Bill Plympton

Bill Plympton
Plympton in 2025
Born (1946-04-30) April 30, 1946 (age 80)
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
EducationPortland State University
School of Visual Arts
Known forAnimation
Notable workYour Face, Guard Dog, The Tune, Cheatin'
RelativesMartha Plimpton (cousin)
Signature

Bill Plympton (born April 30, 1946) is an American animator, graphic designer, cartoonist, and filmmaker best known for his 1987 Academy Award–nominated animated short Your Face and his series of shorts featuring a dog character starting with 2004's Guard Dog.

Early life

Plympton was born in Portland, Oregon, the son of Wilda Jean (Jerman) and Donald F. Plympton, and was raised on a farm in nearby Oregon City with five siblings. From 1964 to 1968, he studied Graphic Design at Portland State University, where he was a member of the film society and worked on the yearbook. In 1968, he transferred to the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where he majored in cartooning. He graduated from SVA in 1969.

Career

Plympton's illustrations and cartoons have been published in The New York Times and the weekly newspaper The Village Voice, as well as in the magazines Vogue, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Penthouse, and National Lampoon. His political cartoon strip Plympton, which began in 1975 in the SoHo Weekly News, eventually was syndicated and appeared in over 20 newspapers.

In 1988, his animated short Your Face was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. He also became known for other animated short films, including 25 Ways to Quit Smoking (1989) and Enemies (1991), the latter of which was part of the Animania series on MTV, where many of his other shorts were shown.

In 1991, Plympton won the Prix Spécial du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival for Push Comes to Shove which was featured on MTV's animated series Liquid Television. In 1992, his self-financed, first feature-length animated film, The Tune debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. His work also appeared on the 1992–1993 Fox comedy series The Edge. In 1993, he made his first live action film, J. Lyle.

Bill and Sandrine Plympton in 2014

In 1995, he contributed animation and graphics to a computer game collection, Take Your Best Shot. In 1997, Plympton's work was also presented in Europe. In November, the Geneva-based publisher Éditions Paquet published the French-language collection ''Toute la vérité sur le sujet''. The following month, from December 6 to 20, Plympton was featured at the Geneva event "BD Fleuves", held at 1 rue de la Truite, with Paquet among the participating partners.

In 1997, Plympton released Mondo Plympton, an animated retrospective of his career combining earlier shorts and excerpts with new sequences depicting Plympton as an animated character discussing his work as a cartoonist and independent animator. Following its festival premiere at the World Animation Celebration and a screening at Seattle's Masters of Animation conference, Plympton self-distributed the film to selected U.S. theaters. Reviewing its San Francisco theatrical run, Edward Guthmann described the film as a career retrospective in which Plympton placed his earlier films in autobiographical context.

He also published a comic book in 2003, The Sleazy Cartoons of Bill Plympton. The actress Martha Plimpton, a distant relative of his, served as associate producer on Plympton's animated feature Hair High (2004), doing much of the casting. The movie's voice cast included her father Keith Carradine and her uncle David Carradine.

Later works

Guard Dog (2004) was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. In 2005, Plympton animated a music video for Kanye West's "Heard 'Em Say" and the following year, he created the music video for "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Don't Download This Song". Plympton contributed animation to the 2006 History Channel series 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America, to illustrate the events of Shays' Rebellion. Together with other independent New York City animators, he has released two DVDs of animated shorts, both titled Avoid Eye Contact.

Plympton's 2008 80-minute feature, Idiots and Angels presented by Terry Gilliam, had no dialogue. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on 26 April 2008,

In 2011, Alexia Anastasio completed a documentary on Plympton's life, Adventures in Plymptoons!, released in September 2012 direct-to-DVD and on video-on-demand.

In 2011, Plympton collaborated with child film critic Perry Chen on Ingrid Pitt: Beyond the Forest, a 2011 short animated film directed by Kevin Sean Michaels, about actress and Holocaust survivor Ingrid Pitt.

