LOU GOSSETT JR. DEAD AT 87

 

You can read the full story here.

He played Commander Clash in Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Chiron in Hercules: The Animated Series, and Lucius Fox in The Batman (2004). 

ELI NOYES DEAD AT 81

 

You can read the full story here.

He created the Sand Alphabet shorts, which taught children letters through stop-motion animated sand, that aired on Sesame Street from 1973 until 2001.

M. EMMET WALSH DEAD AT 88

 

You can read the full story here.

He starred as Rocco in “The Adventures of Con Sawyer and Hucklemary Finn” episode of ABC Weekend Specials; Mack in Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot; Jeb in an episode of What’s New, Scooby-Doo?; and Olaf in Pound Puppies (2010). 

STAR WARS: FORCES OF DESTINY

 

STAR WARS: FORCES OF DESTINY
(YouTube, July 3, 2017-May 25, 2018)
 
Lucasfilm, Lucasfilm Animation, Ghostbot

 

 

MAIN CAST:
Ashley Eckstein – Ahsoka Tano, little girl
Olivia Hack – Qi’ra
Felicity Jones (season 1) & Helen Sadler (season 2) – Jyn Erso
Vanessa Marshall – Hera Syndulla, mother, vendor
Lupita Nyong’o – Maz Kanata
Daisy Ridley – Rey
Tiya Sircar – Sabine Wren
Catherine Taber – Padmé Amidala, child
Gina Torres – Ketsu Onyo, Cato Parasitti
Kelly Marie Tran – Rose Tico
Shelby Young – Leia Organa, Kneesaa

 

For the history of Star Wars, check out the post here. 

            Set in and around the various eras of Star Wars, Forces of Destiny was an animated anthology web series that focused on the female characters of the franchise. It was part of a multimedia initiative by Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media that included a companion toy line from Hasbro, a comic series by IDW Publishing, and youth-oriented books. It was also the first 2D-animated series produced by Lucasfilm since 2003’s Star Wars: Clone Wars and the first since Lucasfilm Animation’s formation. The series was announced on April 12, 2017 in an article in Entertainment Weekly and a special preview was shown at Star Wars Celebration Orlando on April 14^th.

Ahsoka and Padmé in the thick of it.

            The series was developed by Dave Filoni, Carrie Beck and Jennifer Muro. The most notable aspect of Forces of Destiny was the number of actors reprising their respective roles from the various Star Wars films; adding what the producers felt was a bit of legitimacy to its place in the franchise canon. Among them was Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso (for season 1) from Rogue One; Lupita Nyong’o as Maz Kanata from The Force Awakens; Daisy Ridley as protagonist Rey from the sequel trilogy; Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico from The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker; John Boyega as defected First Order Stormtrooper Finn from the sequel trilogy; Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker from the original trilogy; and Anthony Daniels as C-3PO from the entire Skywalker Saga. Additionally, Ashley Eckstein reprised Ahsoka Tano from The Clone Wars; Vanessa Marshall as Hera Syndulla from Rebels and later The Bad Batch; Tiya Sircar as Sabine Wren and Gina Torres as Ketsu Onyo from Rebels; Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker and Jim Cummings as space pirate Hondo Ohnaka from The Clone Wars and Rebels; Tom Kane as Yoda and Catherine Taber as Padmé Amidala from The Clone Wars; and Taylor Gray as Jedi Padawan Ezra Berger and Ritesh Rajan as Mandalorian warrior Tristan Wren from Rebels. Additionally, Olivia Hack took over the role of Qi’ra; Helen Sadler as Jyn in season 2; and Shelby Young as Leia Organa. Many of these characters would interact on screen for the first time together, and the stories were designed to have more contained, personal moments rarely seen in the franchise.

Rey, Chewbacca, BB-8, Finn and Han Solo in the Millennium Falcon.

