Biography

Joe Murray rode into notoriety on a new wave of animation in the early 1990′s, as the creator, director and producer of the Emmy award winning series “Rocko’s Modern Life” which aired on Nickelodeon and was syndicated world wide. Stemming from a crop of independent animators, (and coming off a Student Academy Award win) Joe brought to the tube a insatiable need to poke fun at the institutions we hold dear, and skew the subconscious with an array of whimsical yet irreverent characters. Rocko soon became known as a personal project that hit a chord with a legion of die hard fans.

The need to explore surreal worlds packed with infusions of color and eccentric characters, trickled into his books for children, such as Who Asked the Moon to Dinner by Tallfellow press. Writing feverishly, and experimenting with new painting styles and media opportunities, Joe stumbled onto a project that he felt needed a home on the air. He called Linda Simensky at Cartoon Network, and after producing the pilot himself, “Camp Lazlo” hit the channel to critical acclaim, strong ratings, and another dose of Joe Murray characters bent on telling us stories that mirrored ourselves. Aside from garnering International awards, Camp Lazlo won back to back Prime Time Emmy Awards in 2007 and 2008.

Joe Murray was born and raised in San Jose California, and feels fortunate to have been living solely off his art since he was 16. He opened his own illustration studio at 21 which soon expanded to produce his award winning independent animated films. Many have shown at noted festivals such as Annecy and Sundance.

Joe recently released his book “Creating Animated Cartoons With Character” through Watson Guptil/Random House, and has been mentoring animation students and professionals through his Cartoon Master Classes. His studio also creates characters and tells stories for marketing, corporate and studio clients. Joe also shares his expertise through lectures as well as consulting.

During 2010, Joe paved the way for independent creators by successfully funding through kickstarter.com, sample episodes of his animated series “Frog in a Suit” in order to launch an all animation and cartoon web channel called KaboingTV.

He currently lives and works in Southern California with his beautiful wife Aleide, and his two daughters Casey and Daisy.