Doug TenNapel

Doug TenNapel

TenNapel in June 2011
Born Douglas Richard TenNapel
November 14, 1967 (1967-11-14) (age 44)
Denair, Stanislaus County, California, United States
Nationality American
Area(s) Writer and Artist
Pseudonym(s) Douglas TenNapel
Douglas R. TenNapel
Doug R. TenNapel
Doug Richard TenNapel
Notable works Earthworm Jim, Catscratch, The Neverhood, Ratfist
Awards Eisner Award Winner
Spouse Angie TenNapel (1995-present)

Douglas Richard "Doug" TenNapel (born November 14, 1967 in Denair, California)[1] is an American musician, animator, Eisner Award-winning artist, author, essayist and Christian.[2] He is best known for creating Earthworm Jim, a character that spawned a famous video game, cartoon series, and toy line.

Contents

Early life

TenNapel was born and raised in the town of Denair, California. He got his primary education from Denair High School from 1980 to 1984.[1] From 1984 to 1988 TenNapel studied at Point Loma Nazarene University on art specialty, finishing it with Bachelor's Degree.[1]

Career

TenNapel began as an animator on Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: The Animated Series. He soon began working in the video game industry on projects like 1993's Jurassic Park and Stimpy's Invention for the Sega Genesis and The Jungle Book for the SNES and Sega Genesis. In 1994, he created Earthworm Jim, the character that would star in Shiny Entertainment's video game, toy line, and cartoon series. In 1996, working for Dreamworks, he created for The Neverhood for the PC. The sequel, entitled Skullmonkeys, followed in 1998.

Work on TenNapel's first feature-length live action film, Mothman, began in the late 1990s, although as of 2002, the film was not finished. In television, TenNapel was the creator of the Project G.e.e.K.e.R. cartoon series for CBS, and was a consulting producer on the ABC series Push, Nevada with Ben Affleck.

As a graphic artist and cartoonist, TenNapel released his first comic book in 1998: GEAR, a surreal epic based on his real life cats, Simon, Waffle, Gordon and Mr. Black in a war against dogs and insects using giant robots as weapons. The cats from GEAR would eventually become the Nickelodeon series Catscratch. His second graphic novel, Creature Tech (2002), became the focus of a bidding war between movie studios. 20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises won the war and are developing the script for a live action motion picture based on the novel.

TenNapel did the cover art for several of Five Iron Frenzy's albums, including a sculpture for their live album, Proof That the Youth Are Revolting. TenNapel has also created album covers and artwork for several Daniel Amos CDs, The 1999 tribute to the band, When Worlds Collide, the Neverhood soundtrack Imaginarium: Songs from the Neverhood and others.

Flink, a graphic novel by TenNapel, was released in late 2007 through Image comics. Monster Zoo, was released in early summer 2008. In June 2009 his graphic novel Power Up was released. In July 2010 his latest graphic novel, Ghostopolis was released; it was optioned by Disney[3] in Spring 2009 with Hugh Jackman attached to star and produce.

TenNapel is currently producing an episodic spoof of Japanese Super Sentai-style shows called Go Sukashi!, in association with WestHavenBrook (with whom he collaborated on Sockbaby), Watanabe Entertainment and Dentsu, based on a character by Shoko Nakagawa (who appears in the films), and starring John Soares and Brooke Brodack; as well as an online superhero-genre-spoofing webcomic titled Ratfist.

TenNapel is also the lead singer of an independent band called Truck and is currently working on a Cartoon Network original series called Phibian Mike.

TenNapel is politically conservative and frequently writes articles for Andrew Breitbart's Big Hollywood.[4]

