Jorge R. Gutiérrez

Jorge R. Gutierrez (born January 25, 1975), also known as "Super Macho", is a Mexican animator, writer, producer, director, and voice actor. He co-created the Nickelodeon animated series El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera with his wife Sandra Equihua, and co-wrote and directed the film The Book of Life and the television miniseries Maya and the Three. He and Equihua founded the production studio Mexopolis in 1994.

Biography Jorge R. Gutierrez was born on January 25, 1975 in Mexico City and raised in Tijuana. As a child, he adopted the nickname "Super Macho" after his grandfather told him "there are two types of Mexicans: Macho and Super Macho".

Gutierrez attended the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), where he received his BFA (1997) & MFA (2000) in Experimental Animation under Jules Engel, and was mentored by Maureen Selwood. There he created the 3D short Carmelo, which won the 2001 Student Emmy Award in animation and was screened at Kodak's Emerging Filmmakers Program at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. In 2000, Gutierrez worked under animator Maurice Noble, for the art direction of Chuck Jones' Timberwolf for Warner Bros. In 2001, he began creating Jorge Gutierrez' El Macho, an animated web series for Sony Pictures.

Gutierrez has also done character design on many animated series including Nickelodeon's ChalkZone, as well as Kids' WB's ¡Mucha Lucha!, Cartoon Network's Class of 3000, and Disney's The Buzz on Maggie for which he was nominated for a 2006 Annie Award in character design. As a writer, he's worked on Scholastic's Maya & Miguel as well as Disney's Brandy & Mr. Whiskers and Vampirina.

In 2008, Gutierrez won two Annie awards (Best TV Animated Show & Best TV Character Design) and one Emmy (Best TV Character Design) working on his passion project for Nickelodeon, El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, along with his co-creator and wife, Sandra Equihua who also won an Emmy for her character designs.

In 2010, he created some of the sketches in Cartoon Network's Mad including "Dear Reaper...", "Dog vs Mailman" (part 1, 2 and 3), "Video Game Cheats", "Arcade Boy" and "Dog vs Fire Hydrant".

In 2012, Gutierrez directed and co-wrote an animated adventure feature film with a Romeo and Juliet style love story set against a Mexican "Day of the Dead" backdrop. The film, with the official title The Book of Life, was co-produced with 20th Century Fox Animation and was released on October 17, 2014. He earned his first Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Animated Feature Film in 2014. He was also nominated for three Annie awards (Best Film, Best Director & Best Character Design).

In February 2015, Reel FX and Gutierrez announced a multi-year, multi-picture deal which included Kung Fu Space Punch and The Book of Life 2.

In 2016 Gutierrez designed, voiced, wrote and directed the Annie and Emmy nominated Son of Jaguar VR short for Google Spotlight Stories.

In 2016, Gutierrez was awarded an Impact Award by the National Hispanic Media Coalition for his "Outstanding Direction in a Motion Picture".

On August 2, 2017, it was reported that Gutierrez would write and direct The Billion Brick Race, a spin-off of The Lego Movie, for Warner Animation Group. However, on February 8, 2018, it was reported that Gutierrez had permanently cancelled the project.

In October 2020, he signed an over-all-deal with Netflix. He directed the Immigration music video for the Emmy Award-winning series We the People, and wrote and directed the Annie (Best TV Animated Show & Best TV Music) and Emmy (Best Writing, Best Promo, Best Sound and Individual Achievement for Color) Award-winning Maya and the Three, a nine episode animated limited series for Netflix Animation. He had been developing a follow-up series to Maya set in the same universe for Netflix titled Kung Fu Space Punch, however, it was scrapped in 2022 along with many other planned animated series. He was also set to direct an original animated film titled I, Chihuahua from a script he wrote with Gabriel Iglesias. In February 2026, it was announced that the film got revived by United Kingdom studio Snafu Pictures. In May 2026, it was announced that the film distribution rights would be shopped to different studios during the Marché du Film 2026.

In December 2024 and February 2025, Gutierrez hinted that he and Equihua had meetings with The Walt Disney Company on a potential new project. In April 2026, Gutierrez confirmed that he was developing a new animated project for Disney hinting that it is "based on an IP they own".

On June 20, 2025, it was announced that Gutierrez was developing an original animated independent short film La Venganza Rodríguez at Spanish animation studio Hampa Studio.

On July 4, 2025, Gutierrez announced El Guapo vs. the Narco Vampires, an adult animated pilot in collaboration with Ánima Estudios that would be shopped to streamers and studios. The pilot debuted in January 2026.

In December 2025, Gutierrez teased that he was developing a Speedy Gonzales feature film at Warner Bros. Pictures Animation. The project was greenlit at Warner Bros. Pictures Animation on January 16, 2026.

In May 2026, Prime Video announced the production of Gutierrez's animated project Punky Duck as a part of the GenAI Creators' Fund, an Amazon MGM Studios initiative for integrating artificial intelligence to professional animation pipelines including the use of generative AI tools. In a statement to Cartoon Brew, Gutierrez said that he would be cautious with artificial intelligence, saying, "artists driving tech, and not the other way around, is my goal." The announcement was met with backlash from his fans on social media, with many calling him a sell out after his long career in the animation industry and his history of supporting artists' rights. Gutierrez backed out of the project days after the announcement, saying on X: "My sincerest apology to those I upset. I promise to do better moving forward."

Personal life Gutierrez did not speak until the age of five. As an adult, he was diagnosed with autism following his son's diagnosis.

Filmography Short film Year Title Director Writer Voiceactor Role Notes 2000 Carmelo Carmelo's Father Won Student Emmy 2017 Son of Jaguar Son of Jaguar VR shortAlso character designer and art director

Storyboard artist Lint People (2001)

Feature film Year Title Director Writer Notes 2014 The Book of Life Also character designer and additional music composer 2015 Guardians of Oz Also executive producer and character designer Untitled Speedy Gonzales fim

Voice roles Year Title Role 2014 The Book of Life Skeleton Carmelo 2023 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Additional Voices 2024 The Casagrandes Movie Felipe the Street Vendor 2025 The Bad Guys 2 Lucha spectator 2025 Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires Toltecatzin Untitled Speedy Gonzales film

Other credits Year Title Role 2004 ¡Mucha Lucha! Character designer for Season 2 and 3 2005 The Buzz on Maggie Character model design supervisor 2015–16 The Adventures of Puss in Boots Executive consultant Kung-Fu Space Punch Canceled