Tuck Tucker, animator and director on Nickelodeon’s Hey Arnold! and SpongeBob SquarePants, dies at 59
- Tucker passed away on December 22
- His family announced the news in a Facebook post
- Hey Arnold! creator Craig Bartlett paid tribute to Tucker as ‘a great friend, a master draftsman, a tireless practical joker, a brilliant storyteller’
Tuck Tucker, who worked as an animator and director on Hey Arnold! and SpongeBob SquarePants, has died.
He was 59.
Tucker passed away on December 22 and no cause of death has been released, Variety reported.
Tuck Tucker, who worked as an animator and director on Hey Arnold! and SpongeBob SquarePants, has died. He was 59 and passed away on December 22
The news of Tucker’s death was announced by his family in a post on Facebook.
‘It is with a heavy and broken heart that the Tucker family announces the death of Tuck Tucker, father, husband, son, brother, and uncle,’ the family wrote. ‘We know he was loved by all of those whom he met.’
The animator had a long list of credits including work early in his career on the 1987 film Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night, 1989’s The Little Mermaid’ in 1989 and animated TV shows Rugrats and The Simpsons.
Tucker served as storyboard director on 25 episodes of Nickelodeon’s Hey Arnold! between 1996 and 1999 and directed Hey Arnold! The Movie in 2002 as well as episodes of the series from 1999 to 2004.
Tucker served as storyboard director on 25 episodes of Nickelodeon’s Hey Arnold! between 1996 and 1999 and directed Hey Arnold! The Movie in 2002 as well as episodes of the series from 1999 to 2004
Tucker also worked as a storyboard artist for SpongeBob SquarePants The Movie in 2004 and as the supervising storyboard director for 47 episodes of the caretoon from 2007 to 2014
He also worked as a storyboard artist for SpongeBob SquarePants The Movie in 2004 and as the supervising storyboard director for 47 episodes of the cartoon from 2007 to 2014.
Most recently, he worked on the upcoming Bob’s Burgers film, which is currently in production.
In a heartfelt tribute posted to Instagram, Hey Arnold! creator Craig Bartlett described Tucker as ‘A great friend, a master draftsman, a tireless practical joker, a brilliant storyteller… he was the best board guy I had ever met.’
Bartlett recalled: ‘I’ll always remember him at his drawing board, arms blackened to the elbows with graphite, eraser shavings everywhere, bringing my characters to life.
‘A killer work ethic, passionately into it. I’m so lucky I got to work with him for so many years.’
In a heartfelt tribute on Instagram, Hey Arnold! creator Craig Bartlett described Tucker as ‘A great friend, a master draftsman, a tireless practical joker, a brilliant storyteller… he was the best board guy I had ever met.’ The two (along with Paramount’s Arthur Cohn are seen in 2002)