Alex Kirwan worked as a storyboard artist on ChalkZone, who came up with the character of Skrawl.[1] Having started his career as an 18 year old, Kirwan remains active in the animation industry to this day.
Early life[]
He was born in Duluth, Minnesota.[2] Kirwan's father is a film collector, and introduced him to the Looney Tunes.[3] While Kirwan was still in high school, Hanna-Barbera announced a storyboard contest encouraging children and teenagers to participate. He ultimately won the contest in his region.[4]
Career[]
Fred Seibert recalled that Kirwan was one of the first signed up to work on Oh Yeah! Cartoons, having been hired shortly after finishing high school.[5] His first job in animation was drawing props for Johnny Bravo.[5] An employee at Frederator Studios in the late 1990s, Kirwan supplied one short to the Oh Yeah! series, "Thatta-Boy."[2] Kirwan served as a prop designer during his early years in the business.[4]
Kirwan was an art director for the original My Life as a Teenage Robot short for Oh Yeah!, created by Rob Renzetti.[6] He retained Kirwan when the show was greenlit.[7] In 2006, Kirwan received an Emmy Award nomination for his story work on Teenage Robot.[8] For his work on Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends as a story writer, he won the 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (One Hour or More).[8]
Throughout the 2010s, Kirwan worked on Wander Over Yonder (as art director, for which he received an Annie Award nomination for production design)[9][10] and DuckTales.[11] With Eric Homan, Kirwan self-published the 2018 book The Mlaatr Sketchbook: By the Artists from My Life As a Teenage Robot, featuring 124 pages worth of sketches from those who worked on My Life as a Teenage Robot.[12] In 2019, he was named supervising producer on Looney Tunes Cartoons.[13]
ChalkZone storyboard credits[]
- OY4. "Snap Out of Water" (later incorporated into the first season)
- 102c. "Future Zone" (co-storyboarded with Rose Rosely)[14]
- 106a. "The Skrawl"
References[]
- ↑ ChannelFrederator (May 19, 2017). 107 ChalkZone Facts You Should Know! (107 Facts S6 E11). YouTube. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Seibert, Fred (November 18, 2010). "Thatta Boy," created by Alex Kirwan. Flickr. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ↑ James, Tito W. (June 24, 2019). Annecy 2019: Pete Browngardt And Alex Kirwan On Bringing Back The Looney Tunes. Comic Con. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Levy, David B. (February 16, 2010). Animation Development: From Pitch to Production. Pages 32 through 33. Simon and Schuster. International standard book number 9781581157307.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Seibert, Fred (November 29, 2005). Alex Kirwan. Oh Yeah! 1998. Frederator. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ↑ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: The shows, M-Z. Page 575. McFarland. Second edition. International standard book number 9780786422562.
- ↑ Perlmutter, David (March 6, 2014). America Toons In: A History of Television Animation. Page 322. McFarland. International standard book number 9780786476503.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Alex Kirwan - Emmy Awards and Nominations. Emmys.com. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ↑ Zahed, Ramin (September 13, 2013). McCracken’s ‘Wander Over Yonder’ Premieres Tonight. Animation Magazine. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ↑ Giardina, Carolyn (December 1, 2014). 'How to Train Your Dragon 2,' 'Lego Movie' Among Annie Award Nominees. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ↑ LAAF Coming December 7-8. December 4, 2019. Animation World Network. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ↑ Kirwan, Alex; Homan, Eric (December 28, 2018). The Mlaatr Sketchbook: By the Artists from My Life As a Teenage Robot. Independently published. Second edition. International standard book number 9781730934414.
- ↑ Wolfe, Jennifer (March 11, 2019). Warner Bros. Animation to Debut ‘Looney Tunes Cartoons’ at Annecy 2019. Animation World Network. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ↑ NickStravaganza. WorldCat. Retrieved February 23, 2020.