# Paul Gruwell

Paul Gruwell (November 28, 1933 – November 4, 2014) was an American multidisciplinary artist, animator, creative director, and designer, whose career spanned animation, music, publishing, and graphic arts. Best known as the director of Basketball Jones featuring Tyrone Shoelaces, Gruwell worked with major studios including Hanna-Barbera, Marvel Productions, Disney, Amblin, Filmation, Film Roman, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Warner Bros. He also lead creative projects for companies like Boeing, Microsoft, Softimage, Humongous Entertainment, Shanachie Records, Epic Records, A&M Records, and Ode Records, and Watermark Inc.
The Los Angeles Times referred to Gruwell as "one of the last hand-drawn animation artists" in the movie industry, highlighting his commitment to traditional animation techniques in a time of evolving technologies. With a career that spanned children's entertainment, political satire, and commercial projects.
He spent his later years in Bellingham, Washington, where he remained until his death on November 4, 2014, from complications related to type 2 diabetes.

## Career

In 1973, Cheech & Chong enlisted Paul Gruwell to direct and animate an original short film inspired by their song "Basketball Jones featuring Tyrone Shoelaces." The resulting eponymous short film was used to promote the single and its parent album, Los Cochinos, across the United States. The song achieved significant commercial success, reaching No. 15 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, while Los Cochinos peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Albums Chart and earned a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording at the 16th Annual Grammy Awards.
In 1998, The Simpsons parodied the film in the episode "A Midsummer's Nice Dream," emulating its distinctive animation style and incorporating analogous characters. The short also appeared briefly in notable films, including California Split and the critically acclaimed, Academy Award-winning Being There. Its inclusion in Being There indirectly brought recognition to Paul Gruwell’s work when the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Over time, Basketball Jones has been referenced extensively in popular media. The song was famously covered by Chris Rock and Barry White for the blockbuster movie Space Jam and featured on the accompanying soundtrack, which sold over 6 million copies. Additional references to Basketball Jones have appeared in television series such as DAG, The Gregory Hines Show, and 2 Broke Girls.

## Filmography
### Films

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1974 | California Split | Animator - Basketball Jones featuring Tyrone Shoelaces scene | |
| 1979 | Being There | Animator - Basketball Jones featuring Tyrone Shoelaces scene | |
| 1978 | Up in Smoke | Animator - uncredited | Cut from final |
| 1979 | Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All | Model designer | |
| 1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | Concept artist | |
| 1981 | Heavy Metal | Assistant animator | Segment "Taarna" |
| 1985 | Starchaser: The Legend of Orin | Storyboard artist | |
| 1987 | Sport Goofy in Soccermania | Model designer | |
| 1987 | The Garbage Pail Kids Movie | Storyboard artist | |

### Shorts

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1973 | Basketball Jones featuring Tyrone Shoelaces | Director, animator | |
| 1978 | The Big Sniff | Director, animator | Considered for Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film |
| 1989 | Garfield's Babes and Bullets | Model designer | Won Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1968-1969 | The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Layout artist | |
| 1969 | The Banana Splits | Layout artist | |
| 1969-1970 | Scooby Doo, Where Are You! | Layout artist | |
| 1972 | The New Scooby-Doo Movies | Layout artist | credited as 'Paul Gruwett' |
| 1973 | Emergency +4 | Layout artist | |
| 1974 | These Are the Days | Layout artist | |
| 1978 | Super Friends | Layout artist | |
| 1978-1979 | Godzilla | Story director, layout artist | |
| 1979 | Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids | Animator | |
| 1979 | The New Adventures of Flash Gordon | Model designer | |
| 1981 | Heathcliff | Layout artist | |
| 1982 | The Little Rascals | Layout artist | |
| 1982 | Pandamonium | Layout artist | |
| 1982 | Meatballs & Spaghetti | Storyboard artist | |
| 1982 | Pac-Man | Layout artist | |
| 1983 | Mister T | Layout artist | |
| 1983 | Dungeons & Dragons | Background designer | |
| 1984 | The Transformers | Storyboard artist | Credited as 'Paul Grewell' |
| 1985-1986 | G.I. Joe | Layout artist | |
| 1986 | My Little Pony | Storyboard artist | |
| 1986 | InHumanoids | Model designer | Credited as 'Paul Gruell' |
| 1986 | Garbage Pail Kids | Storyboard designer, layout designer, model designer | |
| 1988 | Alvin and the Chipmunks | Scenic designer | |
| 1988 | Dino-Riders | Background layout artist | |
| 1988-1989 | DuckTales | Storyboard designer | |
| 1989 | The Magical World of Disney | Storyboard designer | |
| 1989-1990 | Garfield and Friends | Director, supervising director, overseas supervisor | |
| 1990 | Kid 'n' Play | Background designer | |
| 1993 | Bonkers | Key layout designer, storyboard artist | |
| 1995 | Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man | Storyboard artist | |
| 1996 | The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest | Background designer | |
| 1998 | The New Batman Adventures | Background key designer | |
| 1998 | The Simpsons | Animator, additional animation timer | |
| 1998 | Batman Beyond | Background key designer | |
| 1999-2002 | Mission Hill | Background designer | |

