Fred Crippen (1928-2018) was a cartoonist and animator who produced and directed many inserts for Sesame Street, with the earliest contributions subcontracted for Ken Snyder's studio. Later contributions, in the 1970s and 1980s, were documented as from his own studio Pantomime Pictures.
Crippen began his animation career at various New York City studios, and by the 1950s he was working for the East Coast arm of UPA, the studio known for Mr. Magoo.[1] He moved to their Los Angeles studio, directing and animating segments for The Gerald McBoing-Boing Show and entries in the Ham and Hattie theatrical shorts.
In 1958,[1] he formed Pantomime Pictures, whose output included the TV cartoon Roger Ramjet (whose voice cast, such as Gary Owens and Bob Arbogast, would be heard in Crippen's Sesame shorts). Pantomime was subcontracted by Jay Ward for one segment apiece of all three George of the Jungle components.[2] Commercials from the studio included a 1980 series of spots for the National Lumber Company. Apart from his own studio, Crippen had stints with Hanna-Barbera as a layout artist and story director (including on Yogi's Space Race and The Addams Family) and as an animator at other studios.
Crippen continued to supply animated inserts for the Childrens' Television Workshop into the early 1990s, including the "Dirk Niblick of the Math Brigade" segments on Square One TV. Later in life, Crippen would teach animation as a professor at the Art Institute of Orange County. His last animation credits were as a timing director on the final season of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the PBS series Adventure from the Book of Virtues, and various Columbia TriStar television series (ending with the second season of Godzilla: The Series in 2001).
