Choice Directors/Writers/Producers [Animation]
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Rebecca Sugar is an American animator, television writer, television producer, and singer-songwriter from Maryland. Her primary claims to fame are serving as the show creator of the hit animated series "Steven Universe" (2013-2019), and one of main writers and storyboard artists for the animated series "Adventure Time" (2010-2018). She has been nominated for seven Primetime Emmy Awards throughout her career.
In 1987, Sugar was born to a Jewish family in Silver Spring, Maryland, the 5th most-populated settlement in Maryland (following Baltimore, Columbia, Waldorf and Germantown). Sugar has commented that she still regularly celebrates Hanukkah as an adult.
Sugar was a student of Montgomery Blair High School, but also received visual arts lessons through a program of the (unaffiliated) Albert Einstein High School. During her high school years, Sugar drew comic strips for the school's newspaper, "Silver Chips". She won a writing award for one of her comic strips. After her graduation, Sugar attended the "School of Visual Arts" in New York City.
During her time as a college student, Sugar directed short animated films. She had a close working relationship with fellow animator Ian Jones-Quartey, who would later become first her long-term boyfriend and then her husband. She provided background artwork for "nockFORCE", a web animation series which Jones-Quartey had launched on YouTube.
In 2010, Sugar published her first graphic novel, "Pug Davis". It featured a gay couple who work as astronauts. Shortly after, Sugar was hired as a storyboard revisionist for the television series "Adventure Time". A month later, she was promoted to a full storyboard artist due to the quality of her work. Sugar was encouraged by the show's creative team to use her own life experiences as inspirations for the character development of Marceline the Vampire Queen, one of the show's main characters. At that time, Sugar took writing advice from co-workers who had experience in working on indie and underground comics. She was told to "not hold anything back" when it came to writing.
Sugar continued working on "Adventure Time" until its 5th season, while also working on her own series "Steven Universe" since 2013. Sugar eventually quit working on "Adventure Time" as she found the workload of simultaneously working full-time on both series to be overly challenging. She later wrote a song used in the 7th season of "Adventure Time".
For "Steven Universe", Sugar worked as the show's executive producer throughout its run. She also served as a storyboard artist for several of the show's episodes. Sugar directed the spin-off film "Steven Universe: The Movie" (2019) and co-produced the sequel mini-series "Steven Universe Future" (2019-2020). The show placed an emphasis on the importance of "healthy interpersonal relationships" to one's well-being. She has credited her own relationship with her brother as an inspiration for the show's close emotional bonds between characters.
In 2019, Sugar married her boyfriend Ian Jones-Quartey. They had been romantically involved since 2008. In 2020, Sugar served as the narrator in a video criticizing the poor living conditions of detainees held by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In both 2020 and 2021, Sugar and her husband worked on a series of public service announcements with anti-racist messages. The announcements were released through Cartoon Network's YouTube channel.
In late 2021, Sugar served as an uncredited singer for a Christmas special based on the animated series "Amphibia". She had written the lyrics for her own music number. Her involvement was commented on in a press release. By 2022, Sugar is 34-years-old and shows no signs of retiring. She has not announced further plans for her career.- Writer
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Rob Renzetti is an American animator, writer and director who is widely known for creating the cult classic teen science fiction Nicktoon My Life as a Teenage Robot, starring Janice Kawaye, Candi Milo and Eartha Kitt. It is reminiscent of 1940s cartoons. He also worked on episodes of Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, The Powerpuff Girls, Gravity Falls and Kid Cosmic. He also worked on a series of pilots called Mina and the Count before he scrapped the idea in favor of My Life as a Teenage Robot.- Writer
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- Animation Department
Growing up in Portland, Oregon, Matt Groening did not particularly like school, which is what originally turned him towards drawing. In the mid-1980s, he moved to Los Angeles and started drawing a comic strip named "Life in Hell", which eventually became published in the newspaper where he worked. In 1988, James L. Brooks, looking for a filler in the television show, The Tracey Ullman Show (1987), turned towards a framed "Life in Hell" strip on his wall and contacted Groening. The animated shorts that Groening created were The Simpsons (1989).- Art Department
