Aaron Springer (born September 5, 1973) is an American cartoonist, animator, artist, writer, director, and voice actor. He is the creator of the Disney XD original series Billy Dilley's Super-Duper Subterranean Summer, in which he voiced the main character, Billy Dilley. He is also known for his work on the Nickelodeon animated series SpongeBob SquarePants.
Early life Springer was a fan of animation from a very early age. Inspiration from his show Billy Dilley's Super-Duper Subterranean Summer was drawn from his childhood on a summer day typically when he stated Richard Scarry was his favorite types of illustrators what also drew inspiration from his own TV show. He grew up watching Charlie Brown and Rankin-Bass productions and a few other cartoons.
Career A graduate of the California Institute of the Arts, Springer began his career in animation working for Spümcø, later departing the company for Cartoon Network Studios. He was best known for creating pilots that were never picked up as full series, but have developed cult followings. Outside of his own work, Springer worked on a good amount of Cartoon Network series including Samurai Jack (2002–2003), Dexter's Laboratory (2003) and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (2005–2007). Springer would intermittently work at for Nickelodeon Animation Studio; he exclusively worked on SpongeBob SquarePants as a writer, storyboard artist and storyboard director for the first eight seasons, as well as co-writing and storyboarding its 2004 film adaptation.
His most recognizable pilot is Korgoth of Barbaria for Adult Swim in 2006, which was originally picked up for a full series (because of its critical and commercial success with garnering high ratings), however the decision was eventually passed up as the production costs would've been too expensive, so says later events, including a formal petition to revive the show.Bring Back Korgoth of Barbaria on petitionhosting.com
Springer also created Periwinkle Around the World back in 2004 for Cartoon Network, that was divided into five separate two-minute shorts, produced and directed by Genndy Tartakovsky. This series of shorts followed an anthropomorphic platypus as he travels around a few places in the world, such as China and Italy. Tom Kenny voiced a majority of the characters. Refusing to pick it up as a full series, Cartoon Network instead planned to release five shorts from the pilot as mobile phone content, but ended up putting them in their Sunday Pants anthology series in 2005. Springer's last pilot for Cartoon Network was Baloobaloob's Fun Park in 2009, which was produced as part of The Cartoonstitute.
More recently, he had worked closely with Disney Television Animation, working on Gravity Falls (2012–2013), Wander Over Yonder (2014) and the Mickey Mouse (2013–2015) television series. At the studio, Springer created Billy Dilley's Super-Duper Subterranean Summer for Disney XD, where he voiced the main character, Billy Dilley. The show was first announced in 2014 as a potential pilot, alongside another potential pilot Very Important House. In March 2016, it was confirmed that Disney XD has greenlit Springer's show for a full series. It officially premiered on June 3, 2017, and ended 12 days later. In 2019, Pete Browngardt mentioned that Springer was at Warner Bros. Animation developing a new adult animated project under the name Snail Riders of Zongdar, however the project was passed up some time after the initial trailer pitch. In 2024, Springer returned to Paramount Animation to be a storyboard artist for The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants.
Aaron Springer's cartoons are notable for their inclusion of extended gags, anthropomorphism and off-model poses. Springer has cited Richard Scarry, Sergio Aragonés, Frank Frazetta, Vaughn Bodē, Akira Toriyama, Hideshi Hino, Shigeru Mizuki and Hugo Pratt as his influences.
Filmography
Television YearTitleRoleNotes1999–2012SpongeBob SquarePantsReal-life drummer ("Pre-Hibernation Week" episode)Writer (Seasons 1–8)Storyboard director (Seasons 1–8)Storyboard artist (Season 1)Director (Season 2)1999A Day in the Life of Ranger SmithLayout artist2001A Kitty Bobo ShowPilot; animation layout artist2002PoochiniStoryboard artist (2 episodes)2001–2003Samurai Jack Writer/storyboard artist2003Dexter's Laboratory2004Periwinkle Around the WorldMiniseries for Sunday Pants; creator/writer/director/storyboard artist/layout artist/executive producer2005–2007The Grim Adventures of Billy & MandyStory/storyboard artist 2006 Korgoth of Barbariacreator/writer/director/storyboard artist/character designer/executive producer2009The Cartoonstitute creator/director/storyboard artist of “Baloobaloob’s Fun Park”2012–2013Gravity Fallsdirector (season 1)2013–2015Mickey Mousevariouswriter/director/storyboard artist2014Wander Over Yonderadditional voicesstory/writer/director/storyboard artist ("The Helper")2017Billy Dilley's Super-Duper Subterranean SummerBilly DilleyCreator/executive producer/writer/storyboard artist2021Snail Riders of ZongdarCreator/director/storyboard artist2023Looney Tunes CartoonsWriter/storyboard artist/character designer ("Crumb and Get It")2024The Patrick Star ShowWriter/storyboard artist ("Too Many Patricks")2025ChibiverseBilly Dilley Voice ("Journey to the Center of the Chibiverse")
Film YearTitleRoleNotes 1997A Sunday Stroll Student filmsBaby's New FormulaCats Don't Dance Intern artist (uncredited)2003Looney Tunes: Back in ActionStoryboard artist2004The SpongeBob SquarePants MovieLaughing BubbleAlso writer, storyboard artist, character designer2007SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantisLive-action segments only2020The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the RunHead of story2022Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!Storyboard artist2024The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie2025The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants Scallop Also supervising producer, storyboard artist
Music videos and Internet YearTitleRoleNotes1997Björk: I Miss You storyboard/layout/animatorWeekend Pussy Hunt storyboard/layoutWhat Pee Boners Are For storyboard/layout1997–1998The Goddamn George Liquor Programstoryboard/layout/animator
References
External links
FunTowne: Aaron Springer's website Interview with Aaron Springer