John Russell Dilworth (born February 14, 1963) 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 gam ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

, storyboard artist,

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

and the creator of the

animated television series An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...

'' Courage the Cowardly Dog''. His work has mainly appeared on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

, CBS,

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

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, NBC, Arte,

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

, YTV,

Teletoon Teletoon (stylized as TELETOON) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of "television" and " cartoon". The channel primarily broadcasts ...

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

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 programming ...

and

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, among others.

Career

After graduation, Dilworth became an art director at Baldi, Bloom and Whelan Advertising, but continued to work on his own films in his spare time, providing much of his own funding. His animated short, ''The Chicken from Outer Space'', was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

in 1996.

later commissioned Dilworth to turn the short into a series, which eventually became '' Courage the Cowardly Dog''. Dilworth is the president of Stretch Films, a New York-based design and animation studio, which he founded in 1991. He also worked on the original opening for Nicktoons and for shows such as ''

Doug Doug is a male personal name (or, depending on which definition of "personal name" one uses, part of a personal name). It is sometimes a given name (or "first name"), but more often it is hypocorism (affectionate variation of a personal name) which ...

'', '' Rugrats'', and '' My Life as a Teenage Robot'', as well as the

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 ...

animated series ''

PB&J Otter ''PB&J Otter'' is an American animated musical television series. It premiered on Disney Channel's preschool block (Playhouse Disney) on March 15, 1998. A total of 65 episodes were produced during the course of its three-season run, with the final ...

''. Dilworth created the series of nine animated shorts for

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

based on his independent film, "Noodles & Nedd". "Nedd" is named after the author Nedd Willard, a mentor. Dilworth's short ''Angry Cabaret'' was also featured in

's 1994 ''Animation Weekend''. His breakout film was ''The Dirdy Birdy'', which aired on MTV's

Cartoon Sushi ''Cartoon Sushi'' is an adult-animation showcase program that aired on MTV from 1997 to 1998. It was developed by Eric Calderon and produced by Nick Litwinko, and was the successor to Liquid Television. The title screen opening was illustrated by ...

and on Comedy Central. He was animation consultant of '' Gumby: The Movie'', and was also one of the directors of ''

Drew Carey's Green Screen Show ''Drew Carey's Green Screen Show'' is an American improvisational comedy television series that aired in the fall of 2004 on The WB, and the fall of 2005 on Comedy Central. The show was hosted by Drew Carey, and was somewhat a follow-up to the s ...

''. Dilworth appears in pixilation sequences in the 2013 animated short ''

Subconscious Password ''Subconscious Password'' is a 2013 3-D animated film by Chris Landreth offering an imaginary, comedic look at the inner workings of Landreth's mind, as he tries to remember someone's name at a party. The film was produced the National Film Boar ...

'' by

Chris Landreth Chris Landreth (born August 4, 1961) is an American animator working in Canada, best known for his work on the 2004 film '' Ryan''. He has made many CGI animated films since the mid-1990s, including ''The End'', ''Bingo'', ''The Listener'', ''Cau ...

. In 2017, Dilworth completed his latest animation, ''Goose in High Heels''. The 22-minute animated short could be previously be viewed on his YouTube channel, Stretch Films; however, it currently is not available online for viewing.

Stretch Films

Stretch Films, Inc. is a production company that was founded in 1991 by John R. Dilworth. It is best known for ''Courage the Cowardly Dog'' on Cartoon Network as well as the many short films screened all over the world.

Filmography

* ''Pierre'' (1985) (student film; appeared on

) * ''The Limited Bird'' (1989; aired on Fox) * ''Earthday Birthday'' (1990) * ''When Lilly Laney Moved In'' (1991; aired on the American Broadcasting Company) * ''Psyched For Snuppa'' (1992) ( Jumbo Pictures for Nickelodeon) * ''Smart Talk with Raisin'' (1993) (Appeared on MTV's '' Liquid Television'' in 1994) * ''The Dirdy Birdy'' (1994) (Redux aired in 2014) * ''Angry Cabaret'' (1994) (Also appeared on ''MTV Animation Weekend'') * ''

'' (ID's) (1994–1997) * '' The Chicken from Outer Space'' (1996) Academy Award nominated short * ''Noodles and Nedd'' (1996) (later appeared on ''

'') * '' Big Bag: Ace and Avery'' (1998) * ''Hector The Get-Over Cat'' (1998) – Indent for Nickelodeon. * '' A Little Curious'' (short films) (1999) * '' Courage the Cowardly Dog'' (series) (1999–2002) * ''Catch Of The Day'' (featuring Noodles and Nedd) (2000) * ''Courage in Scary Monsters'' (2000; ''Web Premiere Toons'' short) * ''The Mousochist'' (2001) * ''Life In Transition'' (2005) * ''The Return of Sergeant Pecker'' (2006, credited as Pierre Delarue) * '' Garlic Boy'' (2008) * ''Rinky Dink'' (2009) * ''Bunny Bashing'' (2011) * '' Pumpkin Reports'' (2012) – CGI pilot episode made by Spanish studio Motion Pictures, S.A., that hired John to direct the pilot. In 2016, was turned in a TV series. * ''The Fog of Courage'' (2014) – A special CGI short starring '' Courage the Cowardly Dog''. * ''The Dirdy Birdy Redux'' (2014) * ''Dirdy Birdy II: A Night at Club Sheik'' (2015) – A cancelled sequel to ''The Dirdy Birdy''. * ''Prudence and the Imps'' (2016) – An unfinished animated pilot * ''Goose in High Heels'' (2017) * ''Mom got eaten by a Spider Demon'' (2017) * ''Howl if You Love Me'' (TBA)

References

External links

StretchFilms.com, Homepage of Dilworth's Animation Company
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dilworth, John R. Animators from New York (state) American cartoonists American animated film directors American animated film producers Hanna-Barbera people 1963 births Living people School of Visual Arts alumni Artists from New York City 20th-century American artists 21st-century American artists Annie Award winners Cartoon Network Studios people