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Doug TenNapel

 

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Doug TenNapel



 
 
Douglas TenNapel is an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 musician
Musician

A musician is a person who plays or writes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music:* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument....
, animator
Animator

An animator is an artist who creates multiple images called frames and Key frames that form an illusion of movement called animation when rapidly displayed....
, Eisner Award
Eisner Award

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Award, commonly shortened to the Eisner Award, is a prize given for creative achievement in American comic books....
-winning artist
Artist

The definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art....
 and film maker. He is best known for creating Earthworm Jim
Earthworm Jim

Earthworm Jim is a Shoot 'em up#Run and gun platform game video game starring an earthworm named Jim in a robotic suit who battles evil. The game was developed by Shiny Entertainment, released for the Sega Mega Drive in 1994, and subsequently porting to the SNES, Game Boy, Game Gear, Sega Master System, and years later, the Game Boy Advan...
, a character that spawned a famous video game, cartoon series, and toy line.

994, he created Earthworm Jim
Earthworm Jim

Earthworm Jim is a Shoot 'em up#Run and gun platform game video game starring an earthworm named Jim in a robotic suit who battles evil. The game was developed by Shiny Entertainment, released for the Sega Mega Drive in 1994, and subsequently porting to the SNES, Game Boy, Game Gear, Sega Master System, and years later, the Game Boy Advan...
, the character that would star in Shiny Entertainment
Shiny Entertainment

Shiny Entertainment was an United States video game developer based in Laguna Beach, Southern California, and is the creator of several hits such as Earthworm Jim, MDK , Sacrifice and The Matrix: Path of Neo....
's video game, toy line, and cartoon series.






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Encyclopedia


Douglas TenNapel is an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 musician
Musician

A musician is a person who plays or writes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music:* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument....
, animator
Animator

An animator is an artist who creates multiple images called frames and Key frames that form an illusion of movement called animation when rapidly displayed....
, Eisner Award
Eisner Award

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Award, commonly shortened to the Eisner Award, is a prize given for creative achievement in American comic books....
-winning artist
Artist

The definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art....
 and film maker. He is best known for creating Earthworm Jim
Earthworm Jim

Earthworm Jim is a Shoot 'em up#Run and gun platform game video game starring an earthworm named Jim in a robotic suit who battles evil. The game was developed by Shiny Entertainment, released for the Sega Mega Drive in 1994, and subsequently porting to the SNES, Game Boy, Game Gear, Sega Master System, and years later, the Game Boy Advan...
, a character that spawned a famous video game, cartoon series, and toy line.

Biography


TenNapel was born and raised in the town of Denair, California
Denair, California

Denair is a census-designated place in Stanislaus County, California, California, United States. The population was 3,446 at the 2000 census....
. He started out as an animator on Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: The Animated Series
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: The Animated Series

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is a cartoon based on the movie Return of the Killer Tomatoes. It aired on Fox Kids from 1990 until 1992 and again in the spring and summer of 1996....
. He soon began working in the video game industry on projects like 1993's Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park (video game)

Soon after the announcement of the 1993 Jurassic Park feature film, based on the critically acclaimed Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, developers Ocean Software, BlueSky Software and Sega of America were licensed to produce games to be sold to coincide with the release of the film on the popular platforms of the time....
 and Stimpy's Invention
Ren & Stimpy: Stimpy's Invention

Ren & Stimpy: Stimpy's Invention is a Sega Sega Mega Drive video game based on the Nickelodeon cartoon for which the game is named. The player have to guide The Ren and Stimpy Show as they retrieve parts to rebuild their newest and latest invention....
 for the Sega Genesis and The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book (video game)

Walt Disney's The Jungle Book is a series of video games based on the 1967 The Walt Disney Company animated film The Jungle Book , primarily released in 1994....
 for the SNES and Sega Genesis. In 1994, he created Earthworm Jim
Earthworm Jim

Earthworm Jim is a Shoot 'em up#Run and gun platform game video game starring an earthworm named Jim in a robotic suit who battles evil. The game was developed by Shiny Entertainment, released for the Sega Mega Drive in 1994, and subsequently porting to the SNES, Game Boy, Game Gear, Sega Master System, and years later, the Game Boy Advan...
, the character that would star in Shiny Entertainment
Shiny Entertainment

