Kaz (cartoonist)

Kazimieras Gediminas Prapuolenis[1] (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.

Kaz
Kaz at the 2019 Annecy International Animated Film Festival
BornKazimieras Gediminas Prapuolenis
(1959-07-31) July 31, 1959
Hoboken, New Jersey, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Cartoonist, animator, illustrator, writer, storyboard artist
Notable works
Underworld
SpongeBob SquarePants
Camp Lazlo
Phineas and Ferb
Spouse(s)Linda Marotta
http://kazunderworld.com

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.[2] 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.[3] 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 will write the screenplay for the Sandy Cheeks spinoff film, Saving Bikini Bottom, which Tom Stern will also write the film with him.

Personal life

Kaz lives in Hollywood, California, with his wife Linda Marotta. Kaz is of Lithuanian descent.[4]

Filmography

Television
Year Title Role
1999–2004; 2015–present SpongeBob SquarePants Writer, storyboard director, story outlines, animation writer
2005–08 Camp Lazlo Writer, storyboard director, story outlines
2006 Zoot Rumpus Creator, writer, storyboard artist (pilot)
2007 Diggs Tailwagger Co-writer & storyboard artist (pilot)
2009–2013; 2015 Phineas and Ferb Writer & storyboard artist
2012 Secret Mountain Fort Awesome Prop and effects designer ("Funstro")
2014 Get Blake! Executive producer
2018 Little Big Awesome Writer (2 episodes)
2021 Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years Writer (7 episodes), Developer, Theme music composer
2021 The Patrick Star Show Writer (2 episodes), Creator, Developer

Film
Year Title Role
2002 God Hates Cartoons Creator of 2 animated shorts based on Kaz's comic strip Underworld
2004 The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie conception character designer
2005 SpongeBob SquarePants 4-D Ride writer
Corpse Bride additional storyboard artist
2011 Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension additional material, additional storyboards, storyboard artist (as KAZ)
2018 Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold story by
2019 SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout 20th anniversary special, writer

Bibliography
Year Title Publisher Notes
1997Underworld Vol 1: Cruel and Unusual ComicsFantagraphicsout of print
1997Underworld Vol 2: Bare Bulbs
1997Sidetrack City and Other Tales
1999Underworld Vol 3: Ink Punk
2002Underworld Vol 4: Duh!
2004Underworld Vol 5: My Little Funny
Month Title Issue Story Publisher Notes
Dec. 2014SpongeBob Comics#39"Grudge with Your Grub"United Plankton PicturesStory
Jan. 2015#40"Lavable Pin-Up Comic"
Oct. 2015#49"Monster Canyon"

References
  1. Comic Con Baltics (2018-08-08), Kaz at Comic Con Baltics, archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2018-08-19
  2. "It's official!". SpongeBuddy Mania Forums. 5 July 2004.
  3. "This Week's Underworld". November 5, 2006. Archived from the original on 2006-11-05.
  4. "Kazimieras Gediminas Prapuolenis". Comic Con Baltics. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
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