Sally Cruikshank

Sally Cruikshank began her career as an independent animator while a college student in the 1970s. In 1975, while working in San Francisco for Snazelle Films, she wrote, designed, directed, and animated (with only minimal assistance) Quasi at the Quackadero, a surreal short featuring art deco-ish, vibrantly colored, indistinct characters, reminiscent equally of birds and frogs. The short, which was later chosen for inclusion in the 1994 book The 50 Greatest Cartoons, led to other projects, including animating a nightmare television sequence for Twilight Zone: The Movie (partially directed by John Landis).

Between 1989 and 2000, she lent her "neo-thirties" style to a number of Sesame Street animated inserts, mostly dealing with directional concepts such as "in and out" or "next to" (the latter presented as a satirical look at a bizarre social gathering). Many of these use jazz lyrics and 30s style swing. She also created an animated frog to join Kermit for Jimmy Buffett's performance of "Caribbean Amphibian" in Elmopalooza.

In a 1997 interview, Cruikshank discussed her relationship with Children's Television Workshop: "[They] sent three songs and that is how it started... [I] didn't use the curriculum, I've had a really easy time [essentially] just adapting songs. Arlene Sherman [CTW producer] has been tuned into my musical interest, so she has chosen appropriate music. I've really liked working with them because they give you complete freedom and they're very supportive and non-interfering. I wish there were more work like that available."