Adam Maxwell Burton,[1] known professionally as Maxwell Atoms, is an American animator, screenwriter, storyboard artist, and voice actor. He is the creator of the Cartoon Network series Grim & Evil and its subsequent spin-offs, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Evil Con Carne.[2]
Maxwell Atoms | |
|---|---|
 Atoms in Los Angeles in 2017 | |
| Born | Adam Maxwell Burton |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Animator, screenwriter, storyboard artist, director, producer, voice actor |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Known for | |
Career
editAtoms is the creator of Cartoon Network's animated television series The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy,[3] Evil Con Carne, and has developed a Billy & Mandy spin-off Halloween special called Underfist: Halloween Bash.[4] Atoms attended the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.[4] Before he started working on his own series, Atoms was an intern at Film Roman, a freelance artist at Warner Bros., had a brief stint at WildBrain,[5] and had also worked on The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat.[4] Atoms got a job at Hanna-Barbera and as a story and storyboard artist on Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel.[4] Atoms also performed the voice of Jeff the Spider and Piff on The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy,[6] and voiced Cod Commando on Evil Con Carne.[7] He also voiced several additional characters in the TV-movie Billy & Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure.[8]
Atoms is good friends with fellow animator Mr. Warburton, creator of Codename: Kids Next Door and C. H. Greenblatt, the creator of Chowder and Harvey Beaks. He and Warburton have made multiple references to each other's shows and have made a crossover half-hour special, The Grim Adventures of the Kids Next Door. As for C. H., he voiced the character Fred Fredburger in several episodes of Billy & Mandy,[2] alongside a brief cameo of Chowder in Underfist. Atoms was also an executive producer and voice actor of the Disney show Fish Hooks with Noah Z. Jones.[9]
As of 2012, Atoms begun developing a new project entitled Dead Meat, "an awesome black comedy/buddy action/puppet gore web series",[10] which was still in production as of January 2020 and had a successful Kickstarter campaign as of November 15, 2013.[11] In an interview in 2013, Atoms stated that the series would be posted somewhere on the internet once it is finished. In early 2014, Atoms stated that he hopes to get the series released in 2015. This fell through and, in early 2020, Atoms announced that the project is shelved indefinitely and all backers will be refunded due to expensive costs and contractual issues.[12][a] In 2016 he began working on a new series called Bunnicula.[4] The show ended in 2018.[citation needed]
In 2020, he provided several additional voices for the adult animated web series Hazbin Hotel,[13] as he met creator Vivienne Medrano during work on Dead Meat. He serves as a storyboard supervisor on The Patrick Star Show.
Personal life
editAtoms lives in Los Angeles. He has autism spectrum disorder.[14]
Filmography
editTelevision
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat | N/A | Character designer |
| 1998–1999 | Cow and Chicken | N/A | Props Story Storyboard artist |
| 1998–1999 | I Am Weasel | N/A | Props Story Storyboard artist |
| 2000 | Poochini | N/A | Storyboard artist Title card designer |
| 2001–2003 | Grim & Evil | Cod Commando Jeff the Spider |
Creator Director Writer and Storyboard artist Executive producer Character and Prop designer |
| 2002–2003 | Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? | N/A | Layout artist |
| 2003–2008 | The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy | Jeff the Spider Additional voices |
Creator Writer and storyboard artist Story Executive producer Character and Prop Designer |
| 2003–2004 | Evil Con Carne | Cod Commando Additional voices |
Creator Writer and Storyboard artist Story Executive producer Character and Prop Designer |
| 2008–2009 | Chowder | Additional voices | Story Storyboard artist |
| 2010–2014 | Fish Hooks | Additional voices | Story Director Supervising director Storyboard artist Writer Executive producer |
| 2016–2018 | Bunnicula | N/A | Producer Writer Storyboard artist Director |
| 2019 | Teen Titans Go! | N/A | Writer Director Storyboard artist |
| 2023 | The Patrick Star Show | N/A | Storyboard supervisor |
Films
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Billy & Mandy in: Trepanation of the Skull and You | Billy | Student film |
| 2001 | The Flintstones: On the Rocks | N/A | Character layout artist |
| 2007 | The Grim Adventures of the Kids Next Door | N/A | Creator |
| 2007 | Billy & Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure | I'll Cut You Guy Pirate #2 Horrorbot Burnt Skeleton Guard |
Creator Story Writer Storyboard artist Character designer |
| 2007 | Billy & Mandy: Wrath of the Spider Queen | Jeff the Spider Mystery Announcer Man |
Creator Story |
| 2008 | Underfist | Jeff the Spider | Creator Story Storyboard artist Art director Character designer |
| 2020 | Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo![15] | N/A | Writer Producer Director |
| 2021 | Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob | N/A | Writer Producer Director |
Video games
edit| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall | Jeff the Spider |
Internet
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Cartoons VS Cancer | Himself | |
| 2019 | Hazbin Hotel | Additional voices | Pilot: "That's Entertainment" |
| 2020 | Helluva Boss | Ralphie, additional voices[16][17] | In S1E1, "Murder Family" |
Awards
edit- Special internship, Film Roman. University of the Arts. 1996.
