Dave Creek, Lead Character Designer Of ‘Bob’s Burgers,’ Dies After Skydiving Accident

Industry artist Dave Creek, 42, passed away the morning of Jan. 7 from injuries suffered in a skydiving accident last weekend.

Creek was a lead character designer on Bob’s Burgers. He had worked on the series from the beginning of its run. At the time that he received an invite from a producer to work on the series, he had been floating around as a freelance animation artist. “I just lucked out [on] timing and knew the right people,” Creek told Keyframe magazine in 2019 about how he got the job.

“If you love Bob’s Burgers, you loved Dave Creek,” series writer Wendy Molyneux wrote on Twitter yesterday evening. “He was an adventurous funny outgoing amazing artist and one of the most incredible, interesting people I ever met.” Series director Simon Chong posted a tribute on social media, calling Creek, “a wonderfully brilliant and talented man who I can guarantee designed your favourite character on Bob’s at some point.”

Fox Corporation’s Bento Box Entertainment, the animation studio which produces Bob’s Burgers, along with 20th Television and Fox Entertainment, issued the following statement on Creek’s passing today:

We are heartbroken at the tragic passing of Dave Creek, an extraordinary artist who had been with Bob’s Burgers from day one. He was not just an incredible talent but a beautiful person as well, and our hearts go out to his family, friends and all his colleagues at the show who loved him and are grieving today.

Creek’s other animation credits included Central Park, Brickleberry, and Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown.

Admiral Peter Wilcox model drawings by Dave Creek.

Creek, a graduate of Calarts (class of 2005), had taught a film workshop in the school’s character animation department since 2015.

His creative passion outside of animation was building intricate miniature treehouses around bonsai plants. Each treehouse took thousands of hours to build, and he spent over a decade building the first one. He documented the process of creating the treehouses on his Instagram.

By Amid Amidi/Cartoonbrew