Craig McCracken

Craig McCracken
McCracken on January 11, 2012
Born	(1971-03-31) March 31, 1971 Charleroi, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Director, writer, cartoonist, producer
Years active	1990–present
Known for	The Powerpuff Girls, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Wander Over Yonder
Spouse(s)	Lauren Faust (2004-present)

Craig McCracken (born March 31, 1971) is an American animator, director and producer. He is best known for creating the Emmy-winning animated series The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends for Cartoon Network, as well as writing and storyboarding for Dexter's Laboratory. His newest series, Wander Over Yonder, premiered on Disney Channel on August 16, 2013. He has been married to fellow animator Lauren Faust since 2004.

Personal life

McCracken got involved in drawing at an early age. After he graduated from California High School in Whittier, California, he attended the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), where he honed his animation skills and met his classmate Genndy Tartakovsky, with whom he would occasionally collaborate throughout his career. During his first year, he created a series of short cartoons featuring a character named No Neck Joe, which were picked up by Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation. While at CalArts, he also created a short entitled Whoopass Stew!, which would later become the basis for The Powerpuff Girls.

Career

In 1993, McCracken was tapped by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons to be an art director on the Turner Broadcasting System series 2 Stupid Dogs, where he would also work with Tartakovsky. While at Hanna-Barbera, studio president Fred Seibert began a new project: an animation incubator consisting of 48 new cartoons running approximately seven minutes each. Dubbed What a Cartoon!, it motivated McCracken to further develop his Whoopass Girls! creation, renaming it The Powerpuff Girls in the process. His new pilot, "The Powerpuff Girls in: Meat Fuzzy Lumkins", premiered on February 20, 1995, on Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toon-In, and a second short, "Crime 101", followed on January 28, 1996. The first short to be picked up by the network was Tartakovsky's Dexter's Laboratory, which McCracken would contribute to in early seasons. McCracken's Powerpuff was the fourth cartoon to be greenlit a full series, which premiered on November 18, 1998. The show soon became a hit and has won both Emmy and Annie awards. In 2002 McCracken directed The Powerpuff Girls Movie, a prequel to his series, but it did worse than expected at the box office.

McCracken left The Powerpuff Girls after four seasons, focusing on his next project, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. It premiered with the 90-minute television special "House of Bloo's" on August 13, 2004, on Cartoon Network. He developed the series with wife Lauren Faust. The show ran for six seasons, all directed by McCracken, and concluded on May 3, 2009. It also won Emmy and Annie awards.

In April 2008, he became executive producer of a new Cartoon Network showcase project called The Cartoonstitute. After 15 years of employment, he resigned from Cartoon Network and created Wander Over Yonder for Disney Television Animation and the Disney Channel in 2013.

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role
1992	Whoopass Stew!	Creator, Director, Writer, and Animator
1997	No Neck Joe	Creator, Writer, and Director (made in 1990, Copyright date 1996)
1999	Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip	Writer
2002	The Powerpuff Girls Movie	Creator, Writer, Director, Executive producer, Storyboard artist, and Character designer
2009	The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!!	Writer, Director, Executive producer, Story editor, Storyboard artist, and Character designer

Television

Year	Title	Role
1993–1995	2 Stupid Dogs	Art director and Storyboard artist
1995	Space Ghost Coast to Coast	Himself, (Episode: "President's Day Nightmare")
1995–1997	What a Cartoon!	Writer, Director, and Art director
1995–1996	Dumb and Dumber	Character designer
1996–2003	Dexter's Laboratory	Director, Art director, Model designer, and Storyboard artist
1998–2005	The Powerpuff Girls	Creator, Executive producer, Writer, and Director
2004–2009	Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends	Creator, Executive producer, Developer, Writer, Director, and Story editor
2007	Diggs Tailwagger: Galactic Rover	Executive creative consultant
2007	Enter Mode 5	Executive creative consultant
2007–2010	Chowder	Writer and Storyboard artist (Episode: "The Birthday Suits")
2008	Uncle Grandpa	Executive producer (Episode: "Pilot")
2009	Regular Show	Executive producer (Episode: "Pilot")
2010	My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic	Special thanks, and Costume designer for the Wonderbolts uniforms
2013–present	Wander Over Yonder	Creator and Executive producer (Also additional voices)

External links

• Craig McCracken at the Internet Movie Database
• Craig McCracken's deviantART account
• Craig McCracken on Twitter