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Mark Zaslove (born June 7, 1959) is an American television and film writer, director and producer and novelist, in live-action and animation. He has won two Emmy Awards and the Humanitas Prize. He has created a wide range of content from the children's show "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" to his action thriller novel “Death and Taxes.”


Early life and education

Zaslove is the son of the late animator Alan Zaslove. Born in Los Angeles, California, he was the third-youngest member of the Magic Castle in 1976-77, as part of Dick and Diana Zimmerman's Junior Magicians Group. He attended U.C. Berkeley to study astrophysics but left the program after two years, staying in the Bay Area for two more years while writing his first (unpublished) novel, “Travail.”


Career

Returning to Santa Monica in 1981, Zaslove worked as a trainer at a fitness center while trying his hand at short fiction and screenplays. He joined LFP, Inc. in 1983, writing short fiction, and became Senior Editor on several of their magazines. The job lasted seven months, until he began animation screenwriting in the mid 1980s with '' Challenge of the GoBots'' and script assignments for Marvel Studios and Hanna-Barbera. By the late 1980s, Zaslove was a staff writer for Walt Disney Television Animation, working on Disney cartoons from that era. He was chosen to develop, story edit, and co-produce ''
The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ''The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'' is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. Based on the ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' books by authors A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard, ''The New Adventures'' was the ...
''. In 1987 Zaslove was a writer on the mini-series kickoff to the "DuckTales" series, ''Treasure of the Golden Suns''. In 1990 he co-created, co-produced, and story edited ''
TaleSpin ''TaleSpin'' is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. It first aired in 1990 as a preview-run on The Disney Channel before beginning its main run in syndication later that year as part of the pro ...
'', which became the first new series created for Disney Afternoon. Zaslove left Disney around 1993 to start his own company, Palisades Films. In 1993 he showran the series “Cro” and developed a cartoon series for
Film Roman Film Roman, LLC, is an American 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 currently by Waterman Entertainment, the p ...
based on the Mighty Max line of toys, named '' Mighty Max''. He reunited with Jymn Magon in 1994 for '' Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad''. Other notable series co-developed by Zaslove include '' Bump in the Night'' which he story edited and co-produced, and '' The Legend of Calamity Jane'' (1997) as well as “Howdy Gaudi” (2002) and Xiaolin Chronicles (2013). Zaslove served as a story consultant and show writer for the children's series ''
LazyTown ''LazyTown'' () is an Icelandic children's educational musical television series created by aerobics champion Magnús Scheving. Originally produced in English, it has been broadcast in dozens of languages globally. Designed to encourage health ...
'', produced in
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
in the 2000s. He worked on the full-length feature realization of the Newberry Award-winning “Maniac Magee” (2003), action thrillers “Madrassa Song” (2013) and “Six Dead Dogs” (2016), as well as features for various Hyderabad studios: “5 ½ Hours to Dawn” (2001), “Little John” (2002); “Son of Alladin” (2003), “Eshan” (2006), “Lost Voyage of Sinbad” (2007), and “The Dictator of the Darkness” (2011). He is a two-time
Emmy award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
winner and a recipient of the Humanitas Prize. In 2018, Aperient Press published the first thriller in his new “Tales of a Badass IRS Agent” series
“Death and Taxes.”


Screenwriting credits


Television

:Series head writer denoted in bold *'' Challenge of the GoBots'' (1985) *'' Defenders of the Earth'' (1986) *'' The New Adventures of Jonny Quest'' (1986) *''
Adventures of the Gummi Bears ''Adventures of the Gummi Bears'' is an American animated children's television series created by Jymn Magon and produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. The series, loosely inspired by gummy bear candies, takes place in a fantasy world ...
'' (1987) *''
DuckTales DuckTales refers to: Film and television * ''DuckTales'' (1987 TV series), original TV series ** '' DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp'' * ''DuckTales'' (2017 TV series), reboot TV series Video games * ''DuckTales'' (video game) ...
'' (1987) *''
The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ''The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'' is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. Based on the ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' books by authors A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard, ''The New Adventures'' was the ...
'' (1988-1989) *''
TaleSpin ''TaleSpin'' is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. It first aired in 1990 as a preview-run on The Disney Channel before beginning its main run in syndication later that year as part of the pro ...
'' (1990-1991) *'' Bobby’s World'' (1992) *''
Taz-Mania ''Taz-Mania'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Warner Bros. Animation from 1991 to 1995, broadcast in the United States on Fox Kids where it stars the Tasmanian Devil. Similar to other Warner Bros. cartoons of its time, such as ''An ...
'' (1992-1994) *'' Bonkers'' (1993) *'' Cro'' (1993-1994) *'' Mighty Max'' (1993-1994): season 1 head writer *'' Bump in the Night'' (1994-1995) *'' Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad'' (1994-1995) *'' The Legend of Calamity Jane'' (1997) *'' All Dogs Go to Heaven: The Series'' (1997) *'' The Wacky World of Tex Avery'' (1997) *'' The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald'' (1999) *''
The Book of Pooh ''The Book of Pooh'' is an American preschool educational children's television series that aired on the Playhouse Disney block on the Disney Channel. It is the third television series to feature the characters from the Disney franchise based ...
'' (2001) *''
Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead g ...
'' (2001) *''
Xiaolin Showdown ''Xiaolin Showdown'' is an American animated television series that aired on Kids' WB and was created by Christy Hui. Set in a world where martial arts battles and Eastern magic are commonplace, the series follows Omi, Raimundo, Kimiko, and Clay ...
'' (2004-2005) *'' Loonatics Unleashed'' (2006) *'' The Secret Show'' (2006-2007) *'' World of Quest'' (2008) *''
Pink Panther and Pals ''Pink Panther and Pals'' is an American animated television series and a modern adaptation of the classic DePatie-Freleng '' Pink Panther'' shorts from the 1960s. The series was produced by Desert Panther Productions and Rubicon Studios in as ...
'' (2010) *'' Maryoku Yummy'' (2010) *'' Secret Millionaires Club'' (2012-2013) *'' Clay Kids'' (2015) *''
Molly of Denali ''Molly of Denali'' (stylized in all caps) is an animated children's television series produced by WGBH-TV, WGBH Kids and animated by Atomic Cartoons, created by Dorothea Gillim and Kathy Waugh for PBS Kids and CBC Kids.
'' (2019-2020)


Film

*''
Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too ''Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too'' is a 1991 American Christmas television special based on the Disney television series '' The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'', originally broadcast on December 14, 1991, on ABC and produced by Walt Disn ...
'' (1991) *'' The Secret of Anastasia'' (1997) End credits show his main writing credit. *'' Seasons of Giving'' (1999) *'' Little John'' (2001) *'' The Book of Pooh: Stories from the Heart'' (2001) *''
A Very Merry Pooh Year ''A Very Merry Pooh Year'' (also known as ''Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year'') is a 2002 American direct-to-video Christmas animated musical film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. The film features the 1991 Christmas televisi ...
'' (2002) *''
Maniac Magee ''Maniac Magee'' is a novel written by American author Jerry Spinelli and published in 1990. Exploring themes of racism and inequality, it follows the story of an orphan boy looking for a home in the fictional town of Two Mills. Two Mills is h ...
'' (2003) *'' Son of Aladdin'' (2003)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaslove, Mark Daytime Emmy Award winners Living people American male writers American voice directors 1959 births Disney Television Animation people