Dave Creek, a lead character designer on the beloved animated Fox series Bob’s Burgers, died on Thursday. Variety and original reporting outlet Cartoon Brew confirm that the animator’s death was caused by complication from a skydiving accident that occurred the previous weekend. 20th Television, Fox Entertainment and its Bento Box Entertainment animation studio unit, which produces Bob’s Burgers, said in a joint statement to The Hollywood Reporter: “We are heartbroken at the tragic passing of Dave Creek, an extraordinary artist who had been with Bob’s Burgers from day one. He was not just an incredible talent but a beautiful person as well, and our hearts go out to his family, friends and all his colleagues at the show who loved him and are grieving today.” He was 42.
Creek has been with the Loren Bouchard-helmed hit since its inception in 2011, beginning as a character designer before being eventually promoted to his leadership role. His credits also include Apple TV+’s Central Park, Brickleberry, and Happiness Is A Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown. Outside of the world of television, he served as an adjunct professor at his alma mater, Cal Arts.
Friends and colleagues paid tribute to Creek on social media, citing him as a gutsy man with a passion for skydiving, bonsai trees, and building ornate treehouses (which he showcased on his Instagram page). Bob’s Burgers writer Wendy Molyneux described Creek as “an adventurous funny outgoing amazing artist and one of the most incredible, interesting people I ever met.” Credited by many as the creative mind behind so many of the treasured characters on the popular series, Molyneaux also managed to succinctly note his impact in her tribute: “If you love Bob’s Burgers, you loved Dave Creek.”
9 Comments
RIP. No such thing as a minor Skydiving accident.
I checked out Bob’s Burgers initially because I really liked the character designs, and I have been consistently delighted by how unique ever new character introduced ends up looking. They aren’t your standard ugly adult animation designs. There’s a warmth to them, which helps endear me almost immediately, and I’ve stuck around ever since. Nobody draws a sadsack weirdo like the Bob’s Burgers crew. RIP.
Agreed on all counts. One of the consistently best shows on TV.
“There’s a warmth to them”Cannot agree more with this. I haven’t kept up with Bob’s the last couple seasons, but the whole reason I started watching in the first place was because there was a genuine humanity to the characters’ physicality and their representation. So much more than Family Guy, which I positively gave up on sometime around 2005.
Fascinating to see so many folks with this sentiment; the only reason it took me as long as it did to start watching was that I was put off by those designs (the way their faces just melt into necks without actual chins). I’m glad other folks like it!Regardless, it’s a brilliant show and by all accounts Creek was a brilliant man, what awful news.
This show is my comfort food. Brilliant and funny. It’s almost always on in the background.This sucks the big weenie 🙁
Today is yesterday’s tomorrow, but today just sucks.
Well that sucks since Bob’s Burgers is the best written show on TV.
This is terrible news; my deepest condolences to his loved ones. I can’t thank him enough for his incredibly positive impact on our family’s life, as Bob’s Burgers is easily the most quoted media in our house, and has provided more laughter than anything else, really. RIP. You are missed.