portfolio – 🏝 Poptropica Help Blog 🗺

Howdy, Poptropicanos! Welcome to a Poptropica Portfolio, where we feature the work of a former Poptropica staff member. Today, we’re going to be taking a look at the contributions of Todd Heard, who worked as a sponsored game level designer in 2009 and 2010.

Todd is the founder of Treefox Cartoons, a studio dedicated to cartoon animation and illustration which has been around for a while. He further honed his skills in traditional animation studying with the renowned Don Bluth. Yes, that Don Bluth! How awesome is that? 😄 Now, let’s get into the Poptropica stuff.

During his brief tenure at Poptropica, Todd developed several game levels for the game’s sponsors, which included both the exterior and interior visuals. Here, you can see two outdoor scenes from the Despicable Me and Honey Nut Cheerios advertisements from June 2010. (The images, along with the rest featured in this post, are sourced from the Game Design Page of Heard’s website.)

Next up, we have a variety of interior/world scenes, featuring the aforementioned Despicable Me ad, in addition to LEGO Hero Factory, Monster High, and Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, all from the year 2010. I feel that each environment really captures the essence of what it draws inspiration from, don’t you? 🙂

Lastly, here are some creative costume designs. One is from the Lego Hero Factory ad and is modeled after the character Preston Stormer. The other designs include two cave person outfits, a costume made from paper bags, a stone gladiator suit (which, to me, resembles some of the imagery from Poptropolis Games Island), and a vibrant hippie ensemble. ☮️

Other than the factory suit, I don’t recall seeing any of these actually make it into the game (please correct me if I’m wrong), but I think they’re quite cool. I definitely would’ve loved to snag some of these items, especially that caveman club! My guess is that they were intended to be purchasable costumes in the store rather than characters we would meet on an island or in an ad game, but who can say for sure? 🤔

As I wrap up my thoughts, I realize that not everyone probably paid much attention to the ads on Poptropica. However, having played quite a few of them as a kid to later covering them frequently here on the PHB, I’ve always appreciated the effort that went into making them immersive and fun. Thank you, Todd, for your role in creating some of the magic (albeit underrated) that made Poptropica memorable, even if it was just for a short time. After all, 2009 and 2010 were truly some of the best times for Poptropica! 🙌

Now with that, we come to the end of this spotlight. I hope you appreciated this insight into the work of one of Poptropica’s lesser-known artists. Everybody deserves their flowers. I’ll talk to you guys soon. Pop on! 🍀

Hello Poptropicans! Welcome to a special addition to our Pop Portfolio series, in which we showcase the work of Pop Creators. This time, we’re featuring artist Lance Fry (whose portfolio we first saw in 2016)! 🍟

Mocktropica – Poptropica Worldwide Headquarters

Fun fact: Lance Pitcher, the designer from Mocktropica Island, is inspired by Lance Fry and Jonathan Pitcher, both Poptropica artists!

Anyway, like his Mocktropica counterpart, Lance left Poptropica for a while following staff cuts in 2018. However, he returned this May and is currently working remotely, according to his LinkedIn. Along with this, he’s also added new pieces to his design portfolio, so let’s jump in!

Lance appears to focus largely on background design, with only a few pieces featuring items and assets. He’s done the interiors for many areas, such as the cars in Mystery Train, Pop HQ in Mocktropica, and the Viking dining hall from Mystery of the Map.

While we often cover Poptropica’s storytelling or fun characters, we sometimes miss appreciating the stellar background art. Personally, I remember hanging out in different areas just to enjoy the environment. The color palettes are vibrant and synergize well, and everything fits the cartoony style while having impressive detail. Lance’s work certainly does not fall short in this! (Click to enlarge images!)

This updated portfolio is found on ArtStation, and most of the work comes from older islands. It’s nice to see familiar faces — er, names, I guess — among the Pop crew again!