Van Partible (born Efrem Giovanni Bravo Partible; December 13, 1971) is a Filipino-born American animator, storyboard artist, director, writer and producer best known for creating 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 ...

Johnny Bravo ''Johnny Bravo'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Van Partible for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It is the second of the network's Cartoon Cartoons, which aired from ...

''.

Early life and education

Partible was born in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

but moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

when he was nine months old. He grew up in

Salinas, California Salinas (; Spanish for "Salt Marsh or Salt Flats") is a city in California and the county seat of Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is the most populous city in Monterey County. Salinas is an urban area lo ...

with an avid love of drawing. Despite growing up copying artwork from collections of old comic books, it was not until college that Partible decided to pursue a career in

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

. Partible attended

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 ...

where he began work on a senior thesis project titled ''Mess O' Blues'' (1993). Initially a film about three

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

impersonators, the short time to produce the

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

influenced Partible to shorten it to one.

Career

''Johnny Bravo''

Upon graduation in 1993, Partible was 22 and did not have the extensive experience and portfolio that studios were looking for, and for a while worked in a daycare program for a local elementary school. ''Mess O' Blues'' was shown by Partible's animation professor, Dan McLaughlin, to a friend working for

Hanna-Barbera Cartoons Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

. The studio loved the film and asked Partible to do a pitch for a seven-minute cartoon based on it – what would become ''

''. The short was produced for

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 ...

's new animation showcase titled ''

World Premiere Toons ''What a Cartoon!'' (later known as ''The What a Cartoon! Show'' and ''The Cartoon Cartoon Show'') is an American animated anthology series created by Fred Seibert for Cartoon Network. The shorts were produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions; by th ...

''. Partible initially roomed with

Craig McCracken Craig McCracken (born March 31, 1971) is an American animator, writer, producer, director, storyboard artist, and designer known for creating the Cartoon Network's ''The Powerpuff Girls'' and ''Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends'', Disney Channe ...

(creator of ''

The Powerpuff Girls ''The Powerpuff Girls'' is an American superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later Cartoon Network Studios) for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Televi ...

'', ''

Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends ''Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends'' (also known as ''Foster's Home'', or simply ''Foster's'' for short) is an American animated television series created by Craig McCracken for Cartoon Network. It was produced by Cartoon Network Studios as ...

'', and ''

Wander Over Yonder ''Wander Over Yonder'' is an American animated television series that aired on Disney Channel and Disney XD. Created by Craig McCracken, it follows the adventures of the optimistic Wander, who rides across the galaxy to help the inhabitants of va ...

''),

Paul Rudish Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

(a designer on that series) and

Genndy Tartakovsky Gennady Borisovich Tartakovsky (russian: Геннадий Борисович Тартаковский, born ), commonly known as Tartakovsky (), is a Russian-American animator, director, producer, screenwriter, voice actor, storyboard artist, ...

(creator of ''

Dexter's Laboratory ''Dexter's Laboratory'' is an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It follows Dexter, a short, enthusiastic boy-genius with a hid ...

'', ''

Samurai Jack ''Samurai Jack'' is an American animated action-adventure television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. Tartakovsky conceived ''Samurai Jack'' after finishing his wor ...

'', and '' Star Wars: Clone Wars''). The only two cartoonists who worked at Hanna-Barbera fresh out of college were Partible and

Seth MacFarlane Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, comedian, and singer. He is the creator and star of the television series ''Family Guy'' (since 1999) and ''The Orville'' (since 2017), and co-creator ...

(creator of ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...

'', ''

American Dad! ''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since 2014, the series has been airing new episodes on TBS. ''American Dad!'' is the first television ...

'', and ''

The Cleveland Show ''The Cleveland Show'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Richard Appel, and Mike Henry for the Fox Broadcasting Company. A spin-off of ''Family Guy'', the series centers on Cleveland Brown, his new wife Donna Tubbs, a ...

''). Partible changed his character from ''Mess O' Blues'' around so that "he would be more of this '50's iconic

James Dean James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, ''Rebel Without a Cause' ...

-looking character that talked like Elvis". Partible picked voice actor

Jeff Bennett Jeffrey Glenn Bennett (born October 2, 1962) is an American voice actor who voiced Johnny Bravo in the Johnny Bravo, eponymous television series, Dexter's Dad in ''Dexter's Laboratory'', Brooklyn in ''Gargoyles (TV series), Gargoyles'' and List o ...

to play Johnny Bravo solely based on his young, hyped Elvis impression. The short premiered on ''World Premiere Toons'' on March 26, 1995, and involved Johnny trying to score with a zookeeper girl by capturing a runaway gorilla. Partible, with a small team of animators, animated the short themselves in-house at Hanna-Barbera using

digital ink and paint Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation. Proce ...

