Craig McCracken has been interested in drawing and animation since the age of three. Some of his sources of inspiration are Japanese anime, Super Friends (1973), Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986) and Little Golden Books. After briefly considering a career as a comic book illustrator, McCracken studied animation at Cal Arts in LA (along with fellow classmate and Dexter's Laboratory (1996) creator Genndy Tartakovsky. His most famous creation, The Powerpuff Girls (1998), began life in a student film under the less-cutesy title, Whoopass Stew! (1992), it was quickly renamed The Powerpuff Girls (1998).
