Tuck Tucker, a veteran animator and storyboard director known for his work on “Hey Arnold!” and “SpongeBob SquarePants”, died on December 22. He was 59 years old.
Tucker’s family announced his death on Facebook, writing: “It is with a heavy and broken heart that the Tucker family announces the death of Tuck Tucker, father, husband, son, brother and uncle. We know that he was loved by everyone he met. ”No cause of death was provided.
Born William Osborne Tucker III on August 20, 1961, Tucker’s passion for animation began at a young age watching cartoons with his father. Tucker eventually moved to Los Angeles to pursue an animation career and landed his first job as a breakdown artist in the 1987 film “Pinocchio and the Night Emperor”. He also worked on “The Little Mermaid” in 1989, the television series “Rugrats” and more than a dozen episodes of “The Simpsons” in 1996 as a character designer.
He was the director of the storyboard in 25 episodes of “Hey Arnold!” between 1996 and 1999, and went on to direct “Hey Arnold! The Movie ”in 2002, in addition to working as a supervising director on 19 episodes of the series between 1999 and 2004. Tucker was also known for his work on“ SpongeBob SquarePants ”, including as a storyboard artist for“ SpongeBob SquarePants The Movie ”In 2004 and as supervising storyboard director for 47 episodes of the hit series from 2007 to 2014. Tucker also wrote six episodes of the series.
Tucker’s most recent project was as a storyboard reviewer for the next film “Bob’s Burgers”, which is currently in production. In addition to his work in the film and television industry, Tucker started teaching graphic and animation design in 2015 at Longwood University in Farmville, Va.
“Hi, Arnold!” Creator Craig Bartlett paid tribute to Tucker on Instagram, writing: “A great friend, a master draftsman, a tireless prankster, a brilliant storyteller, the first one I looked for when I started ‘Hey Arnold!’ because he was the best guy on the board I’ve ever met. I will always remember him on his clipboard, arms blackened to the elbows with graphite, rubber shavings everywhere, bringing my characters to life. A killer work ethic, passionately in it. I am so lucky to work with him for so many years. “