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In 1968 Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. In 1972 she launched a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, breaking another political barrier.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
Victor Cook | |
|---|---|
 Victor Cook at the 2007 Comic Con | |
| Born | c. 1961 (age 64–65) |
| Education | CSULB |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Known for | |
| Children | 2 |
Victor A. Cook (born c. 1960/1961) is an American film and television producer and director best known for his work on the animated series The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008–2009), Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (2010–2013) and Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters (2017–2018),[2][3] and as an executive producer of Disney Junior's T.O.T.S.[4]
Cook was born in the early 1960s,[4] one of five children on the Johnson Air Force Base in Saitama, Japan.[1] His parents met in an Air Force cafeteria while his father was enlisted.[1] He is half-Korean through his mother.[5] After leaving Saitama, the family lived in San Antonio, Texas; Florida; Fort Worth, Texas; Euless, Texas; Okinawa, Japan (at Kadena Air Base); and Atwater, California.[1] After high school, he briefly attended a junior college in Central California before transferring to California State University, Long Beach.[1][4]
As a child and into college, Cook desired to be a print cartoonist, but was dissuaded after reading about Jack Kirby's career.[4] While at the junior college, a life drawing teacher gave him the contact information for a former student who went on to work for Hanna-Barbera.[4] He only called once he was already into his career.[4] The student suggested taking an animation class at The Animation Guild.[4]
After graduating college, Cook worked as a graphic artist and political cartoonist for Costa Mesa's Daily Pilot then as an assistant animator at Filmation.[1] At Filmation, he found himself drawn to storyboards because they reminded him of comic cels.[4] He worked on BraveStarr during the day and took storyboard classes at night until Filmation folded.[4] He was able to find a job working on ALF Tales and ALF: The Animated Series.[4] This experience helped him eventually land at Disney Television Animation, where he worked for 16 years.[1][4] After leaving Disney, he worked with Greg Weisman to create The Spectacular Spider-Man; worked on Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated; and started at Hasbro, where he helped develop Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters alongside writer Kevin Burke and producer Chris Wyatt.[4] In the late 2010s, he was hired onto T.O.T.S. by Disney Junior.[4]
He is the creator of the Mecha-Nation comic books.[1] It is the first comic book he's worked on.[1]
I wanted to make sure that this was an iconic Spider-man for the different generations of fans, but I also wanted to bring in a new generation of fans that had a passing interest in it. I also really wanted this to be a two dimensional Spider-man that moved like we've never really seen him move in animation before. I thought Sam Raimi set the bar of how he should move and I haven't seen that in animation.
Cook was called by Sony Entertainment to develop a DVD project about Spider-Man. Cook developed it with Greg Weisman; they wanted to base it on the early comic book publications of the character that showed him younger, which Cook had never seen done before in any adaption. The idea was reformatted to an animated television series, but maintained a similar chronicle style with story arcs whose episodes could still work as standalone stories.[6] The original title for the series was The Amazing Spider-Man, based on the comic series of the same name, but by mid-2007 the name was changed to The Spectacular Spider-Man.[7][8]
Cook wanted the animation to be squash and stretch style, and the action to be as good as the first two Spider-Man films. Sam Raimi directed as they had "set the bar" for the fluid movement for Spider-Man.[6][9] As they were on a specific budget, they wanted to allow the animation to "move" more than anything, giving it simple and stylistic designs.[10] He also looked back on Blood and Iron which had a "fresh, young, look to it" that appealed to him visually. Cook wanted to make an "iconic" Spider-Man for both new and older generations and "really wanted this to be a two dimensional Spider-man that moved like we've never really seen him move in animation before."[6][11]
He and his wife Sonia, who is also half-Korean, have been married since the late 1980s.[1][12] They have two children: Hanah and Jackson.[citation needed] His daughter is an animation writer.[13] and, according to Victor's friend and colleague Greg Weisman, served as the inspiration for Artemis Crock in Young Justice.[12]
As an animator, Cook admires Charles M. Schulz, Jack Kirby and Hayao Miyazaki, and was a Hanna-Barbera fan growing up.[4][1]
| Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | Ref(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Producer | Art | Writer | ||||
| 1987–1988 | BraveStarr | No | No | Yes | No | [4] | |
| 1988 | ALF Tales | No | No | Yes | No | [4] | |
| 1988–1989 | ALF: The Animated Series | No | No | Yes | No | [4] | |
| 1989 | The Smurfs | No | No | Yes | No | [14] | |
| The Karate Kid | No | No | Yes | No | [citation needed] | ||
| Garfield and Friends | No | No | Yes | No | [citation needed] | ||
| Denver, the Last Dinosaur | No | No | Yes | No | [citation needed] | ||
| 1990 | TaleSpin | No | No | Yes | No | Episode: "Time Waits for No Bear" | [4] |
| 1991 | Widget | No | No | Yes | No | [citation needed] | |
| 1991–1992 | Darkwing Duck | No | No | Yes | Yes | Wrote "Kung Fooled" | [4][5] |
| Mr. Bogus | No | No | Yes | No | [citation needed] | ||
| 1992 | The Little Mermaid | No | No | Yes | No | Episode: "Urchin" | [citation needed] |
| Raw Toonage | No | No | Yes | No | Episodes: "Bonkers in Space/Cro-Magnum PI/The Treasure of the Sierra Marsdre" and "Sheerluck Bonkers/All Potato Network/The Puck Stops Here" | [citation needed] | |
| 1993 | Bonkers | No | No | Yes | No | [citation needed] | |
| 1994 | Aladdin | No | No | Yes | No | [4][5] | |
| 1995 | Rocko's Modern Life | No | No | Yes | No | [citation needed] | |
| 1995–1996 | Gargoyles | No | No | Yes | No | [4][5] | |
| 1996 | Quack Pack | No | No | Yes | No | [citation needed] | |
| Jungle Cubs | No | No | Yes | No | [citation needed] | ||
| 1997–1998 | 101 Dalmatians: The Series | Yes | Yes | No | No | [4][5] | |
| 2000 | Buzz Lightyear of Star Command | Yes | No | No | No | [4][5] | |
| 2001–2002 | The Legend of Tarzan | Yes | No | No | No | [5] | |
| 2002–2004 | Fillmore! | No | No | Yes | No | [citation needed] | |
| 2003–2006 | Lilo & Stitch: The Series | Yes | Yes | No | No | [4][5] | |
| 2005 | American Dragon: Jake Long | No | No | Yes | No | [15] | |
| 2006–2008 | Mickey Mouse Clubhouse | Yes | No | Yes | No | [1][4][citation needed] | |
| 2008 | The Spectacular Spider-Man: Attack of the Lizard | Yes | Yes | No | No | [1] | |
| 2008–2009 | The Spectacular Spider-Man | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | [1][16] | |
| 2010–2013 | Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated | Yes | Yes | No | No | [1][4] | |
| 2012 | Young Justice | Yes | No | No | No | Episode: "Coldhearted" | [17] |
| 2017–2018 | Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters | Yes | Executive | Yes | Yes | Co-creator Also wrote the main title lyrics |
[4][18] |
| 2019–2022 | T.O.T.S. | No | Executive | No | No | [19] | |
| 2023–present | Pupstruction | No | Executive | No | No | [20] | |
| Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | Ref(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Producer | Art | Writer | ||||
| 1993 | The Return of Jafar | No | No | Yes | No | Direct-to-video | [5] |
| 1996 | Aladdin and the King of Thieves | No | No | Yes | No | Direct-to-video | [21] |
| 2001 | Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure | No | No | Yes | No | Direct-to-video | [citation needed] |
| 2002 | 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure | No | No | Yes | No | Direct-to-video | |
| Tarzan & Jane | Yes | No | No | No | Segments "Volcanic Diamond Mine" and "Flying Ace" | [22] | |
| 2003 | Atlantis: Milo's Return | Yes | No | No | No | [23] | |
| 21 Grams | No | No | Yes | No | [24] | ||
| 2007 | Hellboy: Blood and Iron | Yes | No | No | No | TV movie | [25] |
| Hellboy: Iron Shoes | Yes | No | No | No | Bonus short for Hellboy: Blood and Iron | [25] | |
| My Blueberry Nights | No | No | Yes | No | [26] | ||
| 2010 | Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic | Yes | No | No | No | Direct-to-DVD | [1] |
| 2012 | Ben 10: Destroy All Aliens | Yes | Yes | No | No | TV movie | [1] |
| Scooby-Doo! Haunted Holidays | Yes | Yes | No | No | Direct-to-DVD | [4][27] | |
| Scooby-Doo! Spooky Games | No | Yes | No | No | Direct-to-DVD | [27] | |
| 2013 | Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright | Yes | Yes | No | No | Direct-to-DVD | [28] |
| Scooby-Doo! and the Spooky Scarecrow | No | Yes | No | No | Direct-to-DVD | [27] | |
| Scooby-Doo! Mecha Mutt Menace | No | Yes | No | No | Direct-to-DVD | [4] | |
| Stoker | No | No | Yes | No | [29] | ||
| Robosapien: Rebooted | No | No | Yes | No | [30] | ||
| 2014 | Scooby-Doo! Ghastly Goals | Yes | No | No | No | Direct-to-DVD | [31] |
| 2015 | Scooby-Doo! and the Beach Beastie | Yes | No | No | No | Direct-to-DVD | [4] |
| 2019 | Mickey's Treat | Yes | No | No | No | TV movie | [32] |
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Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
Victor A. Cook (born c. 1960/1961) is an American film and television producer and director best known for his work on the animated series The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008–2009), Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (2010–2013) and Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters (2017–2018), and as an executive producer of Disney Junior's T.O.T.S.
