Craig Bartlett
Encyclopedia
Craig Michael Bartlett (born Sunday, October 18, 1956; Seattle, Washington
) is an animator best known for writing for Rugrats
and creating the television series Hey Arnold!
.
, was at Will Vinton Studios in Portland, Oregon, where he learned the art of stop-motion animation. Bartlett moved to Los Angeles
in 1987 to animate the Penny cartoons for Pee-wee's Playhouse
on CBS
.
He later worked at BRC Imagination Arts directing projects such as Postcards
and Mystery Lodge for Knott's Berry Farm
.
Bartlett met the Nickelodeon
execs while story editing Rugrats
in its first seasons. He pitched Hey Arnold!
to them in fall of 1993, produced a pilot in spring of 1994, and the series was greenlit in January 1995. Hey Arnold! was in production continuously from 1995 to 2001, culminating in a TV movie originally titled "Arnold Saves the Neighborhood", but which Nickelodeon decided to release theatrically as Hey Arnold!: The Movie
, in June 2002.
A dispute over a 2nd planned Arnold movie then resulted in Bartlett leaving Nickelodeon to write and produce a TV movie for Cartoon Network
called Party Wagon
, a story set in the 1850s that featured Sean Astin
as Randall P. McDuff, a young man who flees his own shotgun wedding and wanders west, eventually joining up with a band of other misfits whose wagon is continually getting kicked out of various wagon trains on the Oregon Trail
. Broadcast in the US on February 29, 2004, and originally intended as a pilot for an ongoing series, it ended up being the first CN movie-length pilot to be broadcast, but not picked up as a series.
In 2005 Bartlett returned to BRC to make a multi-media simulator attraction for NASA's Kennedy Space Center
in Cape Canaveral, Florida
, called the Shuttle Launch Experience. In the course of the 3-year project, Bartlett interviewed 26 astronauts to gather their experiences from launch to orbit. One of the astronauts Bartlett interviewed was four-time shuttle flier and commander Charles F. Bolden Jr..
After developing various pilots and feature scripts, Bartlett moved to the Jim Henson Company, where he co-wrote the computer animated film Unstable Fables: 3 Pigs and a Baby. Bartlett stayed at Henson to work as story editor on a PBS Kids pre-school show called Sid the Science Kid
with PBS executive Linda Simensky
, whom he had worked with at Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.
In September 2008, a show for pre-schoolers called Jim Henson's Dinosaur Train
was picked up by PBS Kids
; produced by Henson, this was his first show created by Bartlett to be picked up since Hey Arnold!. The series debuted on PBS stations on September 7, 2009.
, creator of The Simpsons
and Futurama
, after whom Lisa Simpson
is named.
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
) is an animator best known for writing for Rugrats
Rugrats
Rugrats is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series premiered on August 11, 1991, and aired its last episode on June 8, 2004....
and creating the television series Hey Arnold!
Hey Arnold!
Hey Arnold! is an American animated television series created by Craig Bartlett for Nickelodeon. The show's premise focuses on a fourth grader named Arnold who lives with his grandparents. Episodes center on his experiences navigating big city life while dealing with the problems he and his friends...
.
Career
His first job, after graduating from Evergreen State College in Olympia, WashingtonOlympia, Washington
Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...
, was at Will Vinton Studios in Portland, Oregon, where he learned the art of stop-motion animation. Bartlett moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in 1987 to animate the Penny cartoons for Pee-wee's Playhouse
Pee-wee's Playhouse
Pee-wee's Playhouse is an American children's television program starring Paul Reubens as the child-like Pee-wee Herman. The show was developed from Reubens' popular stage show and the one-off TV special The Pee-wee Herman Show, produced for HBO, which was similar in style but featured much more...
on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
.
He later worked at BRC Imagination Arts directing projects such as Postcards
Postcards
Postcards may mean:* The plural of postcard* Postcards , an Australian magazine television series* Postcards , a novel by E...
and Mystery Lodge for Knott's Berry Farm
Knott's Berry Farm
Knott's Berry Farm is a theme park in Buena Park, California, now owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, and a line of jams, jellies, preserves, and other specialty food, now part of The J. M. Smucker Company based in Placentia, California....
.
Bartlett met the Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
execs while story editing Rugrats
Rugrats
Rugrats is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series premiered on August 11, 1991, and aired its last episode on June 8, 2004....
in its first seasons. He pitched Hey Arnold!
Hey Arnold!
Hey Arnold! is an American animated television series created by Craig Bartlett for Nickelodeon. The show's premise focuses on a fourth grader named Arnold who lives with his grandparents. Episodes center on his experiences navigating big city life while dealing with the problems he and his friends...
to them in fall of 1993, produced a pilot in spring of 1994, and the series was greenlit in January 1995. Hey Arnold! was in production continuously from 1995 to 2001, culminating in a TV movie originally titled "Arnold Saves the Neighborhood", but which Nickelodeon decided to release theatrically as Hey Arnold!: The Movie
Hey Arnold!: The Movie
Hey Arnold!: The Movie is a 2002 animated film based on the 1996-2004 Nickelodeon animated television series Hey Arnold!. The film was released in theaters on June 28, 2002...
, in June 2002.
A dispute over a 2nd planned Arnold movie then resulted in Bartlett leaving Nickelodeon to write and produce a TV movie for Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
called Party Wagon
Party Wagon
Party Wagon is an animated television movie created by animator Craig Bartlett for Cartoon Network. It was made to be a pilot for an animated series that Bartlett was making for Cartoon Network after he left Nickelodeon. However, the series was later scrapped. Little information of this series...
, a story set in the 1850s that featured Sean Astin
Sean Astin
Sean Astin is an American film actor, director, voice artist, and producer better known for his film roles as Mikey Walsh in The Goonies, the title character of Rudy, and Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In television, he appeared as Lynn McGill in the fifth season of 24...
as Randall P. McDuff, a young man who flees his own shotgun wedding and wanders west, eventually joining up with a band of other misfits whose wagon is continually getting kicked out of various wagon trains on the Oregon Trail
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
. Broadcast in the US on February 29, 2004, and originally intended as a pilot for an ongoing series, it ended up being the first CN movie-length pilot to be broadcast, but not picked up as a series.
In 2005 Bartlett returned to BRC to make a multi-media simulator attraction for NASA's Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...
in Cape Canaveral, Florida
Cape Canaveral, Florida
Cape Canaveral is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The population was 8,829 at the 2000 census. As of 2008, the estimated population according to the U.S. Census Bureau was 10,147...
, called the Shuttle Launch Experience. In the course of the 3-year project, Bartlett interviewed 26 astronauts to gather their experiences from launch to orbit. One of the astronauts Bartlett interviewed was four-time shuttle flier and commander Charles F. Bolden Jr..
After developing various pilots and feature scripts, Bartlett moved to the Jim Henson Company, where he co-wrote the computer animated film Unstable Fables: 3 Pigs and a Baby. Bartlett stayed at Henson to work as story editor on a PBS Kids pre-school show called Sid the Science Kid
Sid the Science Kid
Sid the Science Kid is a half-hour PBS Kids series that debuted on September 1, 2008. The computer generated show is produced by Jim Henson Productions and then-PBS member KCET in Los Angeles, California using the Henson Digital Puppetry Studio...
with PBS executive Linda Simensky
Linda Simensky
Linda Simensky is a production manager of various works of animation. Simensky served as an executive for Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.Simensky graduated from University of Pennsylvania in 1985.Simensky received the June Foray Award in 2000....
, whom he had worked with at Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.
In September 2008, a show for pre-schoolers called Jim Henson's Dinosaur Train
Dinosaur Train
Dinosaur Train is an American animated series created by Craig Bartlett. The series features a curious young T. rex named Buddy who, together with his adopted Pteranodon family, takes the Dinosaur Train to meet, explore, and have adventures with all kinds of dinosaurs.It was the second show by The...
was picked up by PBS Kids
PBS Kids
PBS Kids is the brand for children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States founded in 1993. As with all PBS programming, PBS Kids programming is non-commercial. It is aimed at children ages 2 to 10...
; produced by Henson, this was his first show created by Bartlett to be picked up since Hey Arnold!. The series debuted on PBS stations on September 7, 2009.
Personal life
He is married to Lisa Groening, sister of Matt GroeningMatt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
, creator of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
and Futurama
Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
, after whom Lisa Simpson
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
is named.