Talk to the Snail

The first series created by the wife/husband team of Sandra Equihua and Jorge Gutierrez, El Tigre, has its official premiere this Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. on Nickelodeon. It’ll be Nick’s first original cartoon series in nearly a year and a half.

Both Jorge and Sandra have worked a little with Frederator over the years: Jorge served as a “guest designer” on a special Day of the Dead episode of ChalkZone years ago and he designed one of our annual New Year’s posters.* Sandra, meanwhile, was a character designer on Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! before getting the call to work on her own show. This hardest-working couple in showbiz are hellishly nice and super-talented in the art department.

The only thing more colossal than their art gifts is their talent in attracting other talent. Just look at some of the crew members credited in the first half-hour episode (“Sole of a Hero” and “Night of the Living Guacamole”):

Roman Laney
Fred Gonzales
Dave Thomas
Fred Osmond
Gabe Swarr
Steve Lambe
Chris Battle
Katie Rice
Ray Morelli
Su Moon
Joseph Holt
Katrien Verbiest
Denise Chavez
Gerald de Jesus
Tod Polson
Aaron Horvath
Sean Szeles

Of course, most cartoon-watchers don’t pay attention to credits, but, take my word for it, these folks are all superior artists, the best in the business.

Best of luck with the premiere, Sandra and Jorge. A dozen years from now, I’m betting that tons of young artists will point to El Tigre as the show that first inspired them to pick up a pencil and draw.

– Eric

* That link to the 2003 New Year’s poster is for the 6-color version we wound up printing. However, you should go to Jorge’s site to see the 12-color version he originally created.