(the latter shorts and first three seasons of the series would instead use the traditional ink and paint and film camera). Two more shorts on the program followed (''Jungle Boy in "Mr. Monkeyman"'', and ''Johnny Bravo and the Amazon Women''), and the shorts were so popular that Cartoon Network commissioned a first season of series based around Johnny Bravo, consisting of 13 episodes. The crew of the first season of ''Johnny Bravo'' consisted of several writers, animators, and directors from ''World Premiere Toons'', including MacFarlane,

Butch Hartman Elmer Earl "Butch" Hartman IV (born January 10, 1965) is an American animator, director, producer, writer, and voice actor. He is most known for creating the Nickelodeon series ''The Fairly OddParents'', ''Danny Phantom'', '' T.U.F.F. Puppy'', ...

, Steve Marmel, and John McIntyre. Veteran cartoonist and animation legend

Joseph Barbera Joseph Roland Barbera ( ; ; March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) was an American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist who co-founded the animation studio and production company Hanna-Barbera. Born to Italian im ...

was also a creative consultant for the first season of the series. The series premiered on July 14, 1997, and three additional seasons followed. Partible was fired following the first season amid the

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

takeover of Turner Broadcasting; he returned to produce " A Johnny Bravo Christmas" and its fourth season.

Other work

Partible was a guest in a ''

Space Ghost Coast to Coast ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' is an American adult animation, adult animated comedy talk show created by Mike Lazzo for Cartoon Network and hosted by a re-imagined version of the 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Space Ghost. In contrast t ...

'' episode, " President's Day Nightmare", which premiered February 20, 1995; the episode also featured

, Eugene Mattos,

Dian Parkinson Dianna Lynn Batts (born November 30, 1944) is an American former model and actress. From 1975 to 1993, Parkinson served as a model on ''The Price Is Right''. Career history In 1965, while living in Falls Church, Virginia, Parkinson won the Mi ...

and Pat Ventura. Partible created a short called “ The Phabulizers “ for

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

as a part of a short series called '' Shorty McShorts' Shorts''. He has produced original materials for

Film Roman Film Roman, LLC is an American independent animation studio currently based in Woodland Hills, California and formerly in Burbank. It was previously owned by Starz Inc., which is now a division of Lionsgate, and later by Waterman Entertainment, ...

Walt Disney Television Animation Disney Television Animation (DTVA), formerly known as Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group and Walt Disney Television Animation, is the television animation production arm of Disney Branded Television, a sub-division of the Disney Ge ...

Fox Kids Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized as FOX KIDS) was an American children's block programming, programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channel ...

and for NBC's ''

Medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane *Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

'', for which he was the animation producer for the premiere of the third season. Partible served as an executive producer for

Cartoon Network Asia Cartoon Network is a pan-Asian pay television channel that primarily broadcasts animated series. Operated by Warner Bros. Discovery under its International division, the channel is broadcast from its headquarters in Singapore and Jakarta, Indon ...

's original programming from 2007 to 2012. Partible also worked on a video game titled ''Dancers of War'' alongside Scott Eaton (''

Call of Duty ''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter video game Media franchise, franchise published by Activision. Starting out in 2003, it first focused on games set in World War II. Over time, the series has seen games set in the midst of the Cold W ...

'', ''

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

'') and

Vince Clarke Vincent John Martin (born 3 July 1960), known professionally as Vince Clarke, is an English synth-pop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since its inception in 1985, and was previously ...

(of

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

, Yaz), although the project ended after the Kickstarter campaign was unsuccessful. He currently teaches animation workshops at Loyola Marymount University, works as a director at Surfer Jack Productions in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, California, and is directing the ''

Pete the Cat Pete the Cat is a fictional cartoon cat, created by American artist James Dean. The series started with four books illustrated by Dean and with text by Eric Litwin; since then, James Dean and his wife Kimberly Dean have written and illustrated t ...

'' series for

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

, based on the children's books by James Dean.

References

External links

Official website
*
A Cartoon Network promo – Meet the Cartoonist: Van Partible
{{DEFAULTSORT:Partible, Van 1971 births American animators American television writers American male television writers American television directors American television producers American animated film directors American animated film producers American cartoonists American voice directors American writers of Filipino descent Filipino emigrants to the United States Living people People from Manila Cartoon Network Studios people Hanna-Barbera people