Bibliography

Children's books

Graphic novels

"GEAR begins with four incompetent cats who are assigned to hijack a giant killer robot. The plans are made, the cats lay in wait, the robot comes and everything goes wrong. On the other side of town, two detectives find a body and a mystery unfolds. The cat's home town giant robot guardian is attacked by a gargantuan mechanical insect. The whole town is thrown into a panic as they wait for the heroic return of the bumbling cats sent to bring back a giant killer robot protecter. The backstory of a gear-shaped artifact called the Forbidden Mechanism is explored. The cat town is attacked by hordes of insect arimies while the elder contemplates the fate of their world."
New Edition rereleased by Image Comics in 2007, ISBN 1-58240-680-4. This new edition had all new coloring, as well as a new creator commentary by TenNapel.
"Good battles evil, and the world hangs in the balance! Resurrected by the Shroud of Turin, the zombified Dr. Jameson intends to finish what he started 150 years ago - destroying the earth with a giant space eel. Standing in his way is Dr. Ong, a would-be pastor-turned-scientist who now works in a government research facility known as "Creature Tech." Aided by an unlikely cast of rednecks, symbiotic aliens, and a CIA-trained mantid, Dr. Ong embarks on a journey of faith, love, and self-discovery. All in a day's work at Creature Tech!"
Top Shelf's fastest selling first printing; 5,000 copies sold out in 90 days.
20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises picked up the feature film rights.
New Edition rereleased by Image Comics in 2010, ISBN 1607062828.
"A tale about a boy and his T Rex! Ely is an everyboy trying to cope with the death of his dog Tommy. When he finds a live, 40-foot Tyrannosaurus Rex trapped in a cave behind his grandfather's house, Ely embarks on an adventure to tame this seemingly friendly giant, convince the town his new pet isn't a threat, and keep his dinosaur safe from the jealous town bully. With Tommysaurus Rex at his side, Ely discovers what it takes to be a man... and what it costs." It has been optioned by Universal Pictures.
"Chief Edwards retires from the Modesto Police Department a lonely man. On his way home, he hits a flying whale with his car, opening the beast's mouth to find a boy from a parallel universe named Jacobus. Chief discovers that a society of insect monsters want to kill this boy due to a mysterious virus that grows on his hand. He becomes a father figure to the boy and trains him how to survive insect monsters by becoming a great American ass-kicker."
"Preston Struck is an incompetent outlaw with a heart of fool's gold. He discovers an army of metal men bent on destroying central California. While Struck avoids any form of heroism, he gets a little help from a magical old shaman and his sidekick Sasquatch. Struck is going to need all the help he can get because he's deputized just as the mechanical men have taken over the railroad and are mutating the train into a giant demonic iron monster."
"Down-on-his-luck Mafioso, Eddie Paretti is so desperate for cash he's agreed to steal a dead body from his own mob boss! Things only get worse when he discovers the body isn't human! With few options and fewer people he can trust, Eddie calls on the man who raised him, Father McHugh. The priest tells Eddie that the body was stolen from his monastery by the Mafia. Father McHugh is accompanied by a beautiful woman Eddie swears looks just like a stripper he once fell in love with named Black Cherry."
"A boy survives a plane crash and is rescued by a bigfoot named Flink. They form a close bond by learning about the lost of each other's family members."
"Monster Zoo tells the story of a young boy who discovers his local zoo may be more frightening than he imagined!"
Monster Zoo was optioned by Sam Raimi & Josh Donen's Buckaroo Entertainment in March 2008 for Paramount Pictures.
"The comedic story of Hugh Randolph, a family man down on his luck. He works as a mindless drone at a local printer until he discovers a mysterious video game console that gives him the power to produce endless riches, manipulate his work day, and even cheat death!"
"Imagine Garth Hale's surprise when he's accidentally zapped to the spirit world by Frank Gallows, a washed-out ghost wrangler. Suddenly Garth finds he has powers the ghosts don't have, and he's stuck in a world run by the evil ruler of Ghostopolis, who would use Garth's newfound abilities to rule the ghostly kingdom. When Garth meets Cecil, his grandfather's ghost, the two search for a way to get Garth back home, and nearly lose hope until Frank Gallows shows up to fix his mistake."

Other comic book work

Video games

Discography

Filmography

Voices

Personal life

TenNapel is married to his wife Angie (b. 1968),[6] with whom he has four children. They currently reside in Glendale, California.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Doug's MySpace profile.
  2. ^ "The God Bomb". http://tennapel.wordpress.com/2010/12/21/the-god-bomb/. Retrieved 10/4/11. 
  3. ^ Kit, Borys (May 3, 2009). "Hugh Jackman to haunt 'Ghostopolis'". The Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i06056b3e43453484607160b8e9c6c0f8. Retrieved June 18, 2010. 
  4. ^ http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/author/dtennapel/
  5. ^ Earthworm Jim at the Internet Movie Database
  6. ^ Based on information obtained from Intelius.

References

External links

Doug TenNapel
Comic books
Film/Television
Video games
Music/Covers
Web Comics
  • Ratfist (2011)