Plympton's seventh animated feature, Cheatin' (2013), was partly financed through a Kickstarter campaign that raised more than $100,000. Plympton personally drew more than 40,000 frames for the film. Cheatin' won the Jury Award for a Feature Film at the 2014 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, as well as the ANIMAFICX Award at the 2013 Gijón International Film Festival.

Plympton directed the segment "On Eating and Drinking" in the 2014 animated film The Prophet, adapted from Kahlil Gibran's book The Prophet.

In 2014, Plympton was one of four artists featured in the Icons of Animation exhibition at New York's Society of Illustrators, alongside Peter de Sève, William Joyce and Carlos Nine. The exhibition was accompanied by an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences program in which Plympton and de Sève participated in a panel discussion on the craft of animation.

In 2016, Plympton completed two feature-length projects. Hitler's Folly was conceived as a satirical mockumentary, while Revengeance was made in collaboration with animator Jim Lujan. Lujan wrote, designed and voiced Revengeance, while Plympton produced, co-directed and animated the film. Revengeance received the Grand Jury Prize in the Animated Feature Competition at the 2017 Nashville Film Festival.

In 2018, Plympton created the animated series of shorts Trump Bites for The New York Times. One installment, Trump and Putin: A Love Story, depicting Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in an intimate relationship, drew criticism for relying on imagery that some commentators described as homophobic.

In 2019, Plympton received the Pulcinella Career Award at Cartoons on the Bay in Turin, recognizing his career in independent animation.

His 2021 short Demi's Panic, written by Danny Leonard and inspired by experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic, marked an unusually dramatic departure from Plympton's predominantly comic work.

In 2020, Plympton launched a Kickstarter campaign for a new animated musical western, Slide. The campaign raised approximately $60,000 from 400 backers. The film screened at the 2023 Annecy International Animation Film Festival and at other festivals during 2023 and 2024. Plympton's studio states that the production officially wrapped in late 2024. In November 2025, the film was released theatrically in France as Duel à Monte-Carlo del Norte.

In 2023, the National Cartoonists Society awarded Plympton the Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award for his career as a cartoonist.

In August 2025, Plympton announced a new animated short entitled Whale 52 - Suite for Man, Boy, and Whale, which had its New York premiere the following month at the IFC Center during a multi-day Plympton retrospective presented by "Weird Al" Yankovic. Another Plympton short, Duckville, also had its New York premiere during the retrospective. Whale 52 subsequently screened at the 2025 Woodstock Film Festival and was among the animated shorts that qualified for consideration for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Although it was not nominated for an Academy Award, in February 2026 Whale 52 received the Crystal Bear for Best Short Film at the Berlin International Film Festival.

In April 2026, Plympton received the Romics d'Oro at the 36th edition of Romics in Rome, in recognition of his career in independent animation.

Technique

By sometimes alternating the same drawings back and forth, it creates a shimmering effect, known in animation as a 'boil', that makes it look like the images are pulsating.

Legacy

A collection of more than 180 Plympton items is held at the Academy Film Archive. The archive has preserved Plympton's films such as Your Face, The Tune, Guard Dog, and The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger.

His films have featured in the Animation Show of Shows including Your Face, Guard Dog, Eat (2001), The Fan and the Flower (2005), and Santa: The Fascist Years (2009).

On June 1, 2026, Plympton was inducted into the Animation Hall of Fame.

Personal life

On December 23, 2011, Plympton married animator/artist/illustrator Sandrine Flament. Their son, Lucas, was born in September 2012.

Influences

Plympton has stated he has many influences, the biggest being the work of the Walt Disney with others including Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Robert Crumb, Milton Glaser, Charles Addams, Charles M. Schulz, Frank Capra, Bob Godfrey, Chuck Jones, Tomi Ungerer, Quentin Tarantino, Jacques Tati, Don Martin, Harvey Kurtzman, Spain Rodriguez and Jules Feiffer. He said I Married a Strange Person! "was influenced by Peter Jackson, some of his earlier films ... where he used gore and violence and blood as humor." He also included references to Jacques Tati, Carlos Nine, and Milt Kahl.