Shiny Entertainment was an United States video game developer based in Laguna Beach, Southern California, and is the creator of several hits such as Earthworm Jim, MDK , Sacrifice and The Matrix: Path of Neo....
's video game, toy line, and cartoon series. In 1996, working for Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg

Steven Allan Spielberg, KBE is an American film director, screenwriter and film producer. Forbes magazine places Spielberg's net worth at $3.1 billion....
's Dreamworks, he created for The Neverhood
The Neverhood

The Neverhood is a 1996 personal computer CD-ROM Claymation video game created by animator Doug TenNapel and released by Dreamworks Studios....
 for the PC. The sequel, entitled Skullmonkeys
Skullmonkeys

Skullmonkeys is the video game sequel to The Neverhood, created by animator Doug TenNapel. Rather than being a Personal computer adventure game like its predecessor, it is a platform game for the Sony PlayStation....
, followed in 1998.

As for his film production, works on TenNapel's first feature length live action film, entitled Mothman, began somewhere in the late 90s, although as of 2002, the film was never finished. Regarding television, TenNapel was also the creator of the Project G.e.e.K.e.R.
Project G.e.e.K.e.R.

Project G.eeK.eR. is an animated television series that premiered on CBS on September 14, 1996. It was created by Douglas TenNapel, creator of Earthworm Jim, with original music by Shawn Patterson ....
 cartoon series for CBS
CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American radio network and television network. The name is derived from the initials of Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name....
, and was a consulting producer on the ABC series Push, Nevada
Push, Nevada

Push, Nevada is an United States mystery fiction television series set in the fictional town of Push, Nevada. It premiered on September 17, 2002 on the American Broadcasting Company network, and ran for 7 episodes before it became one of the first shows to be cancelled during the Fall 2002 season....
 with Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck is an United Statesn actor, film director and screenwriter. He became known in the mid 1990s, after his involvement in the film Mallrats , and has since become an Academy Award winner for his screenplay in Good Will Hunting in 1997....
.

As a graphic artist and cartoonist, TenNapel released his first comic book in 1998: GEAR, a surreal epic based on his real life cats, Simon, Waffle, Gordon and Mr. Black in a war against dogs and insects using giant robots as weapons. The cats from GEAR would eventually become the Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)

Nickelodeon is an United States cable television network owned by Viacom International, founded in 1977 as Pinwheel. The Pinwheel name was used until 1981....
 series Catscratch
Catscratch

Catscratch was an United States animated television series created by Doug TenNapel airing on Nickelodeon in 2005 and on Nicktoons Network in late 2007 ....
. His second graphic novel
Graphic novel

A graphic novel is a type of comic book, usually with a lengthy and complex storyline similar to those of novels. The term also encompasses comic short story anthologies, and in some cases bound collections of previously published comic book series ....
, Creature Tech
Creature Tech

Creature Tech is a graphic novel, written and penciled by Doug TenNapel and published by Top Shelf Productions. Elements of the story tie in with TenNapel's previous comic book work Gear ....
 (2002), became the focus of a bidding war between movie studios. 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation , also known as 20th Century Fox, Fox 2000 Pictures, or simply Fox, is one of the six Worldwide major film studios....
 and Regency Enterprises
Regency Enterprises

Regency Enterprises is a Los Angeles, California-based motion picture and television production company formed by Arnon Milchan and Joseph P. Grace....
 won the war and are developing the script for a live action motion picture based on the novel.

TenNapel did the cover art for several of Five Iron Frenzy
Five Iron Frenzy

Five Iron Frenzy was a Christian ska band formed in Denver, Colorado, Colorado in 1995 and disbanded in 2003.The band's music was most heavily influenced by ska and punk rock, but their influences also include heavy metal music....
's albums, including a sculpture for their live album, Proof That the Youth Are Revolting
Proof That the Youth Are Revolting

Proof That The Youth Are Revolting is Five Iron Frenzy's first live album, released November, 1999 by Sarabellum Records and Five Minute Walk, with distribution by Warner Bros....
. TenNapel has also created album covers and artwork for several Daniel Amos
Daniel Amos

Daniel Amos is a rock band formed in 1974 by Terry Scott Taylor on guitars and vocals, Marty Dieckmeyer on bass guitar, Steve Baxter on guitars and Jerry Chamberlain on lead guitars....
 CDs, The 1999 tribute to the band, When Worlds Collide
When Worlds Collide: A Tribute to Daniel Amos

