Via: Wikipedia
We all know who Joe Murray is, right? No?! Humph, I bet you know his TV shows though right? Not really? Aw c’mon, you guys gotta be kidding me. No? Alright, Joe Murray is a guy who’s been in the animation game for at least 20 years and has managed to carve out a grand career for himself by consistently devoting himself to creating great characters and stories.
What shows has he created? How about one third of the original Holy Trinity of cable cartoons, Rocko’s Modern Life. Later on, he developed Camp Lazlo for Cartoon Network. But that’s enough about his past work, this post is all about what he’s doing now!
Joe’s Journal is his personal blog, where he offers plenty of opinions, thoughts, recaps on events and of course, updates on his many projects. He also posts plenty of upbeat, positive quotes that encourage the reader to focus and think about life.
With his current projects, Frog in a Suit and Kaboing TV, Joe is a busy guy, but that doesn’t stop him from updating fairly regularly. His blog also contains lots more information in events and articles that Joe has for sale, many of which he does to raise money for charity.
Joe has also managed to build a very successful and devoted community around his blog that has brought him and his readers many benefits, not least the funding necessary for a Frog in the Suit short film. Joe should be commended for his devotion to interacting with his fans.
Joe’s a nice guy, too. I met him in Ottawa some years back and I was surprised when he told me he’d read my “Your Career in Animation” book. When I asked him what he could possibly need to learn, he answered that he was particularly interested in the indie animation chapter. This was when he was in the tail end of his Camp Lazlo period, so it shows he was already thinking about going out on his own. I wish him luck on his new projects.
Thanks for the comment Dave 🙂
Yes, Joe is very open-minded and I think it speaks volumes that he is always accepting to new ideas and avenues to pursue his projects. He is constantly admonishing artists that there is much more to a career than being able to create art and I think the fact that he’s been able to carve a successful career for himself that has lasted over 20 years is testament to that.
Also, how cool is it to know that really famous people are reading your book?! 🙂