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Christopher Mason Savino is an American animator, writer and director who is known for creating The Loud House for Nickelodeon. He also worked on episodes of Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, The Ren & Stimpy Show, My Gym Partner's A Monkey and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. He was married to Bethany and has 3 children.- Writer
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Butch Hartman is an American animator, writer, director and voice actor who created The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom, T.U.F.F. Puppy and Bunsen is a Beast for Nickelodeon. He also wrote the U.S. dub of Doogal. The Fairly OddParents is one of the longest running Nicktoons of all time, behind SpongeBob SquarePants. His cartoons, particularly The Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom are staples of Millennial culture. He is married to Julieann Hartman.- Writer
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Scott Peterson is the Emmy winning Executive Producer and Showrunner of the Netflix animated series "The Last Kids on Earth." He was also nominated for his work on "Phineas and Ferb," "Milo Murphy's Law," and "My Life as a Teenage Robot." Scott has a wealth of experience as a writer and story editor for Disney, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network. He is the successful author of the middle grade book series "Shipwreckers" from Disney/Hyperion and over a dozen top-selling books in the "Phineas and Ferb" series.- Producer
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Timothy Walter Burton was born in Burbank, California, to Jean Rae (Erickson), who owned a cat-themed gift shop, and William Reed Burton, who worked for the Burbank Park and Recreation Department. He spent most of his childhood as a recluse, drawing cartoons, and watching old movies (he was especially fond of films with Vincent Price). When he was in the ninth grade, his artistic talent was recognized by a local garbage company, when he won a prize for an anti-litter poster he designed. The company placed this poster on all of their garbage trucks for a year. After graduating from high school, he attended California Institute of the Arts. Like so many others who graduated from that school, Burton's first job was as an animator for Disney.
His early film career was fueled by almost unbelievable good luck, but it's his talent and originality that have kept him at the top of the Hollywood tree. He worked on such films as The Fox and the Hound (1981) and The Black Cauldron (1985), but had some creative differences with his colleagues. Nevertheless, Disney recognized his talent, and gave him the green light to make Vincent (1982), an animated short about a boy who wanted to be just like Vincent Price. Narrated by Price himself, the short was a critical success and won several awards. Burton made a few other short films, including his first live-action film, Frankenweenie (1984). A half-hour long twist on the tale of Frankenstein, it was deemed inappropriate for children and wasn't released. But actor Paul Reubens (aka Pee-Wee Herman) saw Frankenweenie (1984), and believed that Burton would be the right man to direct him in his first full-length feature film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985). The film was a surprise success, and Burton instantly became popular. However, many of the scripts that were offered to him after this were essentially just spin-offs of the film, and Burton wanted to do something new.
For three years, he made no more films, until he was presented with the script for Beetlejuice (1988). The script was wild and wasn't really about anything, but was filled with such artistic and quirky opportunities, Burton couldn't say no. Beetlejuice (1988) was another big hit, and Burton's name in Hollywood was solidified. It was also his first film with actor Michael Keaton. Warner Bros. then entrusted him with Batman (1989), a film based on the immensely popular comic book series of the same name. Starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson, the film was the most financially successful film of the year and Burton's biggest box-office hit to date. Due to the fantastic success of his first three films, he was given the green light to make his next film, any kind of film he wanted. That film was Edward Scissorhands (1990), one of his most emotional, esteemed and artistic films to date. Edward Scissorhands (1990) was also Burton's first film with actor Johnny Depp. Burton's next film was Batman Returns (1992), and was darker and quirkier than the first one, and, while by no means a financial flop, many people felt somewhat disappointed by it. While working on Batman Returns (1992), he also produced the popular The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), directed by former fellow Disney Animator Henry Selick. Burton reunited with Johnny Depp on the film Ed Wood (1994), a film showered with critical acclaim, Martin Landau won an academy award for his performance in it, and it is very popular now, but flopped during its initial release. Burton's subsequent film, Mars Attacks! (1996), had much more vibrant colors than his other films. Despite being directed by Burton and featuring all-star actors including Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Pierce Brosnan and Michael J. Fox, it received mediocre reviews and wasn't immensely popular at the box office, either.
