John R. Dilworth

Who is John R. Dilworth?

Jonathan "John" Robert Dilworth, a.k.a. "Dilly", is an American animator, director and actor. He is best known as the producer, director, writer, and creator of the animated television series Courage the Cowardly Dog.

Dilworth attended the School of Visual Arts in New York, where he graduated in 1985 with a Bachelor of Arts. After graduation, Dilworth became an art director at Baldi, Bloom and Whelan Advertising, but continued to work 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 the wildly popular and critically acclaimed Courage the Cowardly Dog. Dilworth is the president of Stretch Films, a New York-based design and animation studio, which he founded in 1991. He also worked on the original opening for Nicktoons and for the show Doug.

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. He was animation consultant of Gumby: The Movie.