Dennis Messner grew up in a rural part of Missouri where he learned such important skills as drawing, singing, and how to field-dress a deer. Besides making cartoons for books and newspapers, Dennis has also created animation projects for places like Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and Disney. Dennis Messner’s growing list of influences and heroes include: Ernest Shackleton, Woody Guthrie, George Herriman, Peter Arno, E. C. Segar, Otto Messmer, and Charlie the Rooster. In case you didn’t know, Charlie the Rooster was a rooster from Dennis Messner’s childhood whose last act was to escape from his chicken coop, sneak up behind a man, and bite him hard in the buttock.