Tom Cook : The Man Behind the Curtain of my Childhood

 

  Cartoons...we all watch then weather we admit it on not...Male female young old , its part of our childhood, part of our growing up. We all have shows we like and hate for various  reasons based on toys, comics, movies, tv shows. Be it a 30 minute show, hour movie, or a week long mini series we`ve all spent hours with our eyes glued to the television screen with those memories connected to our childhood..Well allow me to introduce you to a man or "Wizard of my childhood, Mr. Tom Cook.

  I met Mr. Cook at Tennessee`s first Comic Con which featured actors of stage and screen, voice actors of animation and video games, comic artist and writers, a pro wrestler, vendors, pod casters, paranormal investigators, and cosplayers. When I first walked in, I did a quick walk through to see where everyone was positioned through out the convention floor, then made my way to the panel stages to make sure I was able to get photos of guest as they did their question and answer sections.

 After that  I did my second walk through looking and taking photos of the celebs and vendors at their booths celebrities with security, artist selling commission pieces,  shirts, props, comics, and costumes on display. Then I came across "his" table Mr. Cook`s. filled with original works of art like +The Simpsons  drawn as  +The Avengers ., a +Shaggy Rogers from +Scooby Doo . +He-Man Official .and +Challenge of the SuperFriends Fan . But the thing that stood out the most was a penciled sketch of +Thundarr Barbarian.  And that`s where our conversation began.

  .His story begins as bus driver with artistic skills that would pass  Hanna Barbara Studios on his daily route wishing he could work there.One day on his lunch break, he was going through his junk mail which he normally throws away and found a pamphlet  from a local collage offering classes, one which was a) a course in how to draw comics and b) being taught by a comic writer  Don Rico.Mr, Rico asked the class if they have a portfolio of their work to bring it to class and was so impressed with Mr. Cook that he offered him a job as an assistant  animator and the rest is history.

 His body of work includes The Challenge of the Superfriends, Smurfs, Godzilla, Captain Caveman, Spiderman and his Amazing Friends, Heathcliff, The Simpsons, Bravestar, He-man, She-ra, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. We`re Back a Dinosaur Story and one my all time favorite animated shows (which is also his) Thundarr the Barbarian

Its amazing how people can have influence in our lives and we can be completely unaware of  it. Tom Cook made my Saturday mornings the most enjoyable growing up and I will be forever grateful. Within the Oz of my childhood he was one of the true wizards or the man behind the curtain I never knew.