- Annie nomination (1998)- Outstanding Individual Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production. Cow & Chicken "The Karate Chick".
- Top Pick Cartoons (2001–02). TV Guide.
- Comic-Con (2005, 2006 and 2007).
- 34th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, Children's Programming, 2007 – The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
Notes
edit- ^ Also see his posts on March 10, 2020, March 17, 2020, and June 15, 2020 for further confirmation of the project ending, along with the original post on Kickstarter.
References
edit- ^ Atoms, Maxwell (1998). "Billy and Mandy in Trepanation of the Skull and You". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on June 1, 2024. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ^ a b Motamayor, Rafael (June 21, 2018). "Series creator Maxwell Atoms gets emotional, man, on the 15th anniversary of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy". Syfy Wire. Archived from the original on June 26, 2018. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
- ^ "Video Game Features, PC Game Features". Archived from the original on June 1, 2024. Retrieved April 3, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e "Animation Alum Screens Student Film That Inspired 'Billy & Mandy' Series". University of the Arts. May 4, 2016. Archived from the original on August 19, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
- ^ Perlmutter, David (2014). America Toons In: A History of Television Animation. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. pp. 331–332. ISBN 978-0-7864-7650-3. Archived from the original on June 1, 2024. Retrieved March 27, 2022 – via Google Books.
- ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 257. ISBN 9781538103739. Archived from the original on March 27, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022 – via Google Books.
- ^ Perlmutter 2018, p. 256.
- ^ "Maxwell Atoms". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
- ^ Perlmutter 2018, pp. 206–207.
- ^ Atoms, Maxwell (September 16, 2013). "Dead Meat". Maxwellatoms.tumblr.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
- ^ Bright, Vic (December 13, 2020). "Kickstart This Now!! Maxwell Atoms' Dead Meat". Bubble Blabber. Archived from the original on April 25, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
- ^ Atoms, Maxwell (February 13, 2020). "Yeah. But It Might Be a While. This Has Been Pretty Devastating for Me..." Maxwellatoms.tumblr.com. Archived from the original on April 25, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
- ^ "Hazbin Hotel - "Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow" (Original Song)". YouTube. October 5, 2018. Archived from the original on December 6, 2018. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
- ^ Atoms, Maxwell (February 3, 2021). "Dead Meat". Maxwellatoms.tumblr.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
- ^ "The Gang Teams with Elvira and Battles Evil Pumpkins in New Animated Movie 'Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo!' [Trailer]". Bloody Disgusting. July 3, 2020. Archived from the original on July 5, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
- ^ Medrano, Vivienne (November 1, 2020). Helluva Boss - Murder Family // S1: Episode 1. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved November 1, 2020 – via YouTube.
- ^ Cubillas, Sean (January 8, 2021). "Billy & Mandy: 10 Things Fans Need to Know About the Series". CBR. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2021.