Atlantis: Milo's Return is a 2003 American animated anthology science fantasy action-adventure film, made of unused TV episodes, directed by Victor Cook, Toby Shelton, and Tad Stones. It is the sequel to Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001). The film received a direct-to-video release on May 20, 2003, to negative reviews. Originally, Disney was developing a sequel titled Shards of Chaos, but it was abandoned once The Lost Empire was less successful than anticipated. The released sequel consists of three segments, which are "Kraken", "Spirit of the West" and "Spear of Destiny". They were originally meant to be episodes of a series that was never completed called Team Atlantis. Some additional animation was done to link the stories more closely. Cree Summer (Kida), Corey Burton (Mole), Don Novello (Vinny), Phil Morris (Dr. Sweet), Jacqueline Obradors (Audrey), John Mahoney (Mr. Whitmore), and Florence Stanley (Mrs. Packard) all reprise their roles from the first film, with James Arnold Taylor replacing Michael J. Fox as Milo and Steve Barr replacing Jim Varney, who died before the first film finished production, as Cookie. This is Stanley's final film; she died months after production ended.
The Spectacular Spider-Man is an American animated superhero television series developed by Victor Cook and Greg Weisman, based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. In terms of overall tone and style, the series is based primarily on the Stan Lee, Steve Ditko and John Romita Sr. era of The Amazing Spider-Man comics, with a similar balance of action, drama, and comedy, as well as a high school setting. However, it also blends material from all eras of the comic's run up to that point in addition to other sources, such as Brian Michael Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man comics (2000–2011) and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man film trilogy (2002–2007). Produced by Marvel Entertainment, Culver Entertainment, Adelaide Productions and Sony Pictures Television, the series aired its first season on The CW starting on March 8, 2008 and ended on June 14 later that year. Its second season premiered on Disney XD in the United States on June 2, 2009 and ended its run on November 18 of that year. The entire series was broadcast in Canada on Teletoon. Although 5 seasons were originally planned (consisting of 65 episodes and direct-to-DVD films), only two seasons aired. The show was cancelled after The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment, giving Disney the rights to Spider-Man shows, while Sony Pictures maintained the movie rights. Despite its short run, The Spectacular Spider-Man has received widespread acclaim since its initial airing, and is considered to be one of the character's finest adaptations, with praise being given for its mature writing, unique art style, modernized faithfulness to the original comics, and the voice performances of the characters, particularly Josh Keaton's voice performance as the titular character. The series' iteration of Spider-Man made an appearance in the 2023 feature film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, with Keaton reprising his role.
The Spectacular Spider-Man is an American animated television series based on the Marvel Comics character, Spider-Man, produced by Culver Entertainment, Adelaide Productions and Sony Pictures Television in association with Marvel, and developed for television by Greg Weisman and Victor Cook. In terms of tone and style, the series is based principally on the Stan Lee/Steve Ditko/John Romita Sr. era of The Amazing Spider-Man comics, with a similar balance of action, drama and comedy as well as a high school setting. However, it also tends to utilize material from all eras of the comic's run and other sources such as the Ultimate Spider-Man comics by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley and the Spider-Man trilogy directed by Sam Raimi. The series premiered on March 8, 2008 during the Kids' WB programming block of The CW, and its second season aired on Disney XD in the United States, and ended its run on November 18, 2009, while the entire series was broadcast in Canada on Teletoon. The series is broken up into loose arcs, each consisting of three to four episodes that take place roughly over a month within the series. According to Weisman, the series is themed around the "education of Peter Parker", with the episode titles in each arc being taken from specific fields of study.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Madam C.J. Walker