            Star Wars: Forces of Destiny debuted on Disney’s official YouTube channel on July 3, 2017 and released a new episode daily for a total of 8; each one running about 3-minutes. The format was chosen to accommodate the changing viewing habits of children. Following the last digital release, the shorts were then shown on Disney Channel. On October 1, the special Star Wars: Forces of Destiny Volume 1 was broadcast on the network, including 4 of the original episodes and 4 all-new ones, as well as new narration by Maz Katana between them. On October 29, Volume 2 was released with the remaining original episodes and 4 additional new ones. A second season released 8 episodes on YouTube on March 19, 2018, with 7 more being uploaded on Star Wars Day, May 4^th. They were again combined into the specials Volume 3 on March 25^th and Volume 4 on May 25^th, with 1 new episode being exclusive to Volume 4. It became one of the launch titles for the streaming service Disney+ The series’ music was composed by Ryan Shore, while also utilizing the theme by John Williams. Animation was handled by Ghostbot, Inc.

THE BACKYARDIGANS

 

THE BACKYARDIGANS
(Treehouse TV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., October 11, 2004-July 12, 2013)
 
Nelvana Limited, Nickelodeon Studios Florida (pilot), Nick Digital (pilot), Nickelodeon Animation Studio (as Nick Jr. Productions)

 

 

MAIN CAST:

Speaking:

LaShawn Jefferies – Uniqua

Lizzie Waterworth (U.K.) – Uniqua, Austin

Zach Tyler Eisen (season 1), Jake Goldberg (season 2-4) & Janet James (U.K.) – Pablo

Reginald Davis Jr. (season 1-2), Jordan Coleman (season 2-3) & Chris Grant Jr. (season 4) – Tyrone

Maria Darling (season 1-2, U.K.) & Emma Tate (season 3-4, U.K.) – Tyrone, Tasha

Naelee Rae (season 1-2) & Gianna Bruzzese (season 3-4) – Tasah

Jonah Bobo – Austin

 

Singing:

Jamia Simone Nash (season 1-3) & Avion Baker (season 4) – Uniqua

Sean Curley – Pablo

Corwin C. Tuggles (season 1), Leon Thomas III (season 2-3), Damani Roberts (season 3) & Tyrel Jackson Williams (season 3-4) – Tyrone

Kristin Klabunde (season 1-3) & Gabriella Malek (season 3-4) – Tasha

Thomas Sharkey (season 1-3) & Nicholas Barasch (season 4) – Austin

 

            The Backyardigans was a CGI-animated musical series that followed the adventures of five anthropomorphic animal children as they hung out in their shared backyard and used their imagination to go on wild adventures. These children were Uniqua (LeShawn Jefferies & Lizzie Waterworth), a pink-spotted unique creature that was curious, self-confident and adventurous, and the group’s leader by default; Pablo (Zach Tyler Eisen, Jake Goldberg & Janet James), a high-strung blue penguin that tended to overreact and experience panic attacks when encountering difficulty; Tyrone (Reginald Davis Jr., Jordan Coleman, Chris Grant Jr., Maria Darling & Emma Tate), a laid-back and cool-headed red-haired orange moose that always had a sarcastic comment at the ready; Tasha (Naelee Rae, Gianna Bruzzese, Darling & Tate), a strong-willed yellow hippopotamus who was rational, skeptical, and determined to get her own way; and Austin (Jonah Bobo & Waterworth), an imaginative fun-loving purple kangaroo that was shy at first since having just moved in, but grew to become more outgoing. Episodes would typically follow a formula, with the characters introducing themselves and the scenario they’re about to experience before the backyard transformed into that setting. The imaginary locations would fade back into the yard once they were done playing and returned to their respective homes. Each episode was set to a different genre of music (which the background music would emulate) and featured four songs. The music was composed by Evan Lurie and Douglas Wieselman.

Austin. Pablo, Tasha, Tyrone and Uniqua in the backyard.