Burton returned to his darker and more artistic form with the film Sleepy Hollow (1999), starring Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci and Casper Van Dien. The film was praised for its art direction and was financially successful, redeeming Burton of the disappointment many had felt by Mars Attacks! (1996). His next film was Planet of the Apes (2001), a remake of the classic of the same name. The film was panned by many critics but was still financially successful. While on the set of Planet of the Apes (2001), Burton met Helena Bonham Carter, with whom he has two children. Burton directed the film Big Fish (2003) - a much more conventional film than most of his others, it received a good deal of critical praise, although it disappointed some of his long-time fans who preferred the quirkiness of his other, earlier films. Despite the fluctuations in his career, Burton proved himself to be one of the most popular directors of the late 20th century. He directed Johnny Depp once again in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), a film as quirky anything he's ever done.- Writer
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James Garland Quintel, or simply JG, was born on September 14, 1982, in Hanford, CA, to Terri (nee Morris) and James Quintel. Growing up in a rather boring town, he and friends would have to entertain themselves to pass time, many of these experiences grew into influences for many episodes of Regular Show.
As he grew up, he grew fond of drawing, leading him going to California Institue of the Arts (CalArt). There, he and friends compete in 48Hour completions every weekend they would throw a word into a hat, draw a word, and develop a cartoon from the word in 48 hour rushes. Two films that came out of this were "The Man From Loliland" & "2 in The Am Pm." These cartoons featured his voice works, alongside with future collaborator Sam Marin. The features included pretypes of such characters as Mordecai, Benson, and Pops.
After graduating, he got an internship at Cartoonetwork, working on such cartoons as Camp Lazlo & The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. Soon enough, he was finally able to pitch what is now Regular Show, for a short lived block known as 'Cartoonstitute' when the block was dropped, Regular Show was picked up as a series.- Producer
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Joseph Roland Barbera was an American animator, film director, and television producer. He was the co-founder of the company Hanna-Barbera, with his longtime partner William Hanna.
Barbera was born in an Italian-American family. His parents were barbershop-owner Vincent Barbera (1889-1965) and Francesca Calvacca (1875-1969), both Italian immigrants from Sicily. Vincent was from the farming town of Castelvetrano, while Francesca was from the spa town of Sciacca (founded as the ancient Greek colony of Thermae).
Barbera was born in Little Italy, at the Lower East Side section of Manhattan. Months following his birth, Barbera's family moved to Flatbush, Brooklyn. He was mostly raised in Flatbush. Vincent Barbera grew prosperous for a while, but a gambling addiction led him to squander the family fortune. In 1926, Vincent abandoned his family, and Joseph was taken under the wing of his maternal uncle Jim Calvacca.
Barbera attended Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn. During his high school years, he worked as a tailor's delivery boy. Meanwhile, he excelled in boxing and won a number of titles, but decided against becoming a professional boxer. He graduated high school in 1928, and started working odd jobs.
In 1929, Barbera first became interested in animation, after viewing Walt Disney's "The Skeleton Dance" (1929). Shortly after, he started working as a freelance cartoonist. Some of his print cartoons were published in Redbook, the Saturday Evening Post, and Collier's. Meanwhile Barbera took art classes at the Art Students League of New York and the Pratt Institute, hoping to improve his drawing skills.
Barbera was eventually hired as an inker and colorist by Fleischer Studios. In 1932, he was hired by the Van Beuren Studios as an animator and storyboard artist. At Van Beuren he worked on such film series as "Cubby Bear" and "Rainbow Parades". The studio's most prominent cartoon starts were a human duo known as "Tom and Jerry". Barbera worked on the Tom and Jerry series, and apparently liked the sound of the duo's name.
In 1936, Barbera left the financially struggling Van Beuren studio to work for Paul Terry's Terrytoons studio. In 1937, he left Terrytoons to work for the then-recently established Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio (1937-1957). MGM offered its animators higher salaries than what Terrytoons could offer. His first few years at the studio were not particularly notable. In 1939, he and co-worker William Hanna started working on the idea of a cat-and-mouse duo of characters. They were allowed to co-direct "Puss Gets the Boot" (1940), introducing the new duo of Tom and Jerry. It was critically and commercially successful, but studio head Fred Quimby was initially uninterested in producing a full series of Tom and Jerry films. The lack of success of other products of the studio convinced Quimby, and Barbera and Hanna became the head of their own production unit to work on the new series.
