Van Partible (born Efrem Giovanni Bravo Partible;[1] December 13, 1971) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, director, and animator best known for creating the animated television seriesJohnny Bravo.
Early life and education
Partible was born in Manila but moved to the United States when he was nine months old.[2][3] He grew up in Salinas, California with an avid love of drawing.[1][3][4] Despite growing up copying artwork from collections of old comic books, it was not until college that Partible decided to pursue a career in animation.[4] Partible attended Loyola Marymount University where he began work on a senior thesis project titled Mess O' Blues (1993).[1] Initially a film about three Elvis Presley impersonators, the short time to produce the cartoon influenced Partible to shorten it to one.[2][5]
Career
Johnny Bravo
Upon graduation in 1993, Partible was 22 and did not have the extensive experience and portfolio that studios were looking for, and for a while worked in a daycare program for a local elementary school.[4]Mess O' Blues was shown by Partible's animation professor, Dan McLaughlin, to a friend working for Hanna-Barbera Cartoons.[1] The studio loved the film and asked Partible to do a pitch for a seven-minute cartoon based on it – what would become Johnny Bravo.[2][6]
The short premiered on World Premiere Toons on March 26, 1995, and involved Johnny trying to score with a zookeeper girl by capturing a runaway gorilla. Partible, with a small team of animators, animated the short themselves in-house at Hanna-Barbera using digital ink and paint (the latter shorts and first three seasons of the series would instead use the traditional ink and paint and film camera).[7] Two more shorts on the program followed (Jungle Boy in "Mr. Monkeyman", and Johnny Bravo and the Amazon Women), and the shorts were so popular that Cartoon Network commissioned a first season of series based around Johnny Bravo, consisting of 13 episodes.[8]
The crew of the first season of Johnny Bravo consisted of several writers, animators, and directors from World Premiere Toons, including MacFarlane, Butch Hartman, Steve Marmel, and John McIntyre. Veteran cartoonist and animation legend Joseph Barbera was also a creative consultant for the first season of the series.[9] The series premiered on July 14, 1997, and three additional seasons followed.[2] Partible was fired following the first season amid the Warner Bros.takeover of Turner Broadcasting; he returned to produce "A Johnny Bravo Christmas" and its fourth season.[10]
He currently teaches animation workshops at Loyola Marymount University, works as a director at Surfer Jack Productions in Venice, California, and is directing the Pete the Cat series for Amazon, based on the children's books by James Dean.[1][3][18][19]
^ abcdeVan Partible, Jeff Bennett, Butch Hartman, John McIntyre et al. (2010). Johnny Bravo: Season One. Special Features: Bringing Up Johnny Bravo (DVD). Warner Home Video.
^Partible, Van (2010). Johnny Bravo season one DVD commentary for the episode "Johnny Bravo / Jungle Boy in "Mr. Monkeyman" / Johnny Bravo and the Amazon Women" (DVD). Warner Home Video.