Kaz (born Kazimieras Gediminas Prapuolenis; July 31, 1959) is an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...

, animator, writer, storyboard artist, and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complic ...

. 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 The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwo ...

'', an adult-themed syndicated

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

that appears in many alternative weeklies.

Career

Kaz's comics and drawings have appeared in many alternative and mainstream publications including '' Details'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', ''

Nickelodeon Magazine ''Nickelodeon Magazine'' is a defunct American children's magazine inspired by the children's television network Nickelodeon. Its first incarnation appeared in 1990 and was distributed at participating Pizza Hut restaurants; the version of the ma ...

'', ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

'', ''

East Village Eye The ''East Village Eye'' was a cultural magazine, published by editor-in-chief Leonard Abrams, in circulation from May, 1979 until January, 1987. Based in the East Village section of New York City, the publication covered a range of locally focus ...

'', '' Swank'', '' RAW'', ''Eclipse'', ''N.Y. Rocker'', ''

New York Press ''New York Press'' was a free alternative weekly in New York City, which was published from 1988 to 2011. The ''Press'' strove to create a rivalry with the '' Village Voice''. ''Press'' editors claimed to have tried to hire away writer Nat Hen ...

'', ''

Screw A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to ...

'' and ''Bridal Guide''. He has continued to contribute to comics anthologies such as '' Zero Zero''. Kaz has also worked on several

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

television shows including ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American Animated series, animated Television comedy, comedy Television show, television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It ...

'', ''

Camp Lazlo ''Camp Lazlo'' is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray for Cartoon Network. The series follows Lazlo, an anthropomorphic spider monkey that goes to a camp called "Camp Kidney", a Boy Scout-like summer camp in Pimpleback M ...

'', and ''

Phineas and Ferb ''Phineas and Ferb'' is an American animated musical-comedy television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. Produced by Disney Television Animation, the series was originally broadcast as ...

''. 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. The series went on hiatus after production began on ''

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie ''The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie'' is a 2004 American live-action/animated adventure comedy film based on the Nickelodeon animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. The film was directed, co-written, and produced by series creat ...

''. Shortly before production on

the fourth season ''The Fourth Season'' is the fourth album by the Australian progressive metal band Vanishing Point A vanishing point is a point on the image plane of a perspective drawing where the two-dimensional perspective projections of mutually paral ...

began in 2004, Kaz was invited by his colleague and the series' newly appointed showrunner,

Paul Tibbitt Paul Harrison Tibbitt IV (born May 13, 1968) is an American animator, television producer, writer, storyboard artist, songwriter, voice actor, and director, best known for working on the animated series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. After ''Sponge ...

, to work on an episode for the fourth season but he was never contacted by Tibbitt again and joined ''

'' after leaving ''SpongeBob''. After ''Phineas and Ferb'' ended production, Kaz returned to ''SpongeBob'' in 2015 as a writer. With

Derek Drymon Derek Drymon (born November 19, 1968) is an American animator, writer, storyboard artist, director, comedian, and producer. He has worked on numerous animated cartoon productions of the 1990s and 2000s, best known for his work on '' Rocko's Mo ...

, Kaz co-wrote and storyboarded the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in television in the United States, United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a te ...

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 Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

show, ''Zoot Rumpus'', based on a character from ''Underworld''. With Mr. Lawrence, he wrote the episode ''

SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout ''SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout'' is a 2019 made-for-television live-action/animated comedy special based on the American animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. It was written by Kaz and Mr. Lawrence, and was directed by Jona ...

'' and is currently working on the ''SpongeBob'' spinoff '' Kamp Koral''. Kaz will write the screenplay for the

Sandy Cheeks Sandra Jennifer "Sandy" Cheeks is a fictional character in the Nickelodeon franchise ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. She is an anthropomorphic squirrel who wears a diving suit and lives underwater. Sandy is voiced by Carolyn Lawrence and first app ...

spinoff film, '' Saving Bikini Bottom,'' which Tom Stern will also write the film with him.

Personal life

Kaz lives in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Picture ...

, with his wife Linda Marotta.

Filmography

Television

Film

Bibliography

References

External links

* *
Kaz Prapuolenis: You don’t have to live an intense life, Interviews with exceptional minds, Eximia
{{Authority control 1959 births Living people American animators American comic strip cartoonists American people of Lithuanian descent The New Yorker cartoonists Artists from Hoboken, New Jersey People from Hollywood, Los Angeles School of Visual Arts alumni Underground cartoonists American television writers American male television writers American storyboard artists Primetime Emmy Award winners Screenwriters from New Jersey Screenwriters from California