Pete Oswald (born July 8, 1980) is a #1 New York Times bestselling illustrator and

production designer In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...

, best known for ''

The Angry Birds Movie ''The Angry Birds Movie'' (also known simply as ''Angry Birds'') is a 2016 computer-animated comedy film based on Rovio Entertainment's video game series of the same name, produced by Columbia Pictures and Rovio Animation, and distributed by S ...

'' film series and ''

ParaNorman ''ParaNorman'' is a 2012 American stop-motion animated comedy horror film directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler (the latter's feature directorial debut), and written by Butler. Produced by Laika, the film stars the voices of Kodi Smit-McPhee, ...

''. He is also known for his work as a children's book author and illustrator, and painter. Pete's work includes the #1 New York Times bestselling picture book, ''The Good Egg'', and the #2 New York Times bestselling picture book, ''The Bad Seed'', both part of the ''

Food Group A food group is a collection of foods that share similar nutritional properties or biological classifications. List of nutrition guides typically divide foods into food groups and Recommended Dietary Allowance recommend daily servings of each gr ...

'' series written by Jory John.

Early life and education

Oswald was raised in

Bountiful, Utah Bountiful is Davis city. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 42,552, a three percent increase over the 2000 figure of 41,301. The city grew rapidly during the suburb growth of the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s and was Davis County's l ...

, the son of Christopher and Nedda Oswald. His mother, also an artist, encouraged him to begin painting and drawing from an early age. He attended Judge Memorial High School, where he played baseball and basketball, in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

. After graduating high school in 1999, he relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

where he enrolled in

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

and earned a degree in animation arts. He then began working in Los Angeles in film and television animation. He cites his artistic influences as

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

Claude Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. Durin ...

, Gustav Klimt,

Miroslav Šašek Miroslav Šašek (November 18, 1916, Prague – May 28, 1980, Wettingen, Switzerland) was a Czech émigré author and illustrator, best known for a series of books for children, originally published by W.H. Allen, titled '' This Is...,'' which he ...

Charles and Ray Eames Charles Eames ( Charles Eames, Jr) and Ray Eames ( Ray-Bernice Eames) were an American married couple of industrial designers who made significant historical contributions to the development of modern architecture and furniture through the work of ...

Mary Blair Mary Blair (born Mary Browne Robinson; October 21, 1911 – July 26, 1978) was an American artist, animator, and designer. She was prominent in producing art and animation for The Walt Disney Company, drawing concept art for such films as '' ...

Ronald Searle Ronald William Fordham Searle, CBE, RDI (3 March 1920 – 30 December 2011) was an English artist and satirical cartoonist, comics artist, sculptor, medal designer and illustrator. He is perhaps best remembered as the creator of St Trinian's S ...

, and Al Hirschfeld.

Career

Oswald is the illustrator of ''The Smart Cookie''; ''The Couch Potato''; ''The Cool Bean''; ''The Good Egg'';''The Bad Seed'', And The Alderweireld Book written by Jory John. ''The Bad Seed'' was described by

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

as "kid-book humor at its best, both warmhearted and frisky — the kind that leaves adults, too, cracking up and grateful". The bestselling duo also created ''That’s What Dinosaurs Do'' together. Pete's author debut, ''Hike'', was shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal. He co-created the children's book ''Mingo the Flamingo'' Oswald has served in production design and the art department on multiple animated family studio films and television shows. He is best known for his work on the 2016 film ''

'', for which he transformed the characters, lighting, and set design from the popular mobile game into an animated feature film series over four years. He was noted for his work on ''The Angry Birds Movie'' in Vice's '' The Creator's Project'', which stated: "Pete Oswald's fingerprints are all over the cutting edge of animated feature films, marked by a bright, colorful, slightly angular style." In 2016, he appeared at

Comic-Con A comic book convention or comic-con is an event with a primary focus on comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events hosted at co ...

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

. In 2017, he began working on ''The Angry Birds Movie 2''. He served as a visual artist on the popular animated films '' Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa'', ''

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ''Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs'' is a children's book written by Judi Barrett and illustrated by Ron Barrett. It was first published in 1978 by Atheneum Books, followed by a 1982 trade paperback edition from sister company Aladdin Paperb ...

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 ''Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2'' is a 2013 American computer-animated science fiction comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation, animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. ...

'', ''

Hotel Transylvania ''Hotel Transylvania'' is an American animated media franchise created by comedy writer Todd Durham and produced by Sony Pictures Animation. It consists of four feature films, three short films, a flash-animated TV series, and several video ...

'', and ''

The Lego Ninjago Movie ''The Lego Ninjago Movie'' is a 2017 computer-animated martial arts comedy film produced by Warner Animation Group, RatPac Entertainment, Lego System A/S, Lin Pictures, Lord Miller Productions, and Vertigo Entertainment, and distributed by Warn ...

''. He also paints with acrylics, in addition to his animation and illustration work, and debuted his painting series ''Pacific Abstract'', inspired by the

California coast Coastal California, also known as the California Coastline and the Golden Coast, refers to the coastal regions of the U.S. state of California. The term is not primarily geographical as it also describes an area distinguished by cultural, economic ...

, at a pop-up art gallery show at

Bergamot Station Bergamot Station Arts Center is a Santa Monica facility housing many different private art galleries and appears in most tourist guides as a primary cultural destination. Opened September 17, 1994 as Bergamot Station the campus-like complex is ...

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...

, in 2016.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

, - , 2009 , ''The Story of Walls'' , Annie Award for Best Animated Short , , - , 2011 , ''Doubtsourcing'' , Annie Award for Production Design in an Animated Television Production , , - , 2013 , ''

'' , Annie Award for Production Design in an Animated Feature Production , , -

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oswald, Pete 1980 births Living people American production designers American animators American animated film directors American children's book illustrators 20th-century American painters Loyola Marymount University alumni 21st-century American painters