John Russell Dilworth was born on February 14, 1963, in
New York City. After graduating from the
School of Visual Arts, Dilworth became an art director at Baldi, Bloom and Whelan Advertising. During this period, he worked on his own films in his spare time, providing much of his own funding. His animated short,
The Chicken from Outer Space, was nominated for an
Academy Award in 1996.
Cartoon Network later commissioned Dilworth to turn the short into a series, which eventually became
Courage the Cowardly Dog. He also worked on the original opening for
Nicktoons and worked on
Doug. He also directed the pilot episode of
Sniz & Fondue titled
Psyched For Snuppa. Dilworth created the series of nine animated shorts for
Sesame Street based on his independent film, "Noodles & Nedd". "Nedd" is named after the author Nedd Willard, a mentor. Dilworth's short
Angry Cabaret was also featured in
MTV's 1994
Animation Weekend. His breakout film was
The Dirdy Birdy, which aired on MTV's
Cartoon Sushi and on Comedy Central. He was animation consultant of
Gumby: The Movie, and was also one of the directors of ''
Drew Carey's Green Screen Show''. Dilworth was also an animator and layout artist on the first two videotapes of
Richard Scarry's
Best Video Series Ever!. Dilworth appears in
pixilation sequences in the 2013 animated short
Subconscious Password by
Chris Landreth. In 2017, Dilworth completed a new short film,
Goose in High Heels. The film could previously be viewed on his YouTube channel, Stretch Films; however, it currently is not available online for viewing.
Stretch Films Stretch Films, Inc. is a production company that was founded in 1991 by John R. Dilworth, who is the company president. It is best known for Cartoon Network's
Courage the Cowardly Dog, but the company has produced other works as well. == Filmography ==