Bill Plympton

Bill Plympton was born April 30, 1946, in Portland Oregon.  He graduated SVA in 1968 and began doing animated shorts right away, starting with The Great Turn On.  Plympton is credited with being the first animator to draw every frame of a feature by themselves.  Besides having completed over 26 animated shorts and 5 animated features, he has also published a comic book called The Sleazy Cartoons of Bill Plympton.  He also usually publishes a graphic novel to go along with whatever feature he is doing.  Plympton’s distinctive work, which I can only think to describe as illustration animation because it reminds be illustrations in books more than tradition Disney-esque style animation, is seen all over tv, whether it be in commercials or music videos.  His unique sense of humor and characteristics come through in his animated work, especially with his academy award nominated short Guard Dog, which follows a hopeless dog during his walk in the park while he sees everything from flowers to birds as possible threats to his owner.