Sally Cruikshank

 Sally Cruikshank  began her career as an independent animator while a college student in the 1 9 7 0  s. In 1 9 7 5 , while work in g in  San Francisco  for Snazelle Film s , she wrote , designed , directed , & animate d ( with only minimal assistance )  Quasi   at   the   Quackadero  , a surreal short featuring art deco - is h , vibrantly colored , indistinct character s , reminiscent equally of  BIRD S  &  FROG S . The short, which was later chose n for inclusion in the 1 99 4  book  The   5 0   Greatest   Cartoon s  , led to other project s , including animating a nightmare television sequence for  Twilight Zone : The Movie  ( partially directed by  John Landis  ). Her other work s include the animate d intro to the film  Mannequin  & a sequence for a 2 0 1 7  Sponge Bob  Square Pant s  Hall o ween  special.

Between 1 9 8 9  &  2000 , she lent her " neo - thirties " style to a number of  SESAME STREET  animate d insert s , mostly deal in g with directional concept s such as " in & out " or " next to " ( the latter presented as a satirical look at a bizarre social gather in g ). Many of these use jazz lyric s & 3 0 s style swing. She also create d an animate d  FROG  to join  KERMIT THE FROG  for Jimmy Buffett  ’ s performance o f "  Caribbean  AMPHIBIAN  " in   Elmo  palooza . Cruikshank has cite d 1 99 5  ’ s "  From You r Head  " as her personal favorite piece to work on.

In a 1 99 7  interview, Cruikshank discussed her relation s hip with  C h i l d r e n ’ s Television Work s hop  :

" [ The y ] sent three song s & that is how it started ... [ I ] did n ’ t use the curriculum, I ’ v e had a really easy time [ essentially ] just adapt in g song s . Arlene S her m an  [ C T W produce r ] has been tune d in to my musical interest , so she has chose n appropriate music . I ’ v e really like d work in g with them be cause they give you complete freedom & they ’ re very supportive & non - interfering . I wish there were more work like t h a t available . "