            The Backyardigans previewed on Canadian network Treehouse TV on September 11, 2004 before debuting on the Nick Jr. programming block on Nickelodeon on October 12, 2004. The series was created by Nick Jr.’s vice president Janice Burgess, after she was invited to develop an idea by president Brown Johnson. A pilot called “Me and My Friends” was produced at Nickelodeon Studios Florida, featuring actors in full-body puppet costumes. The network passed, but Johnson encouraged Burgess to retool the idea, felling it would work better in animation. The resulting second pilot was approved for a full series order. The inspiration for the series came from action films, Burgess thinking “it would be fun to take kids on that big adventure”. She was also inspired by her childhood backyard, where she and her friends would play games and use their imaginations. Uniqua was based on how Burgess viewed herself as a kid and was the only character to appear in every episode. Dan Yaccarino designed the characters, with additional designing done by Michael Lennicx from Nick Digital. Nelvana handled the series’ animation and distribution. As they used actual children for the voices, many of them often ended up being recast as the show went on. When it aired in the U.K., the episodes were dubbed over by British actors.

Using their imaginations to go surfing.

            The series proved a hit with critics children and parents; racking up eight Daytime Emmy Award nominations, winning two, as well as Annie Award and Gemini Award nominations, winning one of the latter. In 2009, Johnson stated that they planned to keep the show running as long as possible, feeling that it was an “evergreen” property that could transcend multiple generations. Ultimately, forever ended up only being four seasons and 80 episodes. While a 5^th was planned, Burgess decided she was ready to move on to other projects and joined much of her team in transitioning over to Nickelodeon’s revival of Winx Club. The entire series was released by Paramount Home Media Distribution across 21 DVDs in North America, with co-producer Nelvana and later Fremantle Home Media handling worldwide releases. Two seasons were made available to stream on Paramount+.

IN REMEMBRANCE: 2023

      It's Oscar time again, which means it's time for us to follow suit with our own final tribute to those we lost in the past year that helped make Saturday mornings a special day for us all. Because many of these people aren't household names, their passing may have gone unnoticed during the year and thus this is our chance to pay tribute to them. Notice any we might have missed? Let us know.

Earl Boen (January 5) – Actor. Played Chef Pierre Goulash/Mr. Gordon in an episode of A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, as well as provided additional voices to other episodes; Magneto in Pryde of the X-Men; Lugg Brother #1 in three episodes of The Pirates of Dark Water; General Massey in “Liberty and the Littles” and Monostatos in “The Magic Flute” episodes of ABC Weekend Specials; Rhino in three episodes of Batman: The Animated Series; Zeus in an episode of Animaniacs; Kilrathi Commander in an episode of Wing Commander Academy; Principal Blumford on California Dreams; the President in an episode of The Mask: The Animated Series; Santa Claus and Earth in episodes of Pinky and the Brain; the Red Skull (2^nd voice) and the Beyonder in Spider-Man: The Animated Series; Vice President Obsequious in an episode of The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries; Nick (aka Santa) in an episode of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command; and Event Judge in an episode of The Zeta Project. He also provided voices for The Addams Family (1992), Skeleton Warriors and What-A-Mess.

 

Adam Rich (January 8) – Actor. Played Presto the Magician in the animated adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons.

 

Lin Larsen (January 10) – Animator and writer. He did storyboards for The Super 6, Fraggle Rock: The Animated Series, The Smurfs (1981), Denver the Last Dinosaur, The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Bobby’s World, and Garfield and Friends (where he also did models); layouts for The Super 6, The Atom Ant Show, The Secret Squirrel Show, Mighty Heroes, Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines, Doctor Dolittle (1970), The Pink Panther Show, The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan, “The Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park” episode of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie, The Roman Holidays, Inch High Private Eye, Hong Kong Phooey, Devlin, The New Tom & Jerry Show, The Mumbly Cartoon Show, The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show, Fangface, Plastic Man, 2 episodes of ABC Weekend Specials, Heathcliff (1980), The Biskitts, Snorks, Denver the Last Dinosaur, Mother Goose and Grimm, Garfield and Friends and supervised The Loud House; and did models for The Little Wizards.

