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Aaron Springer

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Aaron Springer
Alma materCalifornia Institute of the Arts
Occupation(s)Writer, director, artist, animator, voice actor
Years active1994–present
Known forBilly Dilley's Super-Duper Subterranean Summer
Korgoth of Barbaria
SpongeBob SquarePants
Mickey Mouse
Websitewww.funtowne.com

Aaron Paul Springer is an American cartoonist, animator, artist, writer, director, and voice actor. He is best known for his work on the Nickelodeon animated series SpongeBob SquarePants, for which he contributed to as a writer, storyboard artist and storyboard director for the first eight seasons, as well as co-writing and storyboarding its 2004 film adaptation. He is also the creator of the Disney XD original series Billy Dilley's Super-Duper Subterranean Summer, in which he voiced the main character, Billy Dilley.

Career

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A graduate of the California Institute of the Arts, Springer began his career in animation working for Spümcø. He's best known for creating pilots at Cartoon Network Studios that were never picked up as full series, but have developed cult followings.

His most recognizable pilot is Korgoth of Barbaria for Adult Swim in 2006, which was originally picked up for a full series (because of its critical and commercial success with garnering high ratings), however the decision was eventually passed up as the production costs would've been too expensive, so says later events, including a formal petition to revive the show.[1]

Springer also created Periwinkle Around the World back in 2004 for Cartoon Network, that was divided into five separate two-minute shorts, produced and directed by Genndy Tartakovsky. This series of shorts followed an anthromorphic platypus as he travels around a few places in the world, such as China and Italy. Tom Kenny voiced a majority of the characters in these shorts. Refusing to pick it up as a full series, Cartoon Network instead was going to release five shorts from the pilot as mobile phone content, but ended up putting them in their Sunday Pants anthology series in 2005.

Springer's last pilot for Cartoon Network was Baloobaloob's Fun Park in 2009, which was produced as part of The Cartoonstitute.

Springer gained notoriety through his efforts as a writer and storyboard artist on various movies and television series. His notable efforts include Samurai Jack (2002–2003), Dexter's Laboratory (2003), The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (2005–2007) and SpongeBob SquarePants (1999–2012). More recently, he has contributed to Gravity Falls (2012–2013), Wander Over Yonder (2014) and the Mickey Mouse (2013–2015) television series.

Springer created Billy Dilley's Super-Duper Subterranean Summer for Disney XD, where he voiced the main character, Billy Dilley. The show was first announced in 2014 as a potential pilot, alongside another potential pilot Very Important House. In March 2016, it was confirmed that Disney XD has greenlit Springer's show for a full series. It officially premiered on June 3rd, 2017, and ended 12 days later. In 2019, Pete Browngardt mentioned that Springer was at Warner Bros. Animation developing a new adult animated project under the name Snail Riders of Zongdar, however the project was passed up some time after the initial trailer pitch. In 2024, Springer returned to Paramount Animation to be a storyboard artist for The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants.

Springer has collaborated with various animation veterans such as Lynne Naylor, Chris Reccardi, Alex Hirsch, Craig McCracken, Genndy Tartakovsky, Paul Rudish, Rumen Petkov, Dave Wasson, Rob Renzetti, Maxwell Atoms, C. H. Greenblatt, Dan Povenmire, Chris Savino, Stephen Hillenburg, and John Kricfalusi. Aaron Springer's cartoons are unique for their inclusion of extended gags, anthropomorphism and off-model poses. Springer has cited Richard Scarry, Sergio Aragonés, Frank Frazetta, Vaughn Bodē, Akira Toriyama, Hideshi Hino, Shigeru Mizuki and Hugo Pratt amongst his influences.

Filmography

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Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1999–2012 SpongeBob SquarePants Real-life drummer ("Pre-Hibernation Week" episode) writer (Seasons 1–8)

director (Season 2) storyboard director (Seasons 1–8) storyboard artist (Season 1)

1999 A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith layout artist
2001 A Kitty Bobo Show animation layout artist
2002 Poochini storyboard artist ("The Dogsitter" & "Butterfly Season")
2002–2003 Samurai Jack writer/storyboard artist
2003 Dexter's Laboratory writer/storyboard artist
2004 Periwinkle Around the World creator/director/storyboard artist/layout artist
2005–2007 The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy story/storyboard artist
2005 Sunday Pants writer/storyboard artist/layout artist/executive producer
2006 Korgoth of Barbaria creator/writer/director/storyboard artist/character designer/executive producer
2009 Baloobaloob's Fun Park creator/director/storyboard artist
2012–2013 Gravity Falls director (season 1)
2013–2015 Mickey Mouse various writer/director/storyboard artist
2014 Wander Over Yonder additional voices story/writer/director/storyboard artist ("The Helper")
2017 Billy Dilley's Super-Duper Subterranean Summer Billy Dilley creator/executive producer/writer/storyboard artist
2021 Snail Riders of Zongdar creator/director/storyboard artist[2]
2023 Looney Tunes Cartoons writer/storyboard artist/character designer ("Crumb and Get It")

Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1997 A Sunday Stroll Student films
Baby's New Formula
Cats Don't Dance intern artist (uncredited)
2001 Samurai Jack: The Premiere Movie storyboard artist (uncredited)
2003 Looney Tunes: Back in Action storyboard artist
2004 The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Laughing Bubble storyboard artist/writer/character design
2007 SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis Live-action segments only
2020 The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run head of story
2022 Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo! storyboard artist
2025 The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants

Music videos and Internet

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Year Title Role Notes
1997 Björk: I Miss You storyboard/layout/animator[3]
Weekend Pussy Hunt storyboard/layout
What Pee Boners Are For storyboard/layout
1997–1998 The Goddamn George Liquor Program storyboard/layout/animator

References

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  1. ^ Bring Back Korgoth of Barbaria on petitionhosting.com
  2. ^ Aaron Springer, Peter Browngardt (2021), Snail Riders Of Zongdar, retrieved 2024-04-23
  3. ^ "Bjork Scrapbook - Page Six". spumco.com. Archived from the original on 1998-02-12. Retrieved 2019-07-04.
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