Poptropica Help Blog

Compiled by Hijuyo

Behold the power of the Poptropica Creators – they’re the team behind every detail of the game. Every island, every item, every idea, everything. They write up the fun posts with special sneak peeks you see on their Creators’ Blog, they put together astounding videos on their PoptropicaCreators YouTube channel, and lots more. This page focuses on the individuals we know and appreciate. (:

Comic Kid

• Real name: Jeff Kinney
• Job: Founder (virtual world designer/creator)
• Poptropica account: ??? (Possibly Comic Kid/Ned Noodlehead due to his similar Diary of a Wimpy Kid cartoon series.)
• Contact: wimpykid@comcast.net
• Evidence: On Jeff Kinney’s official WimpyKid.com website, he states on the Author Interview page that, “I work full-time as a virtual world designer, and I created Poptropica.com.” He also mentions being the founder of Poptropica at the back of his Diary of a Wimpy Kid books.

Jeff Kinney - the wimpy kid (:

Dr. Hare

• Real name: Jordan Leary
• Job: Designer and Developer (front-end programming, animation, visual effects)
• Poptropica account: JordanLeary
• Contact: jordan.leary@pearsoned.com or jordan@jordanleary.com
• Evidence: Jordan’s website has an image of Poptropica and describes it as, “This is the big game I’m currently working on.” He has also been quoted in an HJNews.com article about Poptropica.

When Jordan speaks, everyone listens. Except those two guys behind him. They just keep working. Or whatever they're doing.

Hazmat Hermit

• Real name: Justin Lacy
• Job: Poptropica Creator (exact status not known)
• Poptropica account: JustinLacy
• Contact: Unknown
• Evidence: Searching “justinlacy” on the Poptropica Avatar Studio brings up a character with the name “Hazmat Hermit.”

Shark Boy

• Real name: Nate Greenwall
• Job: Illustrator, Graphic Artist and Interactive Designer
• Poptropica account: SharkBoyCreator
• Contact: Send Nate a message through the “Contact” link on his website.
• Evidence: On his website NateGreenwall.com, clicking on the “Interactive Web” link shows that he has done some illustration work with Poptropica. His blog also states that he works for Poptropica. We know he is Shark Boy based on a picture of his office, posted on the PCB. The PCB pic had Shark Boy in an office that looks just like Nate’s:

Fact Monster

• Real name: Jess M. Brallier
• Job: Developer of Poptropica
• Poptropica account: Fact Monster (username unknown; possibly dummy1036 as noted by Shiny Mosquito)
• Contact: none, but you can learn more about Jess here
• Evidence: This Family Education Network article states that Jess works for Poptropica. Jess has published FactMonster.com (Poptropica’s sponsor) and FunBrain.com (which advertises Poptropica). The below image shows the Fact Monster character visiting a Poptropica Multiverse room.

Fact: Out there be monsters!

Director D

• Real name: James Lema
• Job: Director of Product Development at Poptropica (present); Digital Design Manager (past)
• Poptropica account: DirectorDcreator1
• Contact: He has a profile on LinkedIn. Click here to visit it.
• Evidence: According to Quiet Eagle, James Lema’s LinkedIn profile picture used to be one of Director D. (This was proven when searching “James Lema” on Google Images resulted in this picture of Director D, shown on the right, which was linked to LinkedIn.) Additionally, there is a post on the Boston PIB (Partners in Business) blog (which is related to Pearson, Poptropica’s company) in which ‘James Lema’ presented a graphic invitation to a ‘Poptropica Lunchtime Seminar.’

Black Widow

• Real name: Jennifer Wood
• Job: Managing Editor at Poptropica
• Poptropica account: BlackWidowCreator (unconfirmed; assumed due to being the only known female Creator)
• Contact: She has a profile on LinkedIn. Click here to visit it.
• Evidence: There’s a profile on social networking site LinkedIn claiming that “Jennifer Wood” holds the position of Managing Editor at Poptropica. You can refer to the screenshot below [credit to Adiboy101] for proof.

Hades

• Real name: Mitch Krpata
• Job: Editor, Poptropica at Family Education Network
• Poptropica account: HadesCreator1
• Contact: LinkedIn, Twitter, or email: mitchell.krpata@pearson.com
• Evidence: There’s a profile on social networking site LinkedIn claiming that “Mitch Krpata” holds the position of Poptropica Editor. You can refer to the screenshot below for proof. We know his alias is Hades because the Poptropica Assets website has a Bolas Plant SWF which was posted by Hades on the PCB.

Master Mime

• Real name: Jon Pitcher
• Job: Game Designer illustrator/animator for Poptropica
• Poptropica account: not known
• Contact: LinkedIn
• Evidence: There’s a profile on social networking site LinkedIn from Jon Pitcher where he says, “I concept story ideas, animate characters, and illustrate environments for Poptropica.” You can refer to the screenshot below for proof. We know his alias is Master Mime because Jon’s LinkedIn profile picture depicts Master Mime, which makes sense since he’s an animator.

Medusa

• Real name: Tracey West
• Job: Author of Poptropica’s The Official Guide book, writer of the Mythology Island script
• Evidence: In the book Poptropica: The Official Guide, which she wrote, it says that Medusa from Mythology Island is also known as Tracey West (see image below). On page 116, “Medusa” says, “When I first learned about Greek Mythology in school, Athena was always my favorite goddess. I knew I had to make her a major character when I wrote the Mythology Island Script.“

Other Creators…

Not much is known about these other Poptropica Creators, but they are listed with the tiny bit of info we have for your reference:

Real names

• Christopher Barney, Game Engineer/Game Designer for Poptropica.com (LinkedIn)
• Ashley Lange, Poptropica 2D game designer (LinkedIn)
• Cara Campanelli, Poptropica Customer Support (LinkedIn)
• Kevin McGrath – Used to work at Poptropica. “Conducted web and systems testing both on the user and back ends of the children’s Flash video game Poptropica.” (LinkedIn)
• John “J.T.” Gallant, Poptropica.com Intern (LinkedIn)
• Nate Tufts, Illustrator/Designer working for Poptropica (his blog)
• Nasan Hardcastle, Designer & Illustrator for characters, environments, games, and toys on Poptropica (his blog) (LinkedIn)
• Pamela Dixon, Poptropica license manager (Yahoo article)
• Lisa Wolfe, L. Wolfe Communications for Poptropica, 773-227-1049, lwolfe@lwolfe.com (from Poptropica’s About Us page)

Aliases

• Binary Bard (username: BinaryBard)
• Thirsty Whale (username: ThirstyWