Who is Claude ?
A PROLIFIC CREATOR
“I was lucky to be born with a talent: drawing and creating. I earned my living by creating. For me, creating is a delight. It’s what’s always defined me. […] Now, I hate my talent. If I hadn’t created my cartoon character, I wouldn’t have had to live what I’ve lived.”
Nothing summarizes Claude Robinson’s life and fate better than this excerpt from his testimony in the Superior Court.
Born on March 2, 1952, in Montreal, Claude is the youngest of a family of four: two boys and two girls. His family lived in Duvernay, now a neighbourhood in the eastern part of Laval, north of Montreal. His father was a “super salesman” who sold tires for a multinational. Although Claude will not state for which multinational he worked, he described them as: “heartless people who fired him a few months before he retired!”
He has drawn for as far as he can remember; a landscape, a house, characters… When he worked at Steinberg at the fruit counter, he created characters named after fruits and vegetables. However, he hated school. Each year, when school started, he particularly hated all allusions to his name, when his teachers joked: “Robinson Crusoe is among us!” as they saw “Robinson, C.” on their student list.
According to him, “This frustrated me, especially since I did not identify with him at all. Robinson Curiosité is me: my face, my qualities, my flaws, my personality traits. All the characters that surround him represent some members of my family or loved ones.”
He dropped out during his eleventh school year. Thanks to his talents, he quickly found a job as a graphic designer in a printing office where his boss offered him a pay raise for each year he’d complete in graphic arts by attending night classes. He then took the steps to register to the École des arts graphiques, in Montréal. Considering his portfolio and acquired skills, they accepted him in the third year.
Afterwards, he took night classes in plastic arts. With his portfolio, he went to his school board to meet with continuous education executives. Would he be accepted? His drawings, paintings and sculptures made an impact. He was hired as an arts and crafts teacher at Vanier High School, in Duvernay.
In 1972, at the age of 20, he left for Europe with only 90 dollars. He developed his craft within reputable businesses, notably Blanc-Wittwer, a printing office specialized in large posters, and advertising agency Oméga/Gaméo.
According to him, “I’m self-taught. I’ve learned everything through practice or reading. I always earned my living by creating; I’ve never stood idle.”
By 1975, he was back in Montreal and founded Les Productions Nilem, which led him to work in animation and advertisement as a director, artistic director, designer and creative director. Among his clients were prestigious agencies and businesses: BCP (Air Canada, Chrysler), Young and Rubicam (Club Med, Bombardier) and Groupe Morrow (Labatt, Budweiser). Reputed for his creative talent and flair for drawing, he created concepts that would make its mark in Quebec’s advertising world where he became a real star.
Liza Frulla, who was marketing vice-president at Labatt, stated “He played each second of the commercial and always wrapped it up on the right tone” during an episode of Enquête, broadcasted at Radio-Canada. “He was a pleasant guy, always smiling, and great to work with!”
imagined and conceived by Claude Robinson
in the 1980s.
His professional activities as part of Nilem and Virtuel Création, the graphism agency he founded in 1988, allowed him to finance the development of a great project: the opportunity to offer children an educative show, Les Aventures de Robinson Curiosité (The Adventures of Robinson Curiosité) on his Curious Island.
The idea came to him in 1982, during an expedition in Labrador. When he came back, at the Grands Explorateurs’ 10th anniversary gala, he exposed the paintings and sketches he drew during his trip. There, he embodied this bearded character with round glasses, Robinson Curiosité, who was born from his imagination, dreams and reflections, and was crafted in his image.
On September 8, 1995, he watched the first episode of Robinson Sucroë, a new show that had been announced a few days earlier. He recognized his face, his island, and his main characters’ traits in spite of all the efforts deployed to camouflage them. Behind this blatant plagiarism were Cinar and its two executives, Micheline Charest and Ronald Weinberg. Claude had hired them for six months in 1986 in order to promote his creation in the United-States. Christophe Izard was also implicated, as Claude had presented his work to him in 1987 at the Foire internationale de Cannes.
Claude Robinson’s world turned upside down. The greatest project in his life would become a real nightmare. At this point, a legal battle would start between the creator and unscrupulous multinationals—a battle that would last for 15 years. His courage and determination earned him a first victory in the Superior Court.
Yet, this battle is far from over…
