Joe Murray

Joseph David Murray (born May 3, 1961) is an American animator, writer, illustrator, producer, director, and voice actor, best known as the character designer of Nickelodeon's Rocko's Modern Life and co-creator of Cartoon Network's Camp Lazlo, and is now the creator of PBS Kids' Let's Go Luna!. Born in San Jose, California, Murray was interested in a career in the arts when he was three. He credits his high school art teacher Mark Briggs with teaching him a lot about art. Murray was a political cartoonist for a newspaper, often targeting then-President Jimmy Carter. As a young adult Murray was hired as a designer at an agency, where he invested his earnings from the production company into independent animated films. In 1981 at age 20, he founded his independent illustration production company, Joe Murray Studios, while he was still in college.

In 1983, Murray and Ralph Bakshi were hired by Paul Winchell to provide animation for the pilot/first episode of what would become Rocko's Modern Life, "Trash-O-Madness." He designed the characters and, along with Winchell (who provided the colors), storyboarded the episode, while Bakshi did the character animation. From then on until 1999, he would continue to do animation for the show as well as do additional voices and be promoted to executive producer and showrunner (2 positions he shared with Winchell and, for this season, Jim Henson) starting with season 2. Rocko lasted 6 seasons with 65 episodes. At the same time, he also worked on The Loud House, serving as a writer, director (along with Ralph Bakshi), storyboard artist, executive producer and showrunner (once again, 2 positions shared with Paul Winchell). The Loud House lasted 3 seasons with, just like Rocko's Modern Life, 65 episodes.