Graham Annable (born June 1, 1970) is a Canadian

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

and

animator An animator is an artist who creates 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. Animat ...

. He is the creator of ''Grickle'', published by

Alternative Comics Alternative comics or independent comics cover a range of American comic book, American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alterna ...

, and one of the founders of the ''Hickee'' humor anthology (also published by Alternative Comics). Annable has created works for the television, film, video game, and comic book industries.

Life and career

Annable was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. After graduating from

Sheridan College Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, formerly Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology, is a public polytechnic institute partnered with private Canadian College of Technology and Trades operating campuses ...

in Oakville, Ontario, where he was classically trained as an animator, Annable ended up at

LucasArts Lucasfilm Games (known as LucasArts between 1990 and 2021) is an American video game brand licensing, licensor, former video game developer and video game publisher, publisher, and a subsidiary of Lucasfilm. It was founded in May 1982 by George ...

. He worked there for ten years, starting in 1994 on '' Full Throttle'' and ultimately as a lead animator on the cancelled '' Sam & Max: Freelance Police''. In addition, Annable has done illustration and cartoon work for (among others)

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, painter, voice actor and filmmaker, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He ...

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

, and

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

. His self-produced short animated films are also popular among

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

watchers. Annable was employed as creative director at

Telltale Games Telltale Incorporated (trade name: Telltale Games) was an American video game developer based in San Rafael, California. The company was founded in July 2004 by former LucasArts developers Kevin Bruner, Dan Connors and Troy Molander, following ...

during their first year, and has continued working closely with them, later designing '' Puzzle Agent'', amongst other titles. He moved to Portland to work as a story artist on ''

Coraline ''Coraline'' () is a 2002 British dark fantasy horror children's novella by author Neil Gaiman. Gaiman started writing ''Coraline'' in 1990, and it was published in 2002 by Bloomsbury and HarperCollins. It was awarded the 2003 Hugo Award for ...

''. He co-directed

Laika Laika ( ; , ; – 3 November 1957) was a Soviet space dog who was one of the first animals in space and the first to orbit the Earth. A stray mongrel from the streets of Moscow, she flew aboard the Sputnik 2 spacecraft, launched into lo ...

's 3D stop-motion/CGI animated feature film '' The Boxtrolls'' (2014) which was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Animated Feature The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is an Academy Awards, Academy Award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best animation, animated feature film. An animated feature is defined by the a ...

Published work

*''Grickle'' (Alternative Comics, 2001, ) *''Further Grickle'' (Alternative Comics, 2003, ) *''Hickee'' (contributor) (Alternative Comics, 2003, ) *''Hickee'' volume 2, #2 (contributor) (Alternative Comics, 2004, ) *''Stickleback'' 2005 (Alternative Comics, 2005, ) *''Project: Superior'' (contributor) (AdHouse Books, 2005, ) *''Hickee'' volume 3, #4 (contributor) (Alternative Comics, 2008, ) *''Flight Volume Five: Evidence'' (contributor) (Villard Books, 2008, ) *'' Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent'' (designer) (Telltale Games, 2010) *''The Book of Grickle'' (Diamond Books, 2010, ) *''

Puzzle Agent 2 ''Puzzle Agent 2'' is an adventure/puzzle game by Telltale Games, in collaboration with Graham Annable. It is the sequel to ''Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent''. It was released on June 30, 2011. Gameplay Similar to the first installment, the gamepla ...

'' (designer) (Telltale Games, 2011) *''Peter & Ernesto: A Tale of Two Sloths'' (First Second, 2018, ) *''Peter & Ernesto: The Lost Sloths'' (First Second, 2019, ) *''Peter & Ernesto: Sloths in the Night'' (First Second, 2020, ) *''First Ever Graham Annable Doodle Collection'' (Odd Dog Entertainment, 2021, ) *''Second Delightful Graham Annable Doodle Collection'' (Odd Dog Entertainment, 2022, ) *''Eerie Tales From the School of Screams'' (First Second, 2023, )

Filmography

* '' A Goofy Movie'' (1995) clean up artist: Phoenix Animation Toronto * ''

'' (2009) storyboard artist * ''

ParaNorman ''ParaNorman'' is a 2012 American animated comedy horror, comedy horror film produced by Laika, LLC, Laika. Directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler (filmmaker), Chris Butler (the latter's feature directorial debut), and written by Butler, the film ...

'' (2012) storyboard artist * '' The Boxtrolls'' (2014) co-director * ''

Kubo and the Two Strings ''Kubo and the Two Strings'' is a 2016 American animated fantasy film directed by Travis Knight and written by Marc Haimes and Chris Butler. Produced by Laika, the film stars the voices of Charlize Theron, Art Parkinson, Ralph Fiennes, Roone ...

'' (2016) storyboard artist * '' Missing Link'' (2019) additional story artist * Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022) story artist

Awards

* 2002

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be a successor to the Kirby Awards, which were ...

nominee for Best New Talent.Harvey Awards Nominations 2002
* 2015

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

nominee for ''The Boxtrolls''.

Notes

References

* ''Comic Shop News'', April 2001
Flight Comics

External links

* *
Grickle Channel on YouTube
Alternative cartoonists Canadian animated film directors Canadian television directors Canadian comics artists Artists from Ontario Artists from Portland, Oregon People from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario 1970 births Laika (company) people Living people Canadian storyboard artists Sheridan College animation program alumni Canadian expatriates in the United States {{Canada-animator-stub