Awards

Filmography

Animated features

Documentaries

  • Walt Curtis: The Peckerneck Poet (1997)
  • Fuck (2005; provided animated sequences)
  • Adventures in Plymptoons! by Alexia Anastasio (2011)

Live-action features

  • J. Lyle (1993)
  • Guns on the Clackamas(1995)
  • Walt Curtis, the Peckerneck Poet (1997)
  • Hitler's Folly (a mockumentary) (2016)

Animated shorts

Source unless otherwise noted:

  • The Turn On (1968; 2:00)
  • Lucas the Ear of Corn (1977; 4:00)
  • Boomtown (1985; 6:00)
  • Love in the Fast Lane (1985; 3:00)
  • Your Face (1987; 3:10)
  • Drawing Lesson #2 (1988; 6:00)
  • One of Those Days (1988: 7:50)
  • How to Kiss (1989; 6:35)
  • 25 Ways to Quit Smoking (1989; 5:00)
  • Plymptoons (1990; 6:45)
  • Tango Schmango (1991)
  • Dig My Do (1990; 4:00)
  • The Wiseman (1990: 4:30)
  • Push Comes to Shove (1991; 6:30)
  • Draw (1993; 2:00)
  • Faded Roads (1994; 2:30)
  • Nosehair (1994; 7:00)
  • How to Make Love to a Woman (1995; 5:00)
  • Smell the Flowers (1996; 2:00)
  • Boney D (1996; 3:00)
  • Plympmania (1996; 8:00)
  • Sex & Violence (1997; 8:00)
  • The Exciting Life of a Tree (1998; 7:00)
  • More Sex & Violence (1998; 7;00)
  • Surprise Cinema (1999; 7:00)
  • The Exciting Life of a Tree (1999, 6:10) (presenter, animator)
  • Can't Drag Race with Jesus (2000; 2:00)
  • Eat (2001; 9:00)
  • Parking (2002; 5:22)
  • Guard Dog (2004; 5:00)
  • The Fan and The Flower (2005; 7:10)
  • Guide Dog (2006; 5:45) (sequel to Guard Dog)
  • Shuteye Hotel (2007; 7:00)
  • Gary Guitar (2008) (episode of Random! Cartoons)
  • Hot Dog (2008) (third in the Guard Dog series)
  • Santa: The Fascist Years (2009)
  • Horn Dog (2009) (fourth in the Guard Dog series)
  • The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger (2010)
  • Summer Bummer (2011; 1:49)
  • Waiting For Her Sailor (2011; 0:30)
  • Tiffany the Whale: Death on the Runway (2012; 8:56)
  • Drunker Than a Skunk (2013; 3:30)
  • Footprints (2014; 4:01)
  • The Prophet (segment, On Eating & Drinking) (2014)
  • ABCs of Death 2 (segment-H is for Head Games) (2014)
  • The Loneliest Stoplight (2015; 6:18)
  • Cop Dog (2017) (fifth in the Guard Dog series)
  • Demi’s Panic (2021)
  • Duckville (2024)
  • Whale 52 - Suite for Man, Boy and Whale (2025)

Animated TV shorts

Compilations (DVD)

  • Avoid Eye Contact Vol. 1
  • Avoid Eye Contact Vol. 2
  • Plymptoons: The Complete Early Works of Bill Plympton (1992)
  • Bill Plympton's Dirty Shorts (2006)
  • Mondo Plympton (2007)
  • Bill Plympton's Dog Days (2009)
  • Bill Plympton's Dogs & Cows (2013)

