Andrew Overtoom Explained

Andrew Overtoom
Birth Name:John Andrew Overtoom
Known For:SpongeBob SquarePants
Clarence
My Life with Morrissey
All in the Bunker
Billy Dilley's Super-Duper Subterranean Summer
Occupation:Animation director, writer, photographer, cinematographer
Alma Mater:Vancouver Film School
Fordham University
Yearsactive:1993–present

John Andrew Overtoom is an American animation director, writer, photographer, and cinematographer. Recent credits include Nickelodeon’s The Patrick Star Show as well as the animated feature film , where he served as CG animation director and head of character animation. He was supervising animation director on the Cartoon Network series Clarence, as well as Disney XD’s animated television series Billy Dilley's Super-Duper Subterranean Summer where he was a writer and animation supervisor. In 1999, after two years as an animation timer on The Angry Beavers, Overtoom was hired as an animation director on the Nickelodeon animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants,[1] for which he was nominated for Emmy Awards in 2004, 2007 and 2011.[2] [3] My Life with Morrissey is Overtoom's first award-winning live action feature as a writer/director/cinematographer and is distributed by MVD.[4] [5] Other credits include Family Guy and American Dad for Fox TV, and Phineas and Ferb and Dave the Barbarian for Disney.

Career

After graduating, Overtoom attended Pasadena's yearly Animation Celebration, where his feature film No Parachute caught the attention of producer Mike Girard. Girard hired Overtoom onto Nickelodeon's The Angry Beavers, where he worked as an animation timer.[6]

Overtoom moved as an animation director over to another Nickelodeon series, SpongeBob SquarePants, since the show had begun in 1999. Laura Fries of Variety praised his work on the 2002 special "SpongeBob's House Party": "Overtoom has created a very stylistic and vivid animated world that smacks of retro pastiche."[7]

In August 2001, Overtoom began the production of his first feature film My Life with Morrissey, which he wrote, directed and photographed. The film premiered in 2003.[8] Critic Stephen Dalton of The Times, in a positive review, wrote that "[B]ehind its high-camp, irreverent tone, Overtoom's film is clearly a twisted tribute."[9] The film won the Audience Award at the 2003 Black Point Film Festival in Wisconsin.

In 2009 Overtoom and Vancouver Film School classmates Trent Noble and Yann Trembley animated the CG short film All in the Bunker.[10] The offbeat comedy, written and directed by Overtoom, is a satire of modern day sitcom-culture and network television and stars Kurtwood Smith, Cheryl Hines and Don Novello.

Overtoom has served as an Timing Director on Family Guy episodes,[11] [12] a sheet timer for The Mighty B! and Timing Director on the Disney Channel animated series Phineas and Ferb.[13] He served as the supervising animation director on the Cartoon Network series Clarence and the Disney XD animated series Billy Dilley's Super-Duper Subterranean Summer. In early 2018, Overtoom returned to SpongeBob SquarePants to work on season 12 as an animation director. He was subsequently hired as CG Animation Director at Paramount Pictures for the first all CG SpongeBob feature , where he created a CG animation style constructed from commonly used techniques of 2D and stop-motion animation, relying heavily on his past work on SpongeBob and also Nick Park's Oscar winning Wallace and Gromit short films The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave. Overtoom was then promoted to Head of Character Animation (HOCA) by Paramount in the summer of 2018. In 2019, he headed to Montreal to continue production on the new SpongeBob feature film at Mikros Image, continuing his duties as CG Animation Director and Head of Character Animation (HOCA). The SpongeBob feature released in theaters in Canada on August 14, 2020.

Personal life

Overtoom graduated from the Vancouver Film School,[14] and also studied at Fordham University.[15]

Filmography

Television

YearShowRoleNotes
1996Quack PackAssistant director
1997Nightmare NedSheet timer
1999The Angry BeaversAnimation timer
Oh Yeah! CartoonsDirector
1999-2012; 2018–present SpongeBob SquarePantsAnimation director, Sheet timer, Footage provider, Songwriter
2004Dave the BarbarianTiming director
2005Family GuyAnimation timer
2006-2007The Emperor's New SchoolTiming director
2007Squirrel BoySheet timer
Ni Hao, Kai-Lan
2007-2008Random! CartoonsDirector, Sheet timer
2008-2009The Mighty B!Sheet timer
2012-2013Phineas and FerbAnimation timer/Timing director
2013-2014Adventure Time Sheet timer
2014-2015ClarenceSupervising Animation Director, Title Art and Photography, Stop Motion Animation, Live Action Sequences
2016–2018Pickle and PeanutDirector
2017Billy Dilley's Super-Duper Subterranean SummerSupervising Timing Director, writer, Storyboard Artist, Dialogue director
Spider-ManTiming director
2021The Patrick Star ShowAnimation director

Film

YearFilmRoleNotes
2001Constant PayneAnimation directorAnimated short film
2002Animation timing directorDirect-to-video
2003My Life with MorrisseyDirector
Writer
Producer
Music supervisor
Cinematographer
Real Life With MorrisseyDirector
Writer
Producer
Editor
Cinematographer
Documentary film
2004The SpongeBob SquarePants MovieAnimation timing director
2005Animation timerDirect-to-video
The Proud Family MovieTiming director
2007SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantisAnimation directorTelevision movie
2009All in the BunkerDirector
Writer
Producer
Animator
Cinematographer
Animated short film
SpongeBob's Truth or SquareAnimation directorTelevision movie
2015JammersAnimatic directorAnimated short film
2020Head of character animation

Notes and References

  1. Lerman, Laurence. October 6, 2003. Meeting Mr. Smiths. Video Business. 23. 40. 21.
  2. Web site: SpongeBob SquarePants nominations for the Emmy Awards. Emmy Awards. October 23, 2012.
  3. Web site: Andrew Overtoom's crew page . My Life With Morrissey . October 22, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081119040834/http://www.mylifewithmorrissey.com/crew/pages/andy.html . November 19, 2008 .
  4. Web site: My Life With Morrissey (2003). Rotten Tomatoes. October 23, 2012.
  5. Web site: Interview: From SpongeBob to Morrissey –Andrew Overtoom works with the Best. Film Threat. October 22, 2012.
  6. Web site: Successful Animation School Graduates. Animation School. October 22, 2012. September 23, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20130120191513/http://animation-school.net/successful-animation-school-graduates/. January 20, 2013.
  7. Web site: Fries, Laura. May 16, 2002. SpongeBob's House Party. Variety. December 3, 2012.
  8. Web site: Interview with Andrew Overtoom. Film Threat. October 22, 2012.
  9. News: Dalton, Stephen. February 26, 2005. My Life with Morrissey. The Times. 11.
  10. Web site: All in the Bunker. October 23, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120828041539/http://allinthebunker.com/. August 28, 2012. dead.
  11. Web site: Overtoom Bio. https://web.archive.org/web/20140415134150/http://www.in.com/andrew-overtoom/biography-315768.html. dead. April 15, 2014. IN.com. October 23, 2012.
  12. Web site: Overtoom listing on New York Times. https://archive.today/20130130065208/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/1070389/Andrew-Overtoom. dead. January 30, 2013. Movies & TV Dept.. The New York Times. October 22, 2012.
  13. Web site: Overtoom – Comic Con 2010 TV Panels Schedule. TV Equals. October 23, 2012.
  14. News: Burroughs, Alexandra. October 2, 2003. Cult of Morrissey fodder for feature. Calgary Herald. F6.
  15. Web site: Andrew Overtoom. LinkedIn. October 22, 2012.