When Worlds Collide : A Tribute to Daniel Amos is an Indie tribute album album by a variety of artists that pays musical tribute to the band Daniel Amos and its chief songwriter Terry Scott Taylor....
, the Neverhood soundtrack Imaginarium: Songs from the Neverhood
Imaginarium: Songs from the Neverhood

Imaginarium: Songs from the Neverhood is the title of a soundtrack CD released in 2004 on Stunt Records. The 2-disc collection includes 77 songs performed by Daniel Amos frontman Terry Scott Taylor for the Douglas TenNapel created video games The Neverhood, Skullmonkeys, and Boombots....
 and others.

Flink, a graphic novel by TenNapel, was released in late 2007
2007 in comics

Events...
 through Image comics. His next book, Monster Zoo, is due in early summer 2008
2008 in comics

Events...
.

TenNapel is also the lead singer of an independent band called Truck and is currently working on a Cartoon Network Original called Phibian Mike.

Bibliography

  • "The Strange Kid's Chronicles" (a series of five children's books, published by Scholastic
    Scholastic Press

    Scholastic is a North American book publisher corporation known for publishing educational materials for schools, teachers, and parents, and selling and distributing them by mail order and via Book sales club and book fairs....
    )


Graphic novels

  • Gear (Fireman Press, 1999
    1999 in comics

    Events and publications...
    , ISBN 1-58240-680-4)
"GEAR begins with four incompetent cats who are assigned to high-jack a Giant Killer Robot. The plans are made, the cats lay in wait, the Robot comes and everything goes wrong. On the other side of town, two detectives find a body and a mystery unfolds. The cat's home town giant robot guardian is attacked by a gargantuan mechanical insect. The whole town is thrown into a panic as they wait for the heroic return of the bumbling cats sent to bring back a Giant Killer Robot protecter. The backstory of a gear-shaped artifact called the Forbidden Mechanism is explored. The cat town is attacked by hordes of insect arimies while the Elder contemplates the fate of their world."


  • Creature Tech
    Creature Tech

    Creature Tech is a graphic novel, written and penciled by Doug TenNapel and published by Top Shelf Productions. Elements of the story tie in with TenNapel's previous comic book work Gear ....
     (Top Shelf Productions
    Top Shelf Productions

    Top Shelf Productions is an United States publishing company started in 1997 in comics, owned and operated by Chris Staros and Brett Warnock. The company is based in Marietta, Georgia....
    , 2002
    2002 in comics

    Events...
    , ISBN 1-891830-34-1)
"Good battles evil, and the world hangs in the balance! Resurrected by the Shroud of Turin, the zombified Dr. Jameson intends to finish what he started 150 years ago - destroying the earth with a giant space eel. Standing in his way is Dr. Ong, a would-be pastor-turned-scientist who now works in a government research facility infamously known as 'Creature Tech.' Aided by an unlikely cast of rednecks, symbiotic aliens, and a CIA-trained mantid, Dr. Ong embarks on a journey of faith, love, and self-discovery. All in a day's work at Creature Tech!"


Top Shelf's fastest selling first printing; 5,000 copies sold out in 90 days.
20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises picked up the feature film rights.


  • Tommysaurus Rex (Image Comics
    Image Comics

    Image Comics is an United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by seven high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator ownership properties....
    , 2004
    2004 in comics

    Events...
    , ISBN 1-58240-395-3)
"A tale about a boy and his T Rex! Ely is an everyboy trying to cope with the death of his dog Tommy. When he finds a live, 40-foot Tyrannosaurus Rex trapped in a cave behind his grandfather's house, Ely embarks on an adventure to tame this seemingly friendly giant, convince the town his new pet isn't a threat, and keep his dinosaur safe from the jealous town bully
Town bully

The town bully is a stereotypical character, especially from the mythology of the American Wild West. The town bully generally oppresses meeker residents of the town....
. With Tommysaurus Rex at his side, Ely discovers what it takes to be a man... and what it costs."