Music videos

Commercials

Notes

  1. ↑ Produced in collage
  2. ↑ abandoned

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lovece, Frank (October 23, 2012). "God of Indie Animation Bill Plympton at Gold Coast Film Fest". Film Festival Traveler. Archived from the original on February 10, 2014. Retrieved 2014-02-10. Born April 30, 1946, in a Portland, Ore., hospital, Plympton grew up in a family of six kids on a farm in nearby Oregon City. ... [Plympton's son] Lucas [was] born about three weeks before this interview was conducted on Oct. 13, 2012....
  2. ↑ Shout! Factory Announces Acquisition of Bill Plympton Library|Shout! Blog
  3. 1 2 "Biography". Plymptoons (official site). Archived from the original on 2012-02-09. Retrieved 2012-04-16.
  4. 1 2 "Wilda Jean Plympton [obituary]". OregonLive.com. Archived from the original on September 30, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  5. ↑ "[title n.a.]". Visual Arts Journal. 19 (1). School of Visual Arts: 13. Spring 2011.
  6. ↑ "About Bill Plympton – Plymptoons". www.plymptoons.com. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  7. 1 2 Frook, John Evan (May 21, 1992). "October Wins 'Tune' Rights". Daily Variety. p. 2.
  8. ↑ "Bill Plympton". Cannes Film Festival. Archived from the original on October 29, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  9. ↑ MobyGames: Take Your Best Shot, September 17, 2000
  10. ↑ "Mondo Plympton To Hit Theaters" (PDF). Animation World Magazine. Vol. 2, no. 5. August 1997. p. 61. Retrieved September 1, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Mondo Plympton To Hit Theaters" (PDF). Animation World Magazine. Vol. 2, no. 5. August 1997. p. 61. Retrieved September 1, 2026.
  12. ↑ Guthmann, Edward (August 8, 1997). "Journeys Into the Grotesque". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved September 1, 2026.
  13. ↑ "Bill Plympton, Animator - Profile Interview Series Vol. #6". Efilmcritic.com. February 28, 2005. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  14. ↑ Rizov, Vadim (October 28, 2010). "Sex, Death and Pragmatism: Bill Plympton's DIY cartoon cottage industry". LA Weekly. Retrieved November 11, 2011.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  15. ↑ Jessen, Taylor (April 10, 2007). "Might Come Back From Dead Man's Curve: Bill Plympton's 'Hair High'". Animation World News. Retrieved May 15, 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  16. ↑ Tribeca Film Festival Film Guide Archived May 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  17. ↑ "Film Reviews - 'Adventures in Plymptoons!". Variety. November 1, 2011.
  18. ↑ Zahed, Ramin (September 28, 2012). "A Good Time to Watch 'Adventures in Plymptoons!'". Animation Magazine.
  19. ↑ "Wise Beyond His Years". Animation Magazine. PerrysPreviews.com. February 2012.
  20. ↑ "Cheatin' Blu-Ray". Plymptoons. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  21. ↑ "2014 Award Winners". Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  22. ↑ Strike, Joe (June 9, 2014). "The Miscweant: 'Icons of Animation' at The Academy". Animation World Network. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
  23. ↑ "Icons of Animation - The Art of Illustration". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 6 September 2026.
  24. ↑ "Revengeance Blu-Ray". Plymptoons. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  25. ↑ "SOME FREAKS, THE EREMITES, DOG YEARS Win Top Feature Film Prizes at 2017 Nashville Film Festival". VIMooZ. May 1, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  26. ↑ "New York Times under fire for 'homophobic' cartoon of Trump and Putin". Reuters. July 18, 2018.
  27. ↑ "Festival 2019". Cartoons on the Bay. Rai Com. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  28. ↑ "About Bill". Plymptoons. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  29. ↑ "Bill Plympton's 'Slide' Feature Film Kickstarter Ends December 17 - Animation World Network". awn.com. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
  30. ↑ "Annecy > About > Archives > 2023 > Official Selection > Film Index". annecyfestival.com. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
  31. ↑ "About Bill". Plymptoons. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  32. ↑ Dunschen, Tobias (2025-11-05). "Les sorties du 5 novembre 2025". Critique Film (in French). Retrieved 2025-11-21.
