Kaz (cartoonist) explained

Kaz
Birth Name:Kazimieras Gediminas Prapuolenis
Birth Date:1959 7, mf=yes
Birth Place:Hoboken, New Jersey, U.S.
Nationality:American
Area:Cartoonist, animator, illustrator, writer, storyboard artist
Notable Works:Underworld
SpongeBob SquarePants
Camp Lazlo
Phineas and Ferb
Spouse:Linda Marotta
Website:http://kazunderworld.com

Kazimieras Gediminas Prapuolenis (born July 31, 1959), known professionally as Kaz, is an American cartoonist, animator, writer, storyboard artist, and illustrator. In the 1980s, after attending New York City's School of the Visual Arts, he was a frequent contributor to the comic anthologies RAW and Weirdo. Since 1992, he has drawn Underworld, an adult-themed syndicated comic strip that appears in many alternative weeklies.

Career

Kaz's comics and drawings have appeared in many alternative and mainstream publications including Details, The New Yorker, Nickelodeon Magazine, The Village Voice, East Village Eye, Swank, RAW, Eclipse, N.Y. Rocker, New York Press, Screw, and Bridal Guide. He has continued to contribute to comics anthologies such as Zero Zero.

Kaz has also worked on several animated television shows including SpongeBob SquarePants, Camp Lazlo, and Phineas and Ferb. He was co-executive producer of Get Blake!.

Kaz joined SpongeBob SquarePants as a storyboard director and writer in 2001 during the production of the series' third season and was paired with C. H. Greenblatt. The series went on hiatus after production began on The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Shortly before production on the fourth season began in 2004, Kaz was invited by his colleague and the series' newly appointed showrunner, Paul Tibbitt, to work on an episode for the fourth season but he was never contacted by Tibbitt again and joined Camp Lazlo after leaving SpongeBob.[1] After Phineas and Ferb ended production, Kaz returned to SpongeBob in 2015 as a writer.

With Derek Drymon, Kaz co-wrote and storyboarded the pilot episode for Diggs Tailwagger, which was ultimately not picked up. In September 2006, Kaz left Camp Lazlo to work on another pilot for a Cartoon Network show, Zoot Rumpus, based on a character from Underworld.[2] With Mr. Lawrence, he wrote the episode SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout and is currently working on the first SpongeBob spinoff, Kamp Koral. He also serves as a writer and outliner on the second spinoff, The Patrick Star Show.

Kaz also co-wrote the screenplay for the Sandy Cheeks spinoff film, , alongside Tom Stern.

Personal life

Kaz lives in Hollywood, California, with his wife Linda Marotta. Kaz is of Lithuanian descent.[3]

Filmography

Television

YearTitleRole
2001–2004; 2015–presentSpongeBob SquarePantsWriter, storyboard director, story outlines, animation writer
2005–08Camp LazloWriter, storyboard director, story outlines
2006Zoot RumpusCreator, writer, storyboard artist (pilot)
2007Diggs TailwaggerCo-writer & storyboard artist (pilot)
2009–2013; 2015Phineas and FerbWriter & storyboard artist
2012Secret Mountain Fort AwesomeProp and effects designer ("Funstro")
2014Get Blake!Executive producer
2018Little Big AwesomeWriter (2 episodes)
2021–presentDeveloper, head writer, writer, animation writer, theme music composer
The Patrick Star ShowCreator, developer, head writer, writer, animation writer, story outlines

Film

YearTitleRole
2002God Hates CartoonsCreator of 2 animated shorts based on Kaz's comic strip Underworld
2004The SpongeBob SquarePants Movieconception character designer
2005SpongeBob SquarePants 4-D Ridewriter
Corpse Brideadditional storyboard artist
2011additional material, additional storyboards, storyboard artist (as KAZ)
2018story by
2019SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout20th anniversary special, writer
2024story by, writer

Bibliography

YearTitlePublisherNotes
1997 Underworld Vol 1: Cruel and Unusual Comics out of print
1997 Underworld Vol 2: Bare Bulbs
1997 Sidetrack City and Other Tales
1999 Underworld Vol 3: Ink Punk
2002 Underworld Vol 4: Duh!
2004 Underworld Vol 5: My Little Funny
MonthTitleIssueStoryPublisherNotes
Dec. 2014 SpongeBob Comics
  1. 39
"Grudge with Your Grub" Story
Jan. 2015
  1. 40
"Lavable Pin-Up Comic"
Oct. 2015
  1. 49
"Monster Canyon"

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: It's official!. SpongeBuddy Mania Forums. 5 July 2004 .
  2. Web site: This Week's Underworld. November 5, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20061105231229/http://www.kazunderworld.com/archive/703.html. 2006-11-05.
  3. Web site: Kazimieras Gediminas Prapuolenis . 2023-09-04 . Comic Con Baltics . en-US.