"[2] Gerry then enrolled in Woodbury College and attended Art Center School for less than one semester before he was drafted into the United States Army.
Realizing he would not make it professionally as an illustrator, Gerry was persuaded by his friend, Grant Dahlstrom, to work for him as a salesman.
[10] Back at Disney, Gerry returned to doing layout artwork for The Rescuers (1977) and The Fox and the Hound (1981) before leaving to continue running his letterpress printing business in 1977.
Gerry envisioned him as a big-bellied Viking who had a red beard, fiery temper, and wore a steel helmet with two large horns.
[11] By the 1990s, Gerry worked one day a week on the studio's in-development projects,[13] in which he contributed visual development and character design artwork on The Lion King (1994), Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Tarzan (1999), and Home on the Range (2004).
"[13] Towards the end of his career, he worked closely with fellow storyboard artists Joe Grant and Burny Mattinson.
[9] Gerry retired from Disney to continue working at Weather Bird Press with his longtime friend Patrick Roeh.