CABALLERO, Mark

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Birth/Death

Birth: Dec. 15, 1968

Occupation/Title

Director

Bio Summary

Mark Caballero is a 1st Generation Spanish American. After High school he studied at UCLA Extension and met Seamus Walsh. In 1998 Caballero worked with Walsh in making short films such as “Old Man and the Goblins” and in 1999 “Graveyard Jamboree with Mysterious Mose.” It was around this time that Caballero also worked on a stop motion animated show called “Celebrity Deathmatch.” He also self-studied stop-motion animation due to the fact that there was no real school to teach it at the time. Around 2002, he completed the unfinished film that was started in 1952 by Ray Harryhausen called The Story of the Tortoise and the Hare as a tribute to their hero. He eventually formed his own stop motion production company called Screen Novelties with fellow stop motion animator/director Seamus Walsh and writing/producing Chris Finnegan. They were also involved in the launch off of Robot Chicken and Morel Orel on Adult Swim. He and his company have been mainly producing shorts over the years and in recent years they have been making them for Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network.


Early Life/Family

From Spanish descent.
Family is the scientific type like doctors and scientists, but still supportive of a family member doing art.
Has an uncle that was a film actor.

Education/Training

UCLA Extension
School of Looney Toons
Studying Fleischer
Studying Rankin/Bass production

Career Outline

During college Mark Caballero met Seamus Walsh and worked together to produce short films. They did short films using stop-motion animation and also worked on a few tv shows such as Celebrity Deathmatch and The Flintstones: On the Rocks. Eventually formed his own stop-motion production company with Seamus Walsh and Chris Finnegan. He also helped the launch of Robot Chicken and Moral Orel on Adult Swim.

Comments On Style

Personally likes to take a twist on things.
Likes his work to have a whimsical feel.
Likes to mix experimental things.
Usually has an imaginative way of execution.

Influences

Ray Harryhausen
Jim Henson
Fleischer Brothers
Sesame Street
Seamus Walsh

Personality

Always trying to see things in a light-hearted way.
Tries to enjoy life and not take it too seriously or the life of an animator would be too much.

Anecdotes

It was the time when Caballero went to meet a man of legends, Ray Harryhausen. Ray Harryhausen has worked on a number of projects that have gained attention and has been honored with awards for many of his works. Caballero was meeting with Harryhausen to discuss the old unfinished film “The Story of The Tortoise and the Hare” and seal the deal on this film that was not completed over 50 years ago. Anybody can imagine the thought with meeting a famous person is like a dream come true or an exciting moment that comes once in a lifetime and Mark Caballero is no exception to this feeling. It was a blast meeting with THE Ray Harryhausen and getting his approval to do one of his old projects as a tribute to him.


Miscellaneous

A person needs to put in time to see the benefits of his or her labor.
A person needs to lead a happy life.
And most importantly, watch good cartoons.

Filmography

1997 Skullmonkeys (Video Game) (assistant animator)
1998 Old Man and the Goblins (director)
1998 Celebrity Deathmatch (stop motion animator)
1999 Graveyard Jamboree with Mysterious Mose (director)
2002 The Story of The Tortoise and the Hare (animator & producer)
2001 The Flintstones: On the Rock (stop motion sequence director)
2004 Green Screen Show (stop motion director)
2004 The SpongeBob Square Pants Movie (stop motion animation)
2005 Disaster! (additional animator)
2006 Robot Chicken (3 episodes) (animation supervisor)
2007 Monster Safari (creator, writer, animator, & producer)
2007 Robot Chicken: Star Wars (animation director)
2006-2007 Moral Orel (animation director) (stop motion animator)
2007 Chowder (6 episodes) (stop motion director)
2008 The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack (stop motion director)

Honors

Atlanta Film Festival
1998-Won Audience Award and Special Jury Award for “Old Man and the Goblins” short with Seamus Walsh.

New York Expo of Short Films
2000-Won Bronze Awards for “Graveyard Jamboree with Mysterious Mose” short with Seamus Walsh.

Slamdance Festival
2001-Won Black & White Award for “Old Man and the Goblins” short with Seamus Walsh.

Emmy Awards
2008-Nominated for Emmy for Robot Chicken Star Wars with the executive producer, director, and writers.

Related Links

http://www.screen-novelties.com/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0127455/
http://www.kachew.com/sm.php

Bibliographic References

Harryhausen, Ray. The art of Ray Harryhausen. London: Aurum Press Ltd., 2005.
Harryhausen, Ray. Ray Harryhausen: an animated life. London: Aurum Press Ltd., 2003.

Contributors To This Listing

Alexander Yeh

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