Claudio Biern Boyd, creator of ‘David the Gnome’ and ‘D’Artacan and the Three Muskehounds’ dies at 81

Claudio Biern Boyd, the creator of “David the Gnome” or “D’Artacan and the Three Muskehounds” has died at the age of 81.. According to El País, the audiovisual producer who marked the animation series in Spain from the late seventies to the early nineties, he lost his life on Monday 17 October.

Passionate about his work Biern Boyd was the producer of many other titles such as “Ruy, little Cid” or “Around the World of Willy Fog”. Born in Palma de Mallorca in 1940, the son of a Catalan father and a Scottish mother, he was also known for having held the position of director of RCD Espanyol from 1986 to 1989, from 1993 to 1994 and from 2004 to 2006.

Previously, he studied law at the University of Deusto, in Bilbao. In 1962, he went into promotion and marketing at Lever Ibérica and it was only in 1972 that he founded his company BRB. Initially, the entity was dedicated only to managing the rights and selling the official products of “Maya the Bee, the movie”, “Vickie the Viking”, “The Pink Panther” and “Mazinger Z”. In 1980 it goes into production.

On the other hand, Biern Boyd he animated famous characters such as Cobi, Naranjito, Zipi and Zape, Sandokán or Mortadelo and Filemón for television. Also, last summer he re-released “D’Artacán and the Three Muskehounds” in a new remastered version. In turn, he produced “La memoria del agua” and promoted the musical Willy Fog.

The importance of the message

In 2021, on the occasion of the aforementioned film re-release of one of his most successful animated series, the late businessman spoke to El País and explained the importance of screenplay in cartoons. “You have to have fun while you educate. I asked Fernando Argenta to help me as a consultant for “Mozart’s Band”. In “D’Artacán and the three greyhounds” there is no blood. We see fights, of course; however, no one dies. There is action, not violence. I’m not a sadist like Disney”said the Majorcan between laughter.

“Each of my products defends concepts such as loyalty, tenacity and in ‘David the gnome’, also environmentalism. I made this accusation 35 years ago. If the world had listened to the gnomes, we wouldn’t be the way we are today with climate change. The key is always the script. For this work with the greats, such as Alexandre Dumas, Emilio Salgari or Jules Verne “said Biern Boyd, insisting on the importance of the base and the content.