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Back to Featured Interviews >> MEET DR. WARBURTON
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| Dr. Warburton |
You mean besides get in trouble? Mostly I just let my imagination run wild. I built crazy stuff out of Legos, made bows and arrows in the woods, watched cartoons and read fantasy books, trained to be a Jedi (or an Imperial Officer so I could drive a Scout Walker). I also wanted to be a ninja. I think at one point I wanted to be a forest ranger, too.
And I looooooved to tell stories.
What books influenced you most when you were growing up?
Anything I could get my hands on… but I especially loved J.R.R. Tolkien, Marvel comic books (Yay X-Men!), ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN, WATERSHIP DOWN, GO DOG GO (I loved that party in the tree!), The Hardy Boys… pretty much anything adventuresome!
Did you write stories when you were growing up? at school? Or at home as a hobby? As a young child, or as a teenager, or both?
I watched cartoons incessantly when I was young (still do!) and I would write stories for my brothers to read. I was especially proud of my sequels to Daffy Duck’s Duck Twacy cartoon. At least I WAS proud of them until I re-read them a couple years ago. BLECH! I also drew a lot of comics with my friends (still do!). Those kinda make me cringe now, too. And look at me now… I’m still writing and drawing stuff! Where did the time go?
When you were a child did you ever have moments when you decided that you were going to be a writer when you grew up?
When I told my mom that I wanted to make cartoons when I grew up she said, “Make up your mind, Tommy-- you can’t do both.” That’s when I knew I was on to something.
When you went to college, were you already pursuing a writing career? (or a career in illustrating? or just art in general?)
I went to college for graphic design because people said you could be an artist AND have a career that way. But I didn’t like it so I decided to do what I had always wanted to do— make cartoons!
What was your first job when you graduated from college?
I started at a small animation company in NYC and over the years jumped around from studio to studio doing everything from animated commercials to series like Nickelodeon’s Doug, Disney’s Pepper Ann and Cartoon Network’s Sheep in the Big City. And eventually I got my own show, Codename: Kids Next Door. After that finished up, I took my former head writer’s advice and did a picture book. That head writer is none other than Mo Willems… who is going to be a BIG name in the picture book industry one day. You heard it here FIRST.
What audience did you have in mind for your career as a writer - adult or children?
BOTH! I want both kids and adults to enjoy what I do, be it cartoons on TV, comics, picture books or chapter books! Here is the cartoon I have drawn of myself.
What do you most want the students to get out of your school visits?
That they should mix up work and what they love to do as much as possible.