of ProJunior, which was published in a comic in 1971.
In the mid 60’s Dohler came up with an idea for a magazine for filmmakers. It would feature illustrated step-by-step articles for amateur special effects filmmakers. Inspired by his underground comix friends Dohler set off to publish the magazine on his own. The magazine featured articles by industry professionals and went on for 11 issues before being purchased by Starlog in 1979. Cinemagic inspired several young filmmakers who later went on to have successful careers in Hollywood, including J.J. Abrams, Tom Sullivan, Ernie Farino, Michael Trcic and Al Magliochetti.
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