LeSean Thomas facts for kids

LeSean Thomas was born in 1975 in the South Bronx, New York City, U.S. He is a talented American artist who creates animated TV shows. He works as a producer, director, animator, and writer. He also designs characters and draws storyboards. Today, LeSean Thomas lives in Meguro, Tokyo.

He has worked on many popular animated projects. These include the TV series Black Dynamite for Adult Swim. He also worked on The Legend of Korra for Nickelodeon. Other notable works are The Boondocks for Sony Pictures Television. He also created Children of Ether for Crunchyroll. More recently, he made the Netflix anime series Cannon Busters and Yasuke.

LeSean Thomas's Animation Career

LeSean Thomas has helped create many well-known animated shows. His work as a supervising character designer and co-director was important. He worked on the first two seasons of The Boondocks. This show was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. It also won a special Peabody Award.

Early Animation Projects

Thomas started his career with many different roles. He was a character designer and animator for WhirlGirl. He also worked as an assistant animator for Lizzie McGuire. He drew storyboards for shows like Kim Possible on Disney Channel. He also worked on Ben 10: Alien Force for Cartoon Network. Other shows include The Batman and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. He also worked on Green Lantern: First Flight. For Warner Bros. Animation, he designed characters for Superman/Batman: Public Enemies.

Creating BattleSeed

LeSean Thomas got his first big production deal with UBO Network. There, he created an animated online series called BattleSeed. He wrote, produced, and directed this series. It was shown at the New York Anime Film Festival in 2000. He also made a BattleSeed animated trailer. This trailer was shown in movie theaters to promote the Sci-Fi Channel. Thomas also helped develop the action movie UltraViolet.

Comic Books and Art Books

Besides animation, Thomas is also a comic book artist. He has worked on titles like Arkanium and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He has also released art books. These include Nervous Breakdowns: The Art of LeSean Thomas Vol. 1. He also published Midnight Marauder: The Art of LeSean Thomas Vol. 2. He also created Cannon Busters, which is his own graphic novel.

Working in South Korea

In 2009, Thomas moved to Seoul, South Korea. He was asked by a Korean animation studio, JM Animation, to work there. Later, he joined Studio Mir as a storyboard and animation artist. There, he worked on The Legend of Korra for Nickelodeon. After that, Moi Animation studio hired him as a producer and director. This made him the first American animator to work full-time for animation studios in South Korea. He made a web-documentary called Seoul Sessions about his experiences. He also gave a speech at TEDx in Incheon, South Korea. He talked about his journey and the importance of "Successful Failures." In 2011, Thomas started working on Black Dynamite for Adult Swim. He was a creative producer and supervising director for the first season. He was also a supervising director for the second season.

Crowdfunding and New Projects

In November 2014, Thomas successfully raised money from fans for an animated TV series pilot. It was called Cannon Busters: The Animated Series. This show was based on his own comic book. Japanese anime studio Satelight helped produce it. The project was fully funded in December 2014. The pilot was released to a small audience on July 8, 2016.

In October 2017, Thomas worked with Crunchyroll. They made a deal to co-produce his original anime, Children of Ether. This show was released in 300 theaters on July 26 as part of Crunchyroll's Anime Movie Night. It was then available on their platform.

In August 2017, Netflix bought Cannon Busters. It became a 12-episode mini-series. Satelight and Yumeta Company co-produced it. It was released on Netflix in August 2019.

Creating Yasuke for Netflix

On November 8, 2018, Netflix announced Yasuke. This was an original anime fantasy series created and directed by Thomas. It was inspired by the real African samurai Yasuke from the 1500s. The famous actor Lakeith Stanfield voiced Yasuke. He also helped produce the show. Grammy Award-winning artist Flying Lotus made the music and was also an executive producer. The animation was done by the Japanese studio MAPPA. Yasuke was released on April 29, 2021.

Yasuke received nominations for its achievements. On November 17, 2021, it was nominated for Best Main Title at the 12th Hollywood Music in Media Awards. On January 19, 2022, it was nominated for Outstanding Animated Series at the 53rd NAACP Image Awards.

Recent Recognition and Legacy

On November 15, 2024, LeSean Thomas was honored in New York City. The Japan Society and the Japan Foundation celebrated his work. The event was called "Foreign Exchange: Anime Inspirations & Visionaries with LeSean Thomas." It recognized his important achievements as one of the few Black Americans working in Japan's anime industry. He is also the first and only North American creator and director of original anime series. These include Children of Ether, Cannon Busters, and Yasuke.

A special part of the event was the release of a 265-page artbook. It is called "Foreign Exchange: The TV Anime Creations of LeSean Thomas Vol 1. - Yasuke." The first volume focuses on the making of Yasuke. It shows rare production art, design ideas, and details about how different cultures worked together on the show.

The event also showed classic anime films. These included Ninja Scroll, Sword of the Stranger, Redline, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, and Demon City Shinjuku. Thomas introduced these films. He explained how they influenced his career. He also shared that the main creative people from these films worked with him on Yasuke. He also gave talks and screenings for high school and college students. This was done with The Imagination Project Inc. His goal was to inspire new storytellers. This celebration highlighted Thomas's role in sharing stories across cultures. It also helped preserve his creative work and showed his contributions to the anime industry.