  33. ↑ "NCS Awards". National Cartoonists Society. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  34. ↑ Milligan, Mercedes (2025-08-26). "Weird Al Yankovic Presents Bill Plympton Animation Retrospective in N.Y.C." Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2025-10-23.
  35. ↑ Milligan, Mercedes (2025-09-24). "Oscar-Qualifying Woodstock Film Fest Unveils Animated Selections". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2025-10-23.
  36. ↑ "Generation Awards and Juries". Berlinale. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  37. ↑ "Bill Plympton, Romics d'Oro della 36^ edizione" (PDF) (in Italian). Romics. 2026. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  38. ↑ Inside The Wild (And Hand-Drawn) World Of Bill Plympton
  39. ↑ "Bill Plympton Collection". Academy Film Archive. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  40. ↑ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
  41. ↑ Animation Show of Shows
  42. ↑ The Animation Show of Shows (Volume 44)
  43. ↑ The Animation Show of Shows (Volume 20)
  44. ↑ The Animation Show of Shows (Volume 23)
  45. ↑ The Animation Show of Shows (Volume 11)
  46. ↑ "Animation Hall of Fame". animationhalloffame.org. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  47. ↑ Beck, Jerry (21 December 2011). "Congratulations Bill Plympton and Sandrine Flament". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  48. ↑ Plympton, Bill (January 3, 2012). "What I did this Christmas". Scribble Junkies (Plympton official blog). Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  49. ↑ Bill Plympton - 16 January 09-Part 2. One on One. Al Jazeera English. January 18, 2009. Event occurs at 06:57-07:46. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  50. ↑ "Bill Plympton". lambiek.net. Retrieved 2025-03-24.
  51. ↑ Bill Plympton - 16 January 09-Part 2 at 06:26.
  52. ↑ Bill Plympton's Top 10|The Current|The Criterion Collection
  53. ↑ HAND DRAWN: Extended Interview #3- Bill Plympton
  54. ↑ "The 60th Academy Awards | 1988". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  55. ↑ "The Man Who Planted Trees Wins Animated Short: 1988 Oscars". YouTube. 4 February 2016. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22.
  56. ↑ PUSH COMES TO SHOVE - Festival de Cannes
  57. ↑ Inkpot Award
  58. ↑ "The 77th Academy Awards | 2005". Oscars.org. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  59. ↑ Annie Awards - Winsor Mccay
  60. ↑ "SLIFF 2011 Awards Major Filmmaker Awards". Archived from the original on October 26, 2011. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
  61. ↑ "2011 Awards: Our Honorees". Archived from the original on October 24, 2011. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  62. ↑ "2011 Lifetime Achievement Award: Bill Plympton" (PDF). Action on Film International Film Festival. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 9, 2011. Retrieved 2021-11-29.
  63. ↑ "51st Gijon International Film Festival Awards". Ayuntamiento de Gijón. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  64. ↑ "2014 Award Winners". Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  65. ↑ "SOME FREAKS, THE EREMITES, DOG YEARS Win Top Feature Film Prizes at 2017 Nashville Film Festival". VIMooZ. May 1, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  66. ↑ "Festival 2019". Cartoons on the Bay. Rai Com. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  67. ↑ "NCS Awards". National Cartoonists Society. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  68. ↑ "2023 WINNERS – December 9-10 2023". 2023-12-11. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
  69. ↑ "Generation Awards and Juries". www.berlinale.de. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
  70. ↑ "Iron Mule Film Festival". Iron Mule Fest. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  71. ↑ "Bill Plympton, Romics d'Oro della 36^ edizione" (PDF) (in Italian). Romics. 2026. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  72. ↑ "Animated Shorts". Plymptoons (official site). Archived from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  73. ↑ SND Films
  74. ↑ "Cartoons Considered For An Academy Award – 1984 -". cartoonresearch.com.
  75. ↑ Godfrey, Leigh (December 10, 2001). "Bill Plympton's 12 Tiny Christmas Tales To Air On Cartoon Network". Animation World Network. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  76. ↑ "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_gMuwt49pI The Importance of Paying Attention"