 

Susan Burke (January 11) – Animation checker. She worked on the “P.J. Funnybunny” episode of ABC Weekend Specials, Static Shock, Ozzy & Drix, Xiaolin Showdown, ¡Mucha Lucha!, Duck Dodgers, The Batman and its film, Loonatics Unleashed, What’s New Scooby-Doo?, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!, Tom and Jerry Tales, and the 2017 My Little Pony theatrical movie.

 

Charles Kimbrough (January 11) – Actor. He played Sandy Dreckman in an episode of Pinky and the Brain; Mort Chalk in an episode of Recess and the Taking the Fifth Grade film; Brain Pod #29 in an episode of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command; Gordon actor in an episode of Batman Beyond; and Pat Jensen in an episode of The Zeta Project. He also provided voices for Hercules: The Animated Series.

 

Lee Moder (January 15) – Comic book artist. Co-creator of the Courtney Whitmore version of Stargirl who has appeared in Young Justice and Justice League Action.

 

Lloyd Morrisett Jr. (January 15) – Co-creator of Sesame Street, for which he also wrote, and Sesame Workshop.

 

Jeff Riche (January 20) – Background designer and artist. He worked on Scooby’s Laff-A-Lympics, Buford and the Galloping Ghost, Yogi’s Space Race, Galaxy Goof-Ups, Jana of the Jungle, Godzilla (1978), Super Friends, The New Fred and Barney Show, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979), Casper and the Angels, The Super Globetrotters, The Flintstone Comedy Show, The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang, The Kwicky Koala Show, The Smurfs (1981), The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show, Space Stars, Trollkins, Shirt Tales, The Gary Coleman Show, Pac-Man, The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, Wildfire (1986), The Flintstone Kids, and A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.

 

Bill Dennis Sr. (January 22) – Animation executive responsible for helping India establish a place in the animation industry. After a stint working for Disney through the Disney Renaissance, he headed up Hanna-Barbera’s Fil-Cartoons studio before going to India and founding Toonz studio with G.A. Menon, which produced Wolverine and the X-Men.

 

Anne Luiting (January 22) – Production manager. She worked on Muppet Babies (1984), The Little Wizards, the “P.J. Funnybunny” episode of ABC Weekend Specials, Batman: The Animated Series, Garfield and Friends, Bobby’s World, The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat, and C-Bear and Jamal. She also directed 20 episodes of Cro.

 

Brooke Tucker (January 22) – Actor. Played Belle Star in an episode of The Ghost Busters.

 

George McDaniel (January 26) – Actor. Played Jessie Spano’s father David on Saved by the Bell (1989).

 

George R. Robertson (January 29) – Actor. Played Mr. Fitch in the “Horatio Alger Updated: Frank and Fearless” episode of ABC Weekend Specials.

 

Cindy Williams (January 29) – Actor. Best known for playing Shirley in Laverne & Shirley, which she reprised for the first season of the animated spin-off, Laverne & Shirley in the Army, she also played Gerri Poveri in an episode of The Magic School Bus.

 

William Ruzicka (February 1) – Director and artist. He directed 12 episodes of Bunnicula and storyboarded for Transformers: Rescue Bots, Ben 10: Omniverse, Justice League Action, DuckTales (2017), and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

 

James Flynn (February 12) – Producer. He served as the co-producer on Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog.

 

Osamu Tezuka (February 14) – President and CEO of Toei Company Ltd., who joined the company in 1983 and worked his way up to his current position in 2020. Toei produces the programs that served as the basis for Power Rangers, Big Bad Beetleborgs, and Masked Rider and anime such as Yu-Gi-Oh!, One Piece, and Digimon. They’ve also provided animation to American shows throughout the 1980s.

