Tom Root

Writer-producer Tom Root's love of comic books and pop culture provided a gateway to success as a key creative figure in the Emmy-winning satiric animated series "Robot Chicken" (Adult Swim, 2005- ). Born September 20, 1973 in Iowa City, Iowa, Root began his writing career as editor of Central Michigan University's student newspaper, CM Life. He joined the staff of Wizard Entertainment, a comic and toy-oriented magazine publisher, and served as staff writer and copy editor for their titles, including ToyFare. Root, along with Matthew Seinreich and Doug Goldstein, was a regular contributor to "Twisted ToyFare Theatre," a regular feature in ToyFare which parodied comic book, toy collector and super hero tropes by posing and photographing action figures in offbeat scenarios in the style of Italian fumetti comics. The feature caught the attention of actor Seth Green, who teamed with Root, Senreich and others to create "Robot Chicken." The sketch comedy series employed toys in the same manner as "Twisted ToyFare Theater" to skewer a diverse array of pop culture sacred cows, including George Lucas, Marvel Comics and others. Root served as head writer for the show, earning an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program in 2010, along with nine other nominations. While working on "Robot Chicken," Root and Seinreich also created "Titan Maximum" (Adult Swim, 2009), a parody of Japanese "Super Robot" anime, and wrote the 200th issue of Archie Comics' Jughead comic imprint. Root, who voiced countless characters on "Robot Chicken," moved up to series regular, voicing a strong but dense hero named Brad for "SuperMansion" (Crackle, 2015- ). The stop-motion animated series was produced by Seinreich and Bryan Cranston, who also voiced the leader of a group of aging superheroes who struggle to retain their place in the crime-fighting world.