### Educational Filmstrips

| Year | Company | Role | Notes |
| 1980s-1990s | Disney | Storyboard artist | |

### Industrial

| Year | Client | Role | Notes |
| 1966 | Boeing | Filmmaker | |

## Video games

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1997 | Backyard Baseball | Background layout artist | |
| 2000 | Backyard Baseball 2001 | Background layout artist | |

## Music industry
### LPs

| Year | Title | Artist | Credits |
| 1971 | Key | Meredith Monk | Art Direction |
| 1971 | Cheech and Chong | Cheech & Chong | Album cover art & typography |
| 1972 | An Evening With Richard Nixon | Gore Vidal | Design and cover drawings |
| 1993 | From The Polynesian Odyssey | Tubuai Choir | Art direction, design |

### Singles

| Year | Title | Artist | Credits |
| 1971 | Santa Claus and His Old Lady | Cheech & Chong | Typography |
| 1973 | Sister Mary Elephant | Cheech & Chong | Picture sleeve illustration |
| 1977 | Bloat On / Just Say "Right On" (The Bloaters' Creed) | Cheech & Chong | Album cover art |

### Compilations

| Year | Title | Label | Credits | Notes |
| 1970 | Cruisin' 56 | Increase Records | Art direction, thumbnails | Final illustrations by Mike Royer |
| 1970 | Cruisin' 57 | Increase Records | Art direction, thumbnails | Final illustrations by Mike Royer |
| 1970 | Cruisin' 58 | Increase Records | Art direction, thumbnails | Final illustrations by Mike Royer |
| 1970 | Cruisin' 59 | Increase Records | Art direction, thumbnails | Final illustrations by Mike Royer |
| 1970 | Cruisin' 60 | Increase Records | Art direction, thumbnails | Final illustrations by Mike Royer |
| 1970 | Cruisin' 61 | Increase Records | Art direction, thumbnails | Final illustrations by Mike Royer |
| 1970 | Cruisin' 62 | Increase Records | Art direction, thumbnails | Final illustrations by Mike Royer |
| 1972 | Cruisin' 55 | Increase Records | Art direction, thumbnails | Final illustrations by Mike Royer |
| 1972 | Cruisin' 63 | Increase Records | Art direction, thumbnails | Final illustrations by Mike Royer |

### Radio shows

| Year | Title | Host | Role | Notes |
| 1974–1979 | American Top 40 | Casey Kasem | Logo designer, graphic designer for branding & marketing materials | |

## Books

| Year | Title | Author | Role | |
| 1972 | Seven Arrows | Hyemeyohsts Storm | Storyboard & layout artist for film adaptation | |
| 1986 | Mentor and the Magic Circle | Hyemeyohsts Storm | Illustrator | Initially published by München Boer in Germany as Mentor und der Magische Kreis |
| 2005 | American Top 40 with Casey Kasem (The 1970s) | Pete Battistini | Book cover | The logo for American Top 40, created by Gruwell, is displayed prominently on the book cover |

## Other

| Year | Client | Role | Notes |
| | Blue Sky Music in Ojai, California | Logo designer, graphic designer for branding & marketing materials | |