From 1940 to 1957, Hanna and Barbera co-directed 114 Tom and Jerry animated shorts. The Tom and Jerry series was very popular with critics and audience. But by the 1950s, production costs were high while the profitability of the shorts was lower than before. MGM decided to shut down its animation subsidiary. Barbera was unemployed for the first time in decades.
Barbera briefly partnered with Robert D. Buchanan (1931-) in production of an animated television series, the science fiction series "Colonel Bleep" (1957-1960). It was the first animated series specifically produced for color television. Barbera eventually left this partnership and teamed up with William Hanna again. They founded Hanna-Barbera Productions, their own animation studio. With theatrical animation in decline, they focused on the new market of television animation.
The studio's first television series was the moderately successful "The Ruff & Reddy Show". It was succeeded by the much more popular "The Huckleberry Hound Show" and "The Yogi Bear Show". Survey's revealed that the two shows had attracted an adult audience, convincing Hanna and Barbera that they could market animation to adults. Their next series was the animated sitcom "The Flintstones" (1960-1966), popular with both children and adults. Its success helped establish Hanna-Barbera Productions as the leader in television animation.
In 1966, Hanna-Barbera Productions was sold to Taft Broadcasting for $12 million dollars.Barbera and Hanna remained studio heads until 1991, when the studio was sold to the Turner Broadcasting System for an estimated 320 million million dollars. Barbera and Hanna were reduced to advisory positions, which would they keep for the rest of their lives. Barbera periodically worked on new Hanna-Barbera shows, and even provided input for the original live-action adaptation of Scooby-Doo in 2002.
In 2001, Hanna-Barbera Productions was absorbed into Warner Bros. Animation. Barbera received executive producer credits for Warner Bros. sequels and adaptations of his old series (such as "What's New, Scooby-Doo?" and "Tom and Jerry Tales"). In 2005, Barbera co-directed a new Tom and Jerry short film: "The Karate Guard". Barbera then started work on a Tom and Jerry feature film, " Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale" (2007). He died before production was completed.
Barbera died in December 2006, at the age of 95. He had never fully retired and was still working at the time of his death. His legacy includes more than a 100 television series, and a large number of enduring characters.- Writer
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Stephen McDannell Hillenburg is the creator of SpongeBob SquarePants (1999), Nickelodeon's highest-rated cartoons for children and a staple of American television. He was born on August 21, 1961 in Fort Sill, a United States Army post in Lawton, Oklahoma, to Nancy (Dufour) Hillenburg and Kelly Neugent Hillenburg Jr.
Raised in Anaheim, California, he became fascinated with marine biology as a child and later developed an interest in art. He started his professional career in 1984 teaching marine biology at the Orange County Marine Institute. He wrote 'The Intertidal Zone', a comic book about tide-pool animals which he used to educate his students.
In 1989, two years after leaving teaching, Hillenburg enrolled at the California Institute of the Arts to pursue a career in animation. He was later offered a job on the Nickelodeon animated television series Rocko's Modern Life (1993), after his success with short films The Green Beret (1992) and Wormholes (1992), which he created while studying animation.
In 1994, Hillenburg began developing The Intertidal Zone characters and concepts for what would become SpongeBob SquarePants. The show premiered in 1999 and has aired since then. He also directed The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004), which he originally intended to be the series finale. However, Nickelodeon wanted to produce more episodes, so Hillenburg resigned as the showrunner. He went back to making short films, with Hollywood Blvd, USA (2014).
In 2015, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015) was released; the sequel to the 2004 film, it marked Hillenburg's return to the franchise, after he co-wrote the story and acted as an executive producer on the project.