Richard Belzer (February 19) – Comedian, actor and author best known for playing Detective John Munch for over 20 years between two franchises. He appeared on two episodes of Sesame Street season 10 as a man in a rowboat, cameoed as himself in the special Elmopalooza, and presented the Word of the Day from the set of Law & Order: SVU in season 38.

 

William “Bike” Kinzle (March 6) – Artist. Worked as a color designer on All Grown Up!

 

Erik Daarstad (March 13) – Cinematographer. Worked on “The Dog Days of Arthur Crane” episode of ABC Weekend Specials.

 

Lance Reddick (March 17) – Actor. Voiced Lunaris in several episodes of DuckTales (2017).

 

Michael Reaves (March 20) – Writer. Wrote for The Secrets of Isis, Shazam!, The New Archie/Sabrina Hour, Space Sentinels, Tarzan and the Super 7, Tarzan Lord of the Jungle, The New Shmoo, Space Stars, Blackstar, The New Adventures of Flash Gordon, The Smurfs (1981), The Incredible Hulk (1982), Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, The Biskitts, Benji, Zax & the Alien Prince, Pole Position (which he also developed), The Mighty Orbots (also story editor), CBS Storybreak, Dungeons & Dragons, The Littles, Challenge of the GoBots, Star Wars: Droids, Star Wars: Ewoks, The Real Ghostbusters, Teen Wolf: The Animated Series, Jem, Superman (1988), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987), Dink the Little Dinosaur, Tiny Toon Adventures, Peter Pan and the Pirates (also story editor), Batman: The Animated Series and two of its movies  (also story editor), Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, Conan and the Young Warriors  (also story editor), Gargoyles  (also story editor), Young Hercules, Godzilla: The Series, Spider-Man Unlimited  (also developer and story editor), Beast Machines: Transformers and Max Steel (2000). He also wrote an issue of Batman Adventures and three issues of Superman Adventures.

 

Charles E. “Ted” Bastien (March 21) – Director, artist and designer. He was a esigner on Star Wars: Droids, Star Wars: Ewoks, My Pet Monster, and Cadillacs & Dinosaurs; production designer on Beetlejuice (1989); did storyboards for Little Rosey and Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir; director on Gargoyles, The Magic School Bus (also did storyboards), Anatole, and Rescue Heroes; assistant director on Tales from the Cryptkeeper; and supervising director on SpongeBob SquarePants.

 

Coslough Johnson (March 23) – Writer, producer and artist. Wrote for The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show, The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle and Jeckle, The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show, Hero High, The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! and The Flintstone Kids.

 

Leo D. Sullivan (March 25) – Animator. He was a pioneer for Black animation that formed Vignette Films with Floyd Norman in the 1960s, which produced educational films about Black historical figures, and started a multimedia foundation to train underserved youth in new media technology. During his 60+-year career, he worked on Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, the “Nanny and the Professor” episode of ABC Weekend Specials, Jabberjaw, Laff-A-Lympics, I am the Greatest!: The Adventures of Muhammad Ali, CB Bears, Challenge of the Superfriends, The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle and Jeckle, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979), Casper and the Angels, The New Shmoo, The World’s Greatest SuperFriends, The New Adventures of Flash Gordon, Richie Rich, The Flintstones Comedy Show, The Little Rascals (1982), Pac-Man, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs (1993), Taz-Mania and Dumb and Dumber: The Animated Series. He also wrote two Slimer! segments of Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters and directed 3 episodes of C-Bear and Jamal.

 

Philip Balsam (March 31) – Musician. Composed music for Fraggle Rock: The Animated Series and Dog City.

 

Duane Poole (April 1) – Writer and producer. He wrote and served as the story editor for Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, Wonderbug (which he also developed), Jana of the Jungle, Godzilla (1978) (which he also developed), Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979), The Flintstone Comedy Show, The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang (which he also produced), Laverne & Shirly in the Army (which he also produced), Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour, and The Biskitts. He wrote for The Great Grape Ape Show, Far Out Space Nuts, Clue Club, The Krofft Supershow, Scooby’s Laff-A-Lympics, Posse Impossible, CB Bears, Super Friends, The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour, The Smurfs (1981), Alvin & The Chipmunks (1983), Saturday Supercade, and Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue. He also served as story editor for Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels.

