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J. J. Sedelmaier | |
|---|---|
 Sedelmaier at a September 16, 2013Tom Sito lecture and book signing at theSVA Theatre in Manhattan | |
| Born | March 11, 1956 (1956-03-11) (age 69) |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Animation |
| Notable work | Beavis and Butt-Head The Ambiguously Gay Duo Tek Jansen Psych |
J. J. Sedelmaier (born March 12, 1956) is an American animator, illustrator, designer, author and film director/producer, known for co-creating (withRobert Smigel) the "Saturday TV Funhouse" segment—includingThe Ambiguously Gay Duo andThe X-Presidents—on the TV seriesSaturday Night Live; as well as theTek Jansen series onThe Colbert Report, the interstitial cartoons seen in the USA TV seriesPsych, and over 500 other TV and advertising projects.
J. J. Sedelmaier's father isJoe Sedelmaier, a retired director and producer ofTV commercials.[1] His mother was artist/designer Maria Svolos (1937–2014).[2]
Sedelmaier and his wife Patrice run J. J. Sedelmaier Productions, Inc., a multiple award-winning animation/graphic design studio they established in 1990 inWhite Plains, New York, to create and produce animated television commercials utilizing print illustrators as designers – an approach they continue to this day. He began his career in animation on cartoon television specials such asStrawberry Shortcake in Big Apple City (1981),The Berenstain Bears' Valentine Special (1982), andBerenstain Bears' Littlest Leaguer (1983). Between 1984 and 1990 Sedelmaier worked withR. O. Blechman at The Ink Tank in New York City. His studio's long-form creations, which are oftenparody-oriented, include animation forSaturday TV Funhouse onSaturday Night Live, the pilot episode ofHarvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, the Tek Jansen series forThe Colbert Report, and a series of interstitial cartoons for the USA/NBC live action seriesPsych, along with advertising campaigns of live-action/CGI commercials forAlka-Seltzer resurrecting the classic Speedy Alka-Seltzer character, and "Scrubbing Bubbles" for S.C. Johnson. Sedelmaier collaborated with Robert Smigel on creatingThe Ambiguously Gay Duo,The X-Presidents, and theFun with Real Audio cartoons forSNL. Sedelmaier personally designed the AGD characters, Ace & Gary. Stuart Hill was his collaborator on theCaptain Linger series of interstitials for Turner Broadcasting's Cartoon Network. JJSP also launched the first and second season of the MTV seriesBeavis and Butt-Head series in 1993.
Sedelmaier, along with Turner network executiveBetty Cohen, graphic design guru Tom Corey and producerTom Pomposello, also produced an in-house sales tape within Turner Broadcasting that presented the concept ofCartoon Network. Soon thereafter,Nickelodeon requested J. J. Sedelmaier's services to design, animate, and produce the package of network ID's that were used to inaugurate theirNicktoons andNick at Nite blocks. This also included the Nicktoons logo design and the opening and closing sequence used for the block. In 1991, J. J. Sedelmaier created two ID's forMTV. Immediately working onBeavis and Butt-Head a year later, the studio animated three new episodes for the reintroduction of the educationalSchoolhouse Rock! series forABC. Sedelmaier was also co-creator of Cartoon Network'sSunday Pants with Craig "Sven" Gordon and Stuart Hill.
As author, Sedelmaier has contributed to numerous articles forPrint Magazine and its Imprint blog (http://www.printmag.com/author/jj-sedelmaier/) as well as books by Steven Heller, Spencer Drate, David Levy, Maureen Furniss, and Paul Wells. He has spoken and organized screenings at schools and universities throughout the United States and is a regular presenter at both theNew York andChicago Comic-Cons.[citation needed] J.J. has also curated exhibitions at the Westchester Arts Council inWhite Plains, New York, and at the Grohmann Museum inMilwaukee, Wisconsinhttps://www.msoe.edu/about-msoe/news/details/the-art-and-mechanics-of-animation/.
J.J. Sedelmaier and J.J. Sedelmaier Productions, Inc's animated productions have received 2 Emmy Award statuettes for Boston Bruins/Arnold Worldwide advertising at the 2016 New England Emmy Awards, a contributing writing honor in the 2001–02 Primetime Emmy for Saturday Night Live, and a 1997 Daytime Emmy nomination for Schoolhouse Rock. Other industry accolades include: Annie Award,Annecy Festival Award,Ottawa International Animation Festival,Art Directors Club Awards,Society Of Illustrators, American Illustration,New York International Film & TV,BDA Awards,Gracie Award,Telly Awards,Promax Award,
