Angus Oblong

Angus Oblong
Born March 15, 1964 (1964-03-15) (age 47)[1]
Sacramento, California, U.S.A.
Occupation Writer, illustrator
Education University of California, Berkeley
Notable work(s) Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children, The Oblongs
www.angusoblong.net

Angus Oblong is the pen name of an American writer and illustrator best known as the author of Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children (1999) and the 2001 television series it spawned, The Oblongs. The character Milo—which appeared in his Creepy Susie book—was based on a young version of himself; the Milo that appeared on the television show The Oblongs was a less exaggerated version of the character from the book.[2]

Contents

Work

Oblong's book, Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children, consists of 13 short stories of adult-oriented humor. Many of the characters from his TV series The Oblongs first appear in this book, including Milo and Creepy Susie. A self-published sequel, 13 More Tragic Tales for Ugly Children, is available from his website.

He has also self-published three collections of drawings: Angus Oblong Random Drawings Book One, Book Two and Book Three.

His television series, The Oblongs, airing originally on The WB and in syndication on Adult Swim. The complete series was released on DVD.

Oblong wrote, directed, and produced Deliriously Jen, a television pilot that aired on Comedy Central and was shown at several film festivals in 2005.

The Victorian Hotel, a play written by Oblong, and created in association with Rogue Artists Ensemble, featuring many of his characters as puppets, played October through December 2006 at the Powerhouse Theatre in Santa Monica, California.[3]

Oblong also provides the voice of Joey on Nickelodeon's television series, The Mighty B!.

Personal life

Oblong was born in Sacramento, California[4] and attended the University of California, Berkeley for a couple of years.[5] He moved to Los Angeles, California at the request of his agent when a "bidding war" was underway over whether FOX, The WB, or Disney would produce what became The Oblongs.[6] When his work began garnering attention from the press, Oblong began wearing "thick clown makeup and a bulbous, red plastic nose" in public places, a practice he has continued into 2010, when LA Weekly named him one of the L.A. People 2009.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Angus Oblong – Creepy Suzie: and 13 Other Tragic Tales For Troubled Children". Spike Magazine. September 2003. http://www.spikemagazine.com/0903angusoblong.php. Retrieved 2009-12-08. "Meet Angus Oblong; 27-year-old modern day Frankenstein with a deformity fixation and sperm donor to the craziest family of contemporary abominations outside of the Test Tube." 
  2. ^ "The UNDERGROUND Interview". ugtv.org. http://www.ugtv.org/oblong.php. Retrieved 2009-12-08. "Milo is me. Milo in the show is nothing like Milo in the book (Creepy Susie & 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children). The book-Milo is me. The TV Milo is a very watered down version." 
  3. ^ "The Victorian Hotel". Rogue Artists Ensemble. http://www.rogueartists.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=57&Itemid=92. Retrieved 2009-12-08. 
  4. ^ "Family Circle, flattened — In his new animated series, Sacramento native Angus Oblong has a twisted take on life". Sacramento Bee (NewsBank): p. E1. October 17, 2000. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SB&p_theme=sb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB048012DB94902&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D. Retrieved 2009-12-08. 
  5. ^ Chad Graham (April 24, 2001). "An Oblong look at the world: the out creator of the WB's The Oblongs talks about the deliciously bizarre world of the new animated sitcom". The Advocate (Google Books): 57–58. ISSN 0001-8996. http://books.google.com/books?id=xmIEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA58&lpg=PA57&ots=_sQz4JUTET&dq=%22An+Oblong+look+at+the+world%22. Retrieved 2009-12-08. "The Oblongs were born in 1994 when Oblong, who attended the University of California, Berkeley for a couple of years, began drawing the characters for his book Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children." 
  6. ^ "The UNDERGROUND Interview". ugtv.org. http://www.ugtv.org/oblong.php. Retrieved 2009-12-08. "It was my agency who said "Prime time animation is hot right now. Create an animated series & we'll shop it around." This was after they had seen my book & signed me as a client. Then they relocated me to Los Angeles where the air is brown. There was a bidding war for The Oblongs from FOX, The WB & Disney. Had I known the WB would chicken out & not want an edgy, funny show, I would have gone with FOX." 
  7. ^ "LA People 2009: Angus Oblong — This Clown's Life". LA Weekly. April 20, 2009. http://www.laweekly.com/2009-04-23/la-vida/la-people-2009-angus-oblong-this-clown-39-s-life/. Retrieved 2009-12-08. 

External links