Ted Petok
Petok (1917–2010) was an American cartoonist, illustrator, animator and film producer. Joe Petrovich, Len Maxwell, and he won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1972 for The Crunch Bird.
Also recorded as Theodore Petok
Ted Petok
- Born
- 1917 · Detroit.
- Died
- 2010 · Rockville.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- animator · film director
- Education
- Central High School (Detroit)
- Honours
- Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film
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wikidata · Q2399830 · wikipedia · Ted Petok
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Career
Career
After graduating from school in 1934, Petok attended an art school in Chicago, but stayed there only six months and then worked as a cartoonist for various New York newspapers. In 1935 he returned to Detroit, where he worked as an advertising artist for a local advertising company. After the end of the Second World War - from 1942 to 1946 he was in the US Army Signal Corps and most recently held the highest rank of captain - Petok opened a studio for advertising graphics in Detroit and specialized in animated advertising. Petok soon turned completely to animation, initially working at Earl Klein's animation studio, Animation Inc., and eventually joining Ernest Pintoff's Pintoff Studios. In 1969, Petok founded his own animation film studio, Ted Petok Studios, which he renamed Crunch Bird Studios in 1971. He concentrated on traditional hand-drawn animation and, in addition to commercials, also made humorous short cartoons. Together with Len Maxwell (dubbing) and Joe Petrovich (animation) they created the three-minute animated film The Crunch Bird, which Petok submitted to the Oscar competition as a producer on the advice of a cinema operator from Detroit. The film won the 1971 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. In 1975, Crunch Bird II was made as a sequel; In 1981 numerous other short films about the Crunch Bird were released. Petok produced and animated over two dozen cartoons, created animations for Sesame Street and The Electric Company, and numerous commercials. In 1989 he gave the Crunch Bird Studios to his eldest son.
Filmography
Filmography
• 1971: The Crunch Bird • 1974: The Mad Baker • 1975: Crunch Bird II • 1975: Yeecch • 1975: Stash • 1976: The Golfer • 1981: Yetta the Yenta • 1981: The Geneticist • 1981: The Hospital • 1981: Parrot • 1981: Charm School • 1981: You Dirty Bird • 1981: The Execution • 1981: The Guru • 1981: Indians • 1981: Kink Konk • 1981: Love • 1981: Missing You • 1981: Pet Shop • 1981: Pollution • 1981: The Psychiatrist • 1981: Little Red Riding Hood • 1981: The Russians • 1981: Talking Bird • 1981: Zoo
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Detroit.
Birth place
Rockville.
Death place
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Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Ted Petok, revision 1364032628 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 29 August 2026.
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