Aside from two Emmy Awards and six Annie Awards for SpongeBob SquarePants, Hillenburg also received an accolade from Heal the Bay for his efforts on elevating marine life awareness, as well as the Television Animation Award from the National Cartoonists Society. Despite all this, he was involved in public controversies, including one that centered on speculation over the SpongeBob character's intended sexual orientation.
Hillenburg was diagnosed in 2017 with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. He stated that he would continue to work on his show for as long as possible. He died at age 57 on November 26, 2018 in San Marino, California, a year and a half after his diagnosis.- Writer
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C.H. Greenblatt was born on June 17, 1972 in Plano, Texas, USA as Carl Harvey Greenblatt. He is a writer and producer, known for Fish Hooks (2010), SpongeBob SquarePants (1999) and Chowder (2007). He attended the University of Texas at Austin where he majored in advertising. He was an art director for commercials in New York City following graduation. Steve Hillenburg, creator of SpongeBob Squarepants, picked Greenblatt up to storyboard on the show after seeing some of his work in cartooning. He boarded on the series from 1999 to 2003 following season 3's completion. He came back to board and voice on a couple episodes for season 4 and 5. Greenblatt is considered to be one of the greatest comedy writers by critics and fans in modern times. Scott Thill of Cartoon Brew praised Greenblatt as one of the most influential comedy writers with innovative comedic elements. Cartoon Brew also said Greenblatt "has logged a decade-and-a-half across studios and shows". James Poniewozik of Time credited Greenblatt as defining SpongeBob's comedic style. Greenblatt was one of the writers of the SpongeBob episode "Band Geeks", considered by many to be the best episode of the entire series. SpongeBob writer Kaz recalled writing with Greenblatt fun and said he was full with "weird energy." He is currently working at Warner Brothers where he is executive producing Jellystone. He also mentors a Mahwah, NJ native in animation and is a recurring voice actor on Mexiguin.- Actor
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Alex Hirsch is an animator, television writer, and voice actor from Piedmont, California. His primary claim to fame is serving as the show creator for the hit animated series "Gravity Falls" (2012-2016), a mystery comedy series where twin protagonists investigate the local mysteries of a strange town in Oregon. Hirsch also served as the voice actor for Grunkle Stan/Stan Pines, his sidekick Soos Ramirez, and the demon Bill Cipher.
In 1985, Hirsch and his twin sister Ariel were born in Piedmont, California. Piedmont is a small city, which had about 10,500 residents in 1980. It is completely surrounded by the neighboring city of Oakland. Piedmond has a reputation for racial segregation, and was formerly identified as a "sundown town" (an all-white municipality where "colored people" had to leave town by sundown).
Hirsch reportedly has Jewish descent on his father's side of the family, but he was raised to be agnostic. The family regularly celebrated both Christmas and Hanukkah, without sharing in theistic beliefs. From 1994 to 1998, Hirsch and his sister Ariel spend their summer vacations living with their great-aunt Lois in a cabin in the woods. Hirsch has credited these summer vacations as an inspiration for "Gravity Falls".
Hirsch received his secondary education at Piedmont High School, a co-educational school established in 1922. The school was highlighted in news stories during the 1990s, when it was discovered that its social clubs and charity organizations were actually drinking clubs for students. In 2002, Hirsch won the school's annual Bird Calling Contest. Shortly after, he had a guest star appearance in "Late Show with David Letterman".
Hirsch received his college education at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts, 1961-), a private art university located in Santa Clarita, California. The university has a decades-long history of training aspiring animators. During his college years, Hirsch developed several animated short films. One of his films was chosen by Nicktoons Network for broadcast as part of their short-lived variety series "Shorts in a Bunch" (2007). In 2006, while still a college student, Hirsch was hired by the animation studio Laika to work in an upcoming animated feature. The film ended in development hell. Hirsch graduated from CalArts in 2007.
Shortly after his graduation, Hirsch was hired as a writer and storyboard artist for an animated series which was still in its development stages. It was "The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack" (2008-2010), which lasted for 3 seasons and 46 episodes. The series focused on an innocent young boy who finds a mentor in the person of the ill-tempered Captain K'nuckles, an Irish pirate who has semi-retired due to old age. The series was noted for its steampunk-like depictions of the 19th century, and for its moral ambiguity.
