William Osborne "Tuck" Tucker III (August 20, 1961 – December 22, 2020)[1] was an American writer, storyboard artist, animator, songwriter, and director who worked on Hey Arnold! and SpongeBob SquarePants. He directed Hey Arnold!: The Movie in 2002.[2]

Tuck Tucker
Born
William Osborne Tucker III

(1961-08-20)August 20, 1961
DiedDecember 22, 2020(2020-12-22) (aged 59)
Lynchburg, Virginia, U.S.
Other namesBilly Bob Tucker
Occupations
  • Writer
  • storyboard artist
  • animator
  • director
  • songwriter
Years active1987–2020
Known forHey Arnold!
SpongeBob SquarePants
Spouse
Connie Tucker
(m. 1990; died 2015)
Children1

Early life and education

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Tucker was born in Lynchburg, Virginia.[3] He attended Virginia Episcopal School and Virginia Commonwealth University. He would spend most of his time at home watching cartoons with his father and cites these experiences as being very special to him. He married Connie Dyste in 1990 and had one daughter, Gina Tucker. The family resided in La Cañada Flintridge. Connie Tucker died of a rare cancer in 2015 and Tucker moved home to Virginia to teach art to students at Longwood University.[4]

Career

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While in animation class, his instructor moved him to Los Angeles after graduation for work at Disney to work on films like The Little Mermaid as his first animation job. Afterwards, he left to work on shows like The Simpsons from Fox,[3] and then going to Nickelodeon while switching from storyboard work on Rugrats and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters to directing on Hey Arnold!.[5] After that, he moved on to SpongeBob SquarePants. He went from being a storyboard artist on The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie to being a writer and storyboard director,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12] and then a supervising storyboard director.[13] During his time on SpongeBob, he won the 38th Annual Annie Award in 2011 for Best Music in a Television Production alongside Jeremy Wakefield, Sage Guyton, and Nick Carr.[14] Afterwards, he went to direct on The Fairly OddParents during its ninth season.[4] In January 2015, Tucker began teaching graphic and animation design at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.[3]

Death

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Tucker died in Lynchburg on December 22, 2020, at age 59.[1][15] His cause of death was not publicly disclosed.[16]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Notes
1987 Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night Animation Breakdown Artist
1988 BraveStarr: The Movie Assistant Animator
1989 Back to Neverland Assistant Animator (uncredited)
1989 The Little Mermaid Breakdown/Inbetween Artist
1990 Flower Planet Concept Developer & Animator
1992 Tom and Jerry: The Movie Layout Artist (uncredited)
1996 "Arnold" Layout Artist, Storyboard Artist, & Supervising Director[17][18][19][20]
1999 Curbside Storyboard Artist
2002 Hey Arnold!: The Movie Director[21][22]
2003 Looney Tunes: Back in Action Animator
2004 Party Wagon Character Designer, Prop Designer, Additional Sheet Timer, Storyboard Artist, & Director
2004 Hare and Loathing in Las Vegas Storyboard Artist
2004 The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour Creative Consultant
2004 Jimmy Neutron: Win, Lose and Kaboom!
2004 The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Production Storyboard Artist
2006 The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 2: When Nerds Collide! Creative Consultant
2006 The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 3: The Jerkinators!
2022 The Bob's Burgers Movie Storyboard revisionist (posthumous release)[23]

Television

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Year Title Notes
1987–1988 BraveStarr Assistant Animator
1988–1989 ALF Tales Storyboard Clean-Up (Season 1)
ALF: The Animated Series Storyboard Clean-Up (Season 2)
1990–1993; 1995 The Simpsons Character Layout Artist (1990-1993)
Storyboard Artist ("Dancin' Homer")
Animation Timer ("Principal Charming")
Background Layout Artist ("A Star Is Burns")
1991; 1994–1995 Rugrats Character Layout Artist ("Tommy's First Birthday," "Barbecue Story/Waiter, There's a Baby in My Soup," and "Baby Commercial/Little Dude")
Storyboard Artist (1994–1995)
Assistant Director (1994)
1992–1993 The Ren and Stimpy Show Layout Artist
1993 2 Stupid Dogs Storyboard Artist
1994–1995 Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
1994–1996 Duckman
1996–2004 Hey Arnold! Creative Director
Supervising Director[24][25] (1999–2004)
Storyboard Director (1996–1999)
Storyboard Artist ("24 Hours to Live")
Storyboard Supervisor ("The Journal")
Sheet Timer (1997)
Director (1996–1998; 2001)
1997 What a Cartoon! Layout Artist ("Tales of Worm Paranoia")
1998 Oh Yeah! Cartoons Storyboard Artist ("Planet Kate")
2002–2006 The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius Creative Consultant
Storyboard Artist (2003)
2005 Camp Lazlo Writer & Storyboard Artist
2005-2006 Family Guy Storyboard Artist ("PTV")
Assistant Director ("Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story")
2005–2006 Drawn Together Director
2006–2014 SpongeBob SquarePants Writer & Storyboard Director (2006–2007)
Supervising Storyboard Director (2007–2014)
Songwriter ("The Inmates of Summer" and "Pest of the West")
Special Thanks ("Truth or Square")
2006 Squirrel Boy Storyboard Artist
2008 The Mighty B! Storyboard Revisionist
2013–2014 The Fairly OddParents Director (Season 9)
2013–2014 Clarence Sheet Timer ("Pretty Great Day with a Girl")
Storyboard Supervisor
Storyboard Revision Supervisor ("Belson's Sleepover")
2015 All Hail King Julien Storyboard Artist ("The Really Really Big Lie")

