CSUPO, GABOR

CSUPO, GABOR (1952– ), U.S. cartoon animator; founders/co-chair with Arlene Klasky, of Klasky Csupo. Csupo, born in Budapest, Hungary, learned animation at Pannonia Studio. He escaped Communist Hungary in 1975 and made his way to Stockholm, where he met Arlene Klasky. A graduate of California Institute of the Arts, Klasky worked as a designer for record labels such as A\&M Records, served as a magazine and advertising art director, and then moved to special effects and graphics for film. The couple relocated to Los Angeles and formed Klasky Csupo, Inc. in 1982. In 1988, James L. Brooks awarded the company the job of animating The Simpsons for Fox's The Tracey Ulman Show. Klasky Csupo,   Inc. subsequently created such animated shows as Rugrats (1991), a cartoon told from a child's point of view, Duckman (1994), The Wild Thornberrys (1998), and As Told by Ginger (2000). Rugrats features Passover and Hanukkah episodes and its Jewish main character, Tommy Pickles, is based on Klasky's experiences with his sons Brandon and Jarrett. Feature films included The Rugrats Movie (1998), Rugrats in Paris (2000), The Wild Thornberrys Movie (2002), and the crossover film Rugrats Go Wild\! (2003). (Adam Wills (2nd ed.)