Hirsch was later credited with the development of the animated series "Fish Hooks" (2010-2014), which lasted for 3 seasons and 110 episodes. The series featured anthropomorphic fish in an high school setting. Part of the plot focused on the unrequited love of the character Oscar for his best friend Bea Goldfishberg, while she was oblivious to his affections for most of the series' duration. For this series, Hirsch voiced the recurring character Clamantha. She was the school's head cheerleader who had an unrequited love for Oscar. The series had an unusual visual style, a mix of 2D digital animation and photo collages. It won a BAFTA award, and was nominated for several other awards.
In 2012, Hirsch launched his own animated series, "Gravity Falls" (2012-2016). Hirsch reportedly based several of the characters on members of his family and past acquaintances. It featured twin siblings Dipper and Mabel Pines investigating paranormal incidents in a small town of Oregon. The series started with monster-of-the-week episodes, but had a series-wide story arc concerning a number of peculiar journals and their initially unnamed author. The series received critical acclaim and high ratings, winning two Emmy Awards, three Annie Awards, and a BAFTA Children's Award. The series lasted for 2 seasons and 40 episodes, with Hirsch not interested in further continuing its plots.
In 2018, Hirsch published a graphic novel based on "Gravity Falls". It became a New York Times Best Seller. Also in 2018, Hirsh served as a story contributor to the animated film "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse". In 2020, Hirsch started voicing several characters in the animated series "The Owl House" (2020-). The series was created by animator Dana Terrace, who is Hirsch's longtime girlfriend.
In 2021, Hirsch started serving as an executive producer for the science fiction comedy series "Inside Job" (2021-). The series focuses on a shadow government organization which strives to keep secret a number of conspiracies. The series is largely inspired by real-life conspiracy theories. It features (among other things) reptilian shapeshifters, human-animal hybrids, and survivors from the hollow Earth. The series has received critical praise for both its satirical elements, and for its semi-realistic portrayal of real-life problems, such as "office politics, sexism, classism, jingoism".
As of 2022, Hirsch is 36-years-old, and has no interest in retiring. He remains popular among animation fans, and he has been noted for his vocal criticism of censorship in the medium.- Producer
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Genndy Tartakovsky was born and raised in Moscow, USSR. He and his family moved to Chicago, IL when he was 7 years old, after his father defected to the US. His interest in comic books and animation led him to study animation at CalArts in Los Angeles. While he was there he produced two student films, one of which was the basis of his series Dexter's Laboratory (1996). The character of Dee-Dee was inspired by his older brother Alex, who would often spoil younger brother Genndy's plans (as Dee-Dee does to Dexter). His first long form directing work was for the TV movie of the series, Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip (1999). He also directed animation for his collaborator Craig McCracken on The Powerpuff Girls (1998) and The Powerpuff Girls Movie (2002).
His most celebrated work was the epic animated series Samurai Jack (2001), featuring a time-traveling samurai in a battle of good vs. evil. He stopped work on the series to produce Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) as a direct story tie-in to the beginning of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005). He then directed animation for the Adult Swim pilot Korgoth of Barbaria (2006). Plans were up in the air for over a decade for a possible movie conclusion to Samurai Jack, as well as directing a sequel to The Dark Crystal (1982). He created storyboards for the action-packed opening of Iron Man 2 (2010) during this time period.
