Thurop Van Orman
Mark "Thurop" Ashton Van Orman (born April 26, 1976) is an American cartoonist, animator, writer, producer, director, and voice actor. He is best known for being the creator and executive producer of the Cartoon Network series The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack (2008–2010), in which he voices the title character, as well as directing his directorial debut The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019).
Thurop Van Orman | |
|---|---|
 Van Orman (alongside characters from Flapjack) in December 2007 | |
| Born | Mark Ashton Van Orman April 26, 1976 Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Animator, voice actor, television writer, producer, director |
| 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 |
Life and career
Van Orman was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia.
Van Orman worked for the video game company Zantaro before going on to study character animation at the California Institute of the Arts.[1] He was the storyboard artist and co-writer for Camp Lazlo, The Powerpuff Girls, 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. Thurop is also somewhat known for responding to much of his fans' fan art through the website DeviantArt.
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 children: a daughter named Blossom[2] and a younger daughter named Hazel.
Since 2013 Orman has been working on a animated series under the title North Woods, the project was initially pitched to Nickelodeon the same year, 3 years later the project was pitched to Disney Television Animation for Disney XD on 2016, development on the project was paused by Disney on 2017 and was later revived on 2021 for Disney Channel.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
Upcoming films
He is currently working on his stop motion film project titled Black Forest,[9] as well as 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.
Inspirations
His work took inspiration from 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, Fleischer Studios, and his brother Jonny.[10]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | The Little Prince | Concept artist |
| 2019 | The Angry Birds Movie 2 | Director |
| TBA | Black Forest[9] | Director |
| Untitled Vikings film | Screenwriter |
As Crew
| 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
| 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 / Bounce House Princess | 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 | ||
| 2018–20 | Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Todd Capybara | 7 episodes |
| 2019 | The Angry Birds Movie 2 | Duck / Seal | Film |
References
- Strike, Joe (October 23, 2008). "A Boy and His Whale: The Marvelous Making of 'Flapjack'". Animation World Network.
- https://twitter.com/littlethurop/status/1649860376597762048
- "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.
- "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. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
- "Demo for Disney Animated Show". SoundCloud. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
- Rondal (February 6, 2012). "The Marvelous Misadventures of Thurop Van Orman – Exclusive Interview". Strange Kids Club. Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
- "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.