Peter Hastings (director)

Last updated
Peter Hastings
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Hastings at the Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight premiere in 2022
Born (1960-01-09) January 9, 1960 (age 65)
Education Berklee College of Music
Known for
  • Director
  • Writer
  • Producer
Notable work Dog Man
The Country Bears
Pinky and the Brain

Peter Hastings (born on January 9, 1960) is an American writer, director, and producer of animated television. He is known for The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, Animaniacs , and Pinky and the Brain . He has won six Emmy awards and a Peabody award. He also directed the musical film The Country Bears (2002) [1] and the animated film Dog Man (2025).

Biography

Peter Hastings was born on January 9, 1960 in Haverford, Pennsylvania. [2] Hastings had originally intended to be a musician, but after graduating from Berklee College of Music in 1984, he joined the L.A. improv comedy troupe The Groundlings. He performed there until 1991, when he and some fellow Groundlings players starred in "Riders in the Sky."

That year, Hastings wrote and starred in "On the Television" and went on to write for Darkwing Duck , and then multiple episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures , followed two years later by writing and co-producing Animaniacs , which won a 1993 Peabody Award. Hastings also wrote two 1995 spin-off TV movies "A Pinky & the Brain Christmas Special" and "Tiny Toons' Night Ghoulery." In 1997, he produced, wrote, directed, starred in, and composed music for One Saturday Morning .

In 2002, Hastings made his directorial debut with the feature The Country Bears , based on the Disney theme park attraction Country Bear Jamboree. He'd return to television to write and produce Catscratch and Tak & the Power of Juju . In 2010, Hastings began developing the cartoon series Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness , based on the film, for Nickelodeon.

On December 12, 2017, Netflix and DreamWorks Animation Television announced that there would be an animated series to follow up the feature film adaptation of the book series, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie , entitled The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants . [3] It premiered on the streaming service on July 13, 2018, and was executive-produced by Hastings.

DreamWorks Animation announced a film adaptation of Dog Man in December 2020, [4] [5] with Hastings directing after his experience with Pilkey's works from The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants (2018–20).

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References

  1. Hastings, Peter (2002-07-26), The Country Bears (Comedy, Family, Music), Haley Joel Osment, Diedrich Bader, Candy Ford, Walt Disney Pictures, Working Bear Productions, retrieved 2025-01-29
  2. "Peter Hastings | Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  3. "Netflix to Debut DreamWorks 'The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants' on July 13". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  4. Milligan, Mercedes (2020-12-09). "DreamWorks Developing Dav Pilkey's 'Dog Man' as Animated Feature". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  5. Kit, Borys (2020-12-09). "'Dog Man' Movie in the Works From DreamWorks Animation (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2025-01-29.