Thurop Van Orman
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Thurop Van Orman | |
|---|---|
| Born | Mark Ashton Van Orman April 26, 1976 Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. |
| Alma mater | California Institute of the Arts (BFA) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2000–present |
| Known for | The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack Home: Adventures with Tip & Oh The Angry Birds Movie 2 North Woods |
| Spouse |
Sherri Van Orman (m. 1999) |
| Children | 2 |
Mark "Thurop" Ashton Van Orman (born April 26, 1976) is an American cartoonist, animator, writer, producer, director, and voice actor. He worked with Cartoon Network to create and produce the animated series The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack (2008–2010), in which he voices the titular character. He made his directorial debut with The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019).
Life and career
[edit] | This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (March 2025) |
Van Orman was born in Norfolk, Virginia and grew up in Panama City, Florida. As a child, he wanted to live closer to the docks and would always love to adventure. He read plenty of adventure novels including from Jules Verne. He and his family moved to Salt Lake City when he was 12. He dreamed about being self-sustaining and wanting to build a hut. He later got a job as a janitor and moved to Shell Island at St. Andrews State Park. He spent a summer living in the jungles of Mexico.[1][2]
In 2001, he made a pitch pilot for The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.[citation needed]
Van Orman worked for the video game company Xantera before going on to study character animation at the California Institute of the Arts.[3] During his interned for The Powerpuff Girls while at CalArts. Van Orman was a storyboard artist and co-writer for Camp Lazlo, and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. He was also the supervising producer for Adventure Time and served as one for Sanjay and Craig only in its first season.
Since 2013, Van Orman has been working on a animated series under the title North Woods. The project was initially pitched to Nickelodeon the same year; after it was passed, the project was developed as a potential stop-motion animated film named Black Forest. Three years later the project was pitched to Disney Television Animation for Disney XD. The projects development was paused by Disney in 2018 but revived in 2021 for Disney Channel.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Upcoming films
[edit]Van Orman provided concept art for the film adaptation of The Little Prince. He has also announced via Twitter that he will be writing a film about vikings. In June 2024, it was announced that Van Orman will serve as executive producer and screenwriter for The Angry Birds Movie 3.[11]
Personal life
[edit]Van Orman has a brother named Jonny, from whom he took inspiration to start his animation career at Cartoon Network for Flapjack. He has been married to Sherri Van Orman since 1999 and has two daughters: Blossom[12] and Hazel.[13]
Inspirations
[edit]Artists who have influenced Van Orman include Joe Murray, Gary Larson, Jim Henson, Stephen Hillenburg, Craig McCracken, E. H. Shepard, Richard Scarry, Maurice Sendak, Mercer Mayer, Ronald Searle, Robert Crumb, Sergio Aragonés and Max Fleischer.[14]
Filmography
[edit]Film
[edit]| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | The Little Prince | Concept artist |
| 2019 | The Angry Birds Movie 2 | Director |
| 2027 | The Angry Birds Movie 3 | Screenwriter, executive producer[11] |
| TBA | Untitled vikings film | Screenwriter |
Television
[edit]As Crew
[edit]| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | The Powerpuff Girls | Story, storyboard artist, and writer |
| 2004–05 | The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy | Story, storyboard artist, storyboard revisionist |
| 2005–07 | Camp Lazlo | Writer, storyboard artist, and storyboard director |
| 2008–10 | The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack | Creator, executive producer, story, writer, storyboard artist, director |
| 2010–11 | Adventure Time | Supervising producer, story (season 2) |
| 2013–14 | Sanjay and Craig | Supervising producer, creative consultant |
| 2016–18 | Home: Adventures with Tip & Oh | Co-developer, story, writer, executive producer |
| 2019, 2022 | Amphibia | Voice actor, Special thanks |
| TBA | North Woods | Creator |
As actor
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–10 | The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack | Flapjack / Background Singer / Additional voices | 46 episodes |
| 2011–18 | Adventure Time | Tree Witch / Kent / Wishy | 3 episodes |
| 2011 | Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion XL | Flapjack | Video game |
| 2012–16 | Gravity Falls | Gideon Gleeful | 9 episodes |
| 2013, 2014 | Sanjay and Craig | Additional voices | 8 episodes |
| 2016 | The Magnificent Menagerie of Melvin McMelanie | Short film | |
| Home: Adventures with Tip & Oh | 1 episode | ||
| Amphibia | Sprig Plantar | Pilot only | |
| 2018–20 | Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Todd Capybara | 7 episodes |
| 2019 | The Angry Birds Movie 2 | Duck / Seal | Film |
| 2022 | Battle Kitty | Memory Monster | 1 episode |
| 2023 | Kiff | Louis | 1 episode |
| 2024 | Universal Basic Guys | Barry | 1 episode |
References
[edit]- ^ Zahed, Ramin (July 7, 2008). "Thurop Van Orman, Creator Cartoon Network's The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack". Animation Magazine. Retrieved March 21, 2025.
- ^ Perlmutter, David (March 13, 2014). America Toons In: A History of Television Animation. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-1488-5.
- ^ Strike, Joe (October 23, 2008). "A Boy and His Whale: The Marvelous Making of 'Flapjack'". Animation World Network.
- ^ "My cute wifey needle-felted this for my new show... NORTH WOODS". Twitter. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- ^ "@peytonwaldera @cartoonnetwork Nickelodeon... Which is abut to be really good again!". Twitter. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- ^ "Yes! It's called North Woods now and is happening at DISNEY✨". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved October 28, 2023.
- ^ "I'm working at Disney now. But apparently I'm not allowed to say what I'm working on... #itsasecret". Twitter. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- ^ "Nikolas Ilic - NorthWoods". March 3, 2021. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- ^ "North Woods (TBA)". FRANCESCA NATALE. Archived from the original on June 12, 2023. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- ^ "Demo for Disney Animated Show". SoundCloud. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
- ^ a b "Rovio, SEGA, and Prime Focus Studios Announce The Angry Birds Movie 3 Is In Production At DNEG Animation". Rovio. June 6, 2024. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ^ @littlethurop (April 22, 2023). "Her name is Blossom now 😊". X (formerly Twitter).
- ^ "Instagram".
- ^ "Frederator Studios Blogs | Channel Frederator Blog | Flippin' Flapjacks: The Thurop Van Orman Interview!". Archived from the original on February 3, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
External links
[edit]| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
- 1976 births
- Living people
- California Institute of the Arts alumni
- Cartoon Network Studios people
- Nickelodeon Animation Studio people
- American male voice actors
- Showrunners of animated series
- American people of Dutch descent
- American television writers
- American male television writers
- American television directors
- American animated film directors
- American animated film producers
- American male screenwriters
- American storyboard artists
- Sony Pictures Animation people