 

Ken Mundie (April 3) – Producer and animator. He was the line producer for Peter Pan and the Pirates; director of the song sequences of Yogi’s Space Race and Galaxy Goof-Ups; worked on storyboards for Linus the Lionhearted, Life with Louie and Pinky and the Brain; and directed storyboards for The Little Wizards.

 

Donald W. Ernst (April 9) – Producer and sound editor. Served as the supervising sound editor for the spin-off film The Chipmunk Adventure and provided sound for Dino-Riders.

 

Elena Shulman (April 9) – Actor. Provided the Russian dub for Anne Boonchuy and other characters in Amphibia.

 

Darwin Vickers (April 14) – Writer. Worked on Ned’s Newt.

 

Sylvain Lemarie (April 20) – Actor. Provided the French voices for Java in Martin Mystery and Master Fung in Xiaolin Chronicles.

 

Jerry Loveland (April 21) – Artist. Served as a background color stylist for The Karate Kid: The Animated Series; worked on backgrounds for Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures, Defenders of Dynatron City, Captain Planet and the Planeteers, and Droopy: Master Detective.

 

Harry Belefonte (April 25) – Singer, actor and activist crediting with popularizing calypso music with international audiences. He made several appearances on Sesame Street.

 

Vahe Haytaian (April 27) – Technical Director for Walt Disney Television Animation. Worked on Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Mickey Mouse (2013), Pickle and Peanut, Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Elena of Avalor, DuckTales (2017), Milo Murphy’s Law, Tangled: The Series, The Lion Guard, Big Hero 6: The Series, Amphibia, The Owl House and The Ghost and Molly McGee.

 

Gerald Castillo (May 4) – Actor. Played A.C. Slater’s father on Saved by the Bell (1989).

 

Pauline Newstone (May 5) – Actor. Voiced Mum Mew and a secretary in Monster Rancher, Agatha Harkness in X-Men: Evolution, and Aspheera in Ninjago.

 

Mark Bourdeaux (May 14) – Toy designer for Kenner and Hasbro. Worked on the original The Real Ghostbusters toyline.

 

Ray Stevenson (May 21) – Actor. Played Gar Saxon in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

 

Nellie B. Rodriguez (May 26) – Artist. Worked as a painter on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987), and did ink and pain on Batman: The Animated Series and Taz-Mania.

 

Alexx Van Dyne (May 27) – Writer. Worked on Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask: The Animated Series, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, Men in Black: The Series, Jackie Chan Adventures, Loonatics Unleashed, and The Batman (2005).

 

Khosrow Vaziri (June 7) – Professional wrestler known as The Iron Shiek and actor. He wrestled for the WWF (now the WWE) which led to his being one of the featured characters in Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling. 

 

 Treat Williams (June 12) – Actor. Provided the original voice of Professor Achilles Milo in Batman: The Animated Series.

John Romita Sr. (June 13) – Legendary comic book artist that was once the art director of Marvel Comics. He had co-created numerous characters that would find themselves adapted to television and film, including Mary Jane Watson, the Shocker, Wilson Fisk, the Punisher and Wolverine, as well as original character Firestar who began on screen and ended up in the comics. He served as an art consultant on Spider-Man (1967), and was art director for Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.

 

Michael Miscio (June 14) – Editorial. Coordinated post-production on Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, Static Shock, Ozzy & Drix, Xiaolin Showdown, Duck Dodgers, Loonatics Unleashed, The Batman vs. Dracula, What’s New Scooby-Doo?, Legion of Super Heroes, Plastic Man in Puddle Trouble, The Batman (2004), Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!, and Tom and Jerry Tales.