  • Earthboy Jacobus (Image Comics
    Image Comics

    Image Comics is an United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by seven high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator ownership properties....
    , 2005
    2005 in comics

    Events...
    , ISBN 1-58240-492-5)
"Chief Edwards retires from the Modesto Police Department a lonely man. On his way home, he hits a flying whale with his car, opening the beast's mouth to find a boy from a parallel universe named Jacobus. Chief discovers that a society of insect monsters want to kill this boy due to a mysterious virus that grows on his hand. He becomes a father figure to the boy and trains him how to survive insect monsters by becoming a great American ass-kicker."


  • Iron West
    Iron west

    Iron West is a graphic novel by American comicbook artist Doug Tennapel. The story is set in the 19th century wild west, but features lot of modern day objects such as robots...
     (Image Comics
    Image Comics

    Image Comics is an United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by seven high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator ownership properties....
    , 2006
    2006 in comics

    Events...
    , ISBN 1-58240-630-8)
"Preston Struck is an incompetent outlaw with a heart of fool's gold. He discovers an army of metal men bent on destroying central California. While Struck avoids any form of heroism, he gets a little help from a magical old shaman and his sidekick Sasquatch. Struck is going to need all the help he can get because he's deputized just as the mechanical men have taken over the railroad and are mutating the train into a giant demonic iron monster."


  • Black Cherry (Image Comics
    Image Comics

    Image Comics is an United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by seven high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator ownership properties....
    , 2007
    2007 in comics

    Events...
    , ISBN 1-58240-830-0)


  • Flink (Image Comics
    Image Comics

    Image Comics is an United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by seven high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator ownership properties....
    , 2007
    2007 in comics

    Events...
    , ISBN 1-58240-891-2)


  • Monster Zoo (Image Comics
    Image Comics

    Image Comics is an United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by seven high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator ownership properties....
    , 2008
    2008 in comics

    Events...
    , ISBN 1-58240-911-0)


Monster Zoo was optioned by Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi

Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi is an American film director, film producer, actor and screenwriter.He is best known for directing the cult classic horror film The Evil Dead and the Blockbuster Spider-Man film series....
 & Josh Donen's Buckaroo Entertainment in March 2008 for Paramount Pictures.


Discography

  • When Worlds Collide: A Tribute to Daniel Amos
    When Worlds Collide: A Tribute to Daniel Amos

    When Worlds Collide : A Tribute to Daniel Amos is an Indie tribute album album by a variety of artists that pays musical tribute to the band Daniel Amos and its chief songwriter Terry Scott Taylor....
    , 1999 Daniel Amos
    Daniel Amos

    Daniel Amos is a rock band formed in 1974 by Terry Scott Taylor on guitars and vocals, Marty Dieckmeyer on bass guitar, Steve Baxter on guitars and Jerry Chamberlain on lead guitars....
     tribute album


Filmography

  • Earthworm Jim (TV series)
    Earthworm Jim (TV series)

    Earthworm Jim is an United States animated television series which ran for 23 episodes in 2 seasons from 1995-1996 on the Kids' WB! programming block on The WB Television Network in the United States....
    , cartoon
  • Project G.e.e.K.e.R.
    Project G.e.e.K.e.R.

    Project G.eeK.eR. is an animated television series that premiered on CBS on September 14, 1996. It was created by Douglas TenNapel, creator of Earthworm Jim, with original music by Shawn Patterson ....
    , cartoon
  • Mothman
  • Koghead and Meatus, animated short
  • Push, Nevada
    Push, Nevada

    Push, Nevada is an United States mystery fiction television series set in the fictional town of Push, Nevada. It premiered on September 17, 2002 on the American Broadcasting Company network, and ran for 7 episodes before it became one of the first shows to be cancelled during the Fall 2002 season....
    , consulting producer
  • Sockbaby
    Sockbaby

    Sockbaby is a four-part no-budget short film directed by Douglas TenNapel, the man best known for works such as Earthworm Jim and The Neverhood; and John Soares, who is best known for co-founding the independent film group WestHavenBrook....
    , Director
    Film director

    A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a film. A film director visualizes the Screenplay, controlling a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfillment of his or her vision....
     and Actor
    Actor

    An actor or actress is a person who acting in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio programming in that capacity....
  • Catscratch
    Catscratch

    Catscratch was an United States animated television series created by Doug TenNapel airing on Nickelodeon in 2005 and on Nicktoons Network in late 2007 ....
    , cartoon


External links

  • at The Daily Cross Hatch, from March 4, 2007
  • , Silver Bullet Comic Books, August 29, 2007