References

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  1. ^ a b Ramos, Dino-Ray (December 27, 2020). "Tuck Tucker Dies: 'SpongeBob SquarePants' And 'Hey Arnold!' Animator Was 59". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  2. ^ Tucker, Tuck (February 6, 2015). "6 Things I Learned About Storytelling From Animating SpongeBob".
  3. ^ a b c "SpongeBob animator shares top-level expertise with students in new Longwood program". Longwood University. January 28, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
  4. ^ a b Goddard, Emma (February 20, 2013). "Tuck Tucker goes from small town to big city with animation career". Collegiate Times. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
  5. ^ "'SpongeBob Squarepants' storyboard director to discuss the art of animation at Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology lecture". February 11, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  6. ^ SpongeBob SquarePants: Season 4, Vol. 2 ("Best Day Ever" credits) (DVD). United States: Paramount Home Entertainment/Nickelodeon. January 9, 2007.
  7. ^ SpongeBob SquarePants: Season 5, Vol. 1 ("Waiting" credits) (DVD). United States: Paramount Home Entertainment/Nickelodeon. January 9, 2007.
  8. ^ SpongeBob SquarePants: Season 5, Vol. 1 ("New Digs" credits) (DVD). United States: Paramount Home Entertainment/Nickelodeon. January 9, 2007.
  9. ^ SpongeBob SquarePants: Season 5, Vol. 1 ("Breath of Fresh Squidward" credits) (DVD). United States: Paramount Home Entertainment/Nickelodeon. January 9, 2007.
  10. ^ SpongeBob SquarePants: Season 5, Vol. 1 ("Slimy Dancing" credits) (DVD). United States: Paramount Home Entertainment/Nickelodeon. January 9, 2007.
  11. ^ SpongeBob SquarePants: Season 5, Vol. 2 ("The Krusty Plate" credits) (DVD). United States: Paramount Home Entertainment/Nickelodeon. November 18, 2008.
  12. ^ SpongeBob SquarePants: Season 5, Vol. 2 ("Mermaid Man vs. SpongeBob" credits) (DVD). United States: Paramount Home Entertainment/Nickelodeon. November 18, 2008.
  13. ^ writer, Maitland Mann, features staff (February 18, 2013). "Storyboard director for Spongebob Squarepants comes to Virginia Tech". Collegiate Times.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ Staff (2011). "38th Annual Annie Nominations". Annie Award. ASIFA-Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 14, 2014. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
  15. ^ "The Pegboard: In Memoriam" (PDF). The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839. Retrieved January 14, 2021. "Tuck Tucker died on December 22, 2020, in his hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia..."
  16. ^ Shafer, Ellise (December 27, 2020). "Tuck Tucker, Veteran Animator and Storyboard Director for 'Hey Arnold!' and 'SpongeBob SquarePants,' Dies at 59". Variety. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  17. ^ Olszewsk, Tricia (July 4, 2002). "Hey Arnold! The Movie; Directed by Tuck Tucker (film review)". Washington City Paper. ProQuest 362535824.
  18. ^ Mitchell, Elvis (June 28, 2002). "Flattops And Wild Hair vs. Gentrifiers (film review)". New York Times. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  19. ^ Kleinschrodt, Michael (June 28, 2002). "Hey kids! It's a cartoon about urban renewal and preservation (film review)". Times - Picayune. ProQuest 415590745.
  20. ^ Axmaker, Sean (June 28, 2002). "'HEY ARNOLD!' FILMMAKERS FUMBLED THE CHANCE TO DO MORE (film review)". Seattle Post Intelligencer. ProQuest 385531273.
  21. ^ "Long Live the '90s! Hey Arnold Is Returning as a TV Movie | TV Guide". TVGuide.com. November 23, 2015.
  22. ^ "Hey Arnold! The Movie (U)". British Board of Film Classification. August 20, 2002. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
  23. ^ "Spongebob Squarepants And Hey Arnold Animator Tuck Tucker Is Dead At 59". Cinemablend.com. December 30, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  24. ^ "Tuck Tucker Draws Helga (1999) - Nickelodeon BrainBender". YouTube. July 14, 2014. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  25. ^ "Craig Bartlett Interview/Tuck Tucker Draws Arnold (1999) - Nickelodeon BrainBender". YouTube. July 14, 2014. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
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