Genndy produced another dynamic TV series Sym-Bionic Titan (2010), before finally landing his first feature on Hotel Transylvania (2012), which would involve taking over a tumultuous production and incorporating 2D techniques to 3D animation. Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015) was the first film for which he had creative control over the entire production, although it was still in the style developed during the first film. In 2017, he finally returned to direct a darker season of Samurai Jack to conclude the story on Adult Swim. He is currently directing Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018).- Writer
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Craig McCracken has been interested in drawing and animation since the age of three. Some of his sources of inspiration are Japanese anime, Super Friends (1973), Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986) and Little Golden Books. After briefly considering a career as a comic book illustrator, McCracken studied animation at Cal Arts in LA (along with fellow classmate and Dexter's Laboratory (1996) creator Genndy Tartakovsky. His most famous creation, The Powerpuff Girls (1998), began life in a student film under the less-cutesy title, Whoopass Stew! (1992), it was quickly renamed The Powerpuff Girls (1998).- Actor
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Jeff Swampy Marsh is an American voice actor, animator, cartoonist, singer and writer from California. He co-created Phineas & Ferb and Milo Murphy's Law alongside Dan Povenmire. He also worked on various episodes of Family Guy, Rocko's Modern Life and SpongeBob SquarePants. He is known for voicing Major Monogram, who is essentially an equivalent of Nick Fury for Perry the Platypus in Phineas & Ferb.- Art Department
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Dan Povenmire is an American writer, director, cartoonist, singer and voice actor known for co-creating the Disney cartoons Phineas & Ferb and Milo Murphy's Law alongside Jeff Marsh. He also worked on episodes of Rocko's Modern Life, Family Guy and SpongeBob SquarePants. He voiced Dr. Doofenshmirtz, the enemy of Perry the Platypus and antagonist of Phineas & Ferb.- Animation Department
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Bruce Timm is an American animator, writer, voice actor and director. He is known for creating Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League and various installments of the DC Animated Universe. He co-created several DC characters including Harley Quinn and Livewire. He also worked on various DC animated films including Batman and Harley Quinn and Batman: Gotham by Gaslight.- Animation Department
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Eric Goldberg is an animator, director and voice actor from Pennsylvania who is known for his work on Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Pocahontas, Aladdin, The Princess and the Frog, Fat Albert, Fantasia 2000, Moana, Winnie the Pooh and Hercules. He voiced Marvin the Martian, Tweety Bird and Speedy Gonzales in Looney Tunes media. He is married to Susan.- Writer
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Born in 1982 in San Antonio, Texas, Ward, the youngest of 3 brothers, was raised by his mother Bettie Ward, an artist and daughter of a Texas oil rancher. He never met his father. He would often draw flipbooks Andy comic books with his friend Alex "the Logdog" Coates.
Ward attended CalArts, where he became friends with fellow animators J.G. Quintel of Regular Show and Alex Hirsch of Gravity Falls. They later worked on The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack together. In 2002, he created a comic strip called Bueno the Bear, but later withdrew publication the following year. He created a short film called Barrista with the character and uses the name for his social media profiles to this day.
In 2008, he made a pilot for Adventure Time for Nickelodeon, but it was rejected. Cartoon Network picked it up a year later and it premiered in 2010.- Animation Department
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Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan's greatest animation directors. The entertaining plots, compelling characters, and breathtaking visuals in his films have earned him international renown from critics as well as public recognition within Japan.
Miyazaki started his career in 1963 as an animator at the studio Toei Douga studio, and was subsequently involved in many early classics of Japanese animation. From the beginning, he commanded attention with his incredible drawing ability and the seemingly endless stream of movie ideas he proposed.
In 1971, he moved to the A Pro studio with Isao Takahata. In 1973, he moved to Nippon Animation, where he was heavily involved in the World Masterpiece Theater TV animation series for the next 5 years. In 1978, he directed his first TV series, Future Boy Conan (1978). Then, he moved to Tokyo Movie Shinsha in 1979 to direct his first movie, the classic Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979). In 1984, he released Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), which was based on the manga of the same title he had started 2 years before. The success of the film led to the establishment of a new animation studio, Studio Ghibli. Since then, he has since directed, written, and produced many other films with Takahata. More recently, he has produced with Toshio Suzuki. All enjoyed critical and box office success, in particular Princess Mononoke (1997). It received the Japanese equivalent of the Academy Award for Best Film and was the highest-grossing (about USD $150 million) domestic film in Japan's history at the time of its release.
In addition to animation, he also draws manga. His major work was Nausicaä, an epic tale he worked on intermittently from 1982 to 1984 while he was busy making animated films. Another manga Hikotei Jidai, later evolved into Porco Rosso (1992).- Animation Department
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Hiromasa Yonebayashi was born on 10 July 1973 in Nonoichi, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for When Marnie Was There (2014), The Secret World of Arrietty (2010) and Mary and the Witch's Flower (2017).