 

Jimmy Weldon (July 6) – Actor and ventriloquist. The originator of Yakky Doodle’s voice, he voiced Solomon Grundy in Super Friends and Stu in the “Robbut: A Tale of Tails” episode of CBS Storybreak. He also provided additional voices for Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979), Richie Rich, The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show, Shirt Tales, Challenge of the GoBots, Yogi’s Treasure Hunt, and Tom and Jerry Kids Show.

 

Daniel Goldberg (July 12) – Producer, writer and director. Frequent collaborator of director Ivan Reitman that served as an executive producer on Beethoven: The Animated Series and Alienators: Evolution Continues.

 

Tony Bennett (July 21) – Legendary singer. Appeared on two episodes of Sesame Street.

 

Billy “Pop” Atmore (July 30) – Actor. Voiced Robert Farrell, aka the Rocket Racer, and provided additional voices for two episodes of Spider-Man: The Animated Series.

 

Paul Reubens (July 30) – Actor and comedian. Best known as the creator of the Pee-wee Herman character, around which he built Pee-wee’s Playhouse and portrayed him on three episodes of Sesame Street. He also played Mr. Herodotus in Hercules: The Animated Series, Dennis in the Teacher’s Pet film, Sir Malachi in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012), and Couch Dracula in Pickle and Peanut.

 

Sukhdev Dail (August 7) – Animator. Worked on layouts for Jeannie, Partridge Family 2200 AD, Jana of the Jungle and Super Friends; served as the story director for Casper and the Angels; animation director for Cave Kids, and animation timing director for The New Batman Adventures.

 

Craig Armstrong (August 15) – Animator. Did storyboards and background and character layouts for Tiny Toon Adventures; worked on layouts for Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, Denver the Last Dinosaur; was the background supervisor for Camp Candy; served as timing director for Adventures of the Gummi Bears; and did character layouts for Batman: The Animated Series.

 

Arleen Sorkin (August 24) – Actor, writer and comedian. She was not only inspirated the creation of the character Harley Quinn, but also voiced her beginning with Batman: The Animated Series through various DC Comics-based shows and projects until 2012 when she retired from the role. She also voiced Veronica in an episode of Taz-Mania and wrote two episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures.

 

Bob Barker (August 26) – Game show host. Best known as the long-time host of The Price is Right who reminded everyone daily to have your pets spayed or neutered, he also appeared as himself on an episode of Bailey Kipper’s P.O.V. and as Bob Barnacle in an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants.

 

John Ewing (September 15) – Animator and producer. Provided layouts for Spider-Man (1967); animated Around the World in Eighty Days (1972); supervised the animation on Darkwing Duck, Goof Troop, Tiny Toon Adventures (on which he also produced), and Taz-Mania; and was an animation director on The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat.

 

David McCallum (September 25) – Actor. Best known from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and NCIS, he also played Professor Paradox in the original Ben 10 franchise timeline.

 

Istvan Majoros (September 27) – Animator, director and writer. Animated on The Smurfs (1981); and did layouts for It’s Punky Brewster, Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, and Tiny Toon Adventures.

 

Rich Chidlaw (October 3) – Animator. He served as story director on Rubik the Amazing Cube, Super Friends, Saturday Supercade, Muppet Babies (1984), and Galtar and the Golden Lance, Challenge of the GoBots; and did storyboards for The Berenstain Bears (1985), The Real Ghostbusters, ALF: The Animated Series, ALF Tales, The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The New Adventures of Beany and Cecil, two episodes of CBS Storybreak, Gravedale High, Darkwing Duck, Raw Toonage, Aladdin, Gargoyles, Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series, 101 Dalmatians: The Series, Recess, Hercules: The Animated Series, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, ¡Mucha Lucha!, Xiaolin Showdown, Loonatics Unleashed, Biker Mice from Mars (2006), and SpongeBob SquarePants.

 

Keith Giffen (October 9) – Comic book artist and writer. Best known for his humorous take on the Justice League for DC Comics, he was the co-creator of characters such as Lobo, Catherine Cobert and one of the Queen Bees which were featured in various DC-based shows such as Superman: The Animated Series, Young Justice and Justice League Action. Additionally, he wrote for The Real Ghostbusters and did storyboards for Spider-Man Unlimited, Batman Beyond and Static Shock.

 

Edward Bleier (October 17) – Senior executive at ABC and president at Warner Bros. Television who foresaw and helped create the cable television industry. For ABC, he worked in daytime and children’s programming and sales and established their first Saturday morning children’s block built around repackaged Looney Tunes shorts. This would lead to about 100 different variations of Looney Tunes programming across 10 different networks. At Warner Bros., he was responsible for the return of Warner Bros. Animation to television by collaborating with Steve Spielberg on Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain. Heading up the Domestic Pay-TV, Cable and Network Features division, he oversaw the development of basic cable and pay-TV networks like Nickelodeon, MTV, and TMC.

 

Richard Moll (October 26) – Actor. Best known as “Bull” Shannon from the original Night Court, he voiced Two-Face and the Bat-Computer in Batman: The Animated Series; Emperor Spooj in an episode of Superman: The Animated Series; Wolf Man and Vorn the Unspeakable in an episode of Freakazoid!; was the second voice of Scorpion in Spider-Man: The Animated Series; and Krick in an episode of The Zeta Project. He also provided additional voices for The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat and The Legend of Calamity Jane.

 

Richard Machin (November ?) – Director and animator. Was the overseas supervisor for Where’s Waldo? (1991), Batman: The Animated Series and Mask of the Phantasm.

 

Jeniene Mapp (November 20) – Television host. She was one of the original hosts for the first six years of Saturday Disney, an Australian programming block that aired Disney programs on Saturday morning.

 

John Bush (November 23) – Producer. Worked on The Oz Kids and X-Men: Evolution.

 

Russell Norman (November 23) – Chef. Appeared on two episodes of the British cooking program Saturday Kitchen.

 

Marty Krofft (November 25) – Producer and puppeteer. Along with his brother, Sid, Marty was half of Sid & Marty Krofft Productions. They began as theatrical puppeteers before moving into television by designing the characters and sets for The Banana Splits Adventure Hour for Hanna-Barbera. That allowed them to branch out on their own to create H.R. Pufnstuf, The Bugaloos, Lidsville, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, both versions of Land of the Lost, Far Out Space Nuts, The Lost Saucer, The Krofft Supershow which included Dr. Shrinker, Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, Kaptain Kool and the Kongs, Wonderbug, Bigfoot and Wildboy and Magic Mongo, and Pryor’s Place.

 

David McKnight (December 3) – Actor. Provided his voice for the “C.L.U.T.Z.” episode of CBS Storybreak.

 

Norman Lear (December 5) – Legendary producer and screenwriter with over 100 shows to his credit. One of those was Channel Umptee-3, which was the first show to meet the then-new FCC educational programming requirements.

 

Stan Rogow (December 7) – Producer and writer. Created the series Flight 29 Down and was an executive producer on Darcy’s Wild Life.

 

Andre Braugher (December 11) – Actor. Guest-starred in Jackie Chan Adventures as Derge.

 

Ian Gibson (December 11) – Artist. Worked as a production design consultant on ReBoot.

Phillip J. Felix (December 23) – Art director and character designer. Served as assistant character designer on Kidd Video; character designer on The Real Ghostbusters; did background designs for Kid ‘n’ Play; character layouts on Tiny Toon Adventures; model designs for Muppet Babies (1984) and Biker Mice From Mars (1993), the latter of which he also did visual development for; and storyboards for Hercules: The Animated Series.

 

Tom Smothers (December 26) – Comedian, actor, composer and musician best known as half of the Smothers Brothers comedy duo. He served as one of the original hosts in the pilot episode of Hot Dog before being replaced by Jonathan Winters for the resulting series.