Eric "Butters" Stough (born July 31, 1972) is an American

animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games ...

and producer. He is best known as the

animation director An animation director is either the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or television, and animated segment for a live action film or television show, or the animator in charge of co ...

and a producer on the television series ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand their ...

''. Born in

Evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, Stough attended the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado syst ...

and graduated in 1995 with a degree in film. A longtime friend of

Trey Parker Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, and composer. He is known for co-creating '' South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative partner Matt Stone. ...

, he has worked with him and

Matt Stone Matthew Richard Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, and composer. He is known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and '' The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative partner Trey Parker. Stone was intere ...

on most of their projects, including ''South Park'', '' South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut'', ''

Orgazmo ''Orgazmo'' is a 1997 American superhero sex comedy film written, directed and edited by Trey Parker and produced by Matt Stone, Jason McHugh, and Fran Rubel Kuzui. It stars Parker, Stone, Dian Bachar, Robyn Lynne, and Michael Dean Jacobs. T ...

'', '' Team America: World Police'' and the Broadway musical ''

The Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude dat ...

''. Stough has won five

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime E ...

for his work on ''South Park'', as well as a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

. He was the inspiration for the character of

Butters Stotch Leopold "Butters" Stotch is a fictional character in the adult animated television series ''South Park''. He is voiced by series co-creator Matt Stone and loosely based on co-producer Eric Stough. He is a student at South Park Elementary School. ...

on ''South Park''.

Life and career

Stough was born in

, and has characterized his upbringing as "well-rounded, sheltered and I did what I was told." He met

at age 13; the two later acted in school musicals and made short films together at Evergreen High School. Stough grew up interested in

animation Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

and aspired to be a "great

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

animator", but was not the best at drawing. He attended the

(UCB), where he initially studied in their art department. Parker convinced him to instead join their film department, as he would be able to make animated films rather than spend his time perfecting his drawing. He had an internship with

Jim Henson Productions The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known for ...

in college. He graduated with a film degree in 1995, and subsequently worked with Parker and

on the short film '' The Spirit of Christmas'' (1995). The film grew popular and resulted in a television deal with

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programm ...

to produce an animated series based on it, which became ''

''. Stough was the first crew member hired on ''South Park'', which premiered in 1997, and remains the show's producer and

to this day. He has also worked on various ''South Park''-related projects, including the show's theatrical film and the video game '' The Stick of Truth'', as well as ''

'', '' Team America: World Police'' and the Broadway hit ''

'', which he illustrated for. The character of Butters in ''South Park'' is based on Stough and his sheltered upbringing. He noted in his commencement address for UCB in 2014, "The nickname "Butters" stems from little brother, little buddy and innocent wholesome person." Stough has also provided the un-muffled voice of

Kenny McCormick Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick is a fictional character and one of the four main characters in the adult animated television series ''South Park'' along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Eric Cartman. His often muffled and incomprehensible speec ...

in four episodes of the show, "

The Jeffersons ''The Jeffersons'' is an American sitcom television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes. ''The Jeffersons'' is one of the longest-running sitcoms in history, ...

," " Lice Capades," " Mysterion Rises" and " Turd Burglars". He did not however provide the main voice of Kenny's alter-ego Mysterion.

Awards

Stough has been nominated for 14

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

and has won five for ''South Park'' in " Outstanding Animated Program" category, as well as a

. He also won awards for his short film ''Revenge of the Roadkill Rabbit'' at the 2000 Athens International Film and Video Festival. At the 2014 National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers (NAVGTR) awards Stough was credited (along with Bruce Howell and Adrien Beard) for the ''Game of the Year'' nomination.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stough, Eric 1972 births Living people American male voice actors American animated film directors American animated film producers Animators from Colorado American artists American television producers Peabody Award winners Primetime Emmy Award winners University of Colorado Boulder alumni