Jack Norton (filmmaker) facts for kids

Jack Norton is an American filmmaker, television producer, musician, songwriter, and author. He is well-known for co-creating the Emmy Award-winning preschool television show and brand, Zinghoppers. He also co-directed and co-starred in the PBS show, "Totally, Zinghoppers!" Besides his work for younger audiences, Jack Norton directed the 2015 film Jug Band Hokum.

Early Life and Musical Roots

Jack Norton comes from a family with Dutch and French heritage. He grew up surrounded by music. Even his babysitter was the famous musician Tiny Tim, who gave Jack his very first ukulele. Later, blues singer Leon Redbone taught Jack how to play the guitar. Authors Nick Tosches and Hubert Selby, Jr. were also friends of his family.

Education and Creative Ideas

After finishing high school, Jack Norton studied Early Childhood Education. This means he learned about how young children grow and learn. His time as a preschool teacher helped him create the educational ideas behind the Zinghoppers' music.

Jack's senior project in college was called "The Childhood Dignity Movement." This project helped shape the main goals of the Zinghoppers: to "educate, entertain, and engage" young children. While in college, Jack also loved hip-hop culture and dance music. These different types of music, along with electro and Disney pop, became important influences in his own musical style.

The Zinghoppers Show

In 2009, Jack Norton and his team moved to Nashville, Tennessee. This move was to start making "Totally, Zinghoppers!", a fun and educational series for public television. The show quickly became popular with young children and their families.

Directing Films

In 2015, Jack Norton made his first film as a director. It was a documentary called Jug Band Hokum. A documentary is a film that tells a true story about real people or events. This movie follows the lives of different bands as they compete in the Minneapolis Annual Battle of the Jug Bands. Famous people like Garrison Keillor from Prairie Home Companion and the music group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony also appear in the film.

In 2017, it was announced that Jack Norton's next film would be Infinite Chaos. This will be a full-length horror film. Also in 2017, four songs written and performed by Jack Norton and Kitty Norton were featured in the movie The Florida Project, directed by Sean Baker.

Music History and Comics

Jack Norton is also a musicologist and historian. This means he studies and writes about music history. He has written biographies about musicians like Emmett Miller, Freddie Fisher (from the Schnickelfritz Orchestra), and Stan Fritts. His book "Cornstars: Rube Music In Swing Time" won a special award for "Best Historical Research in Recorded Popular Music."

Jack also wrote a popular series called "Dirty Little Comics." This series looks at the history of Tijuana bibles and underground adult comics from the 1920s to the 1950s.

Images for kids

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  Filmmaker/artist Jack Norton, with an 8mm camera.

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  Jack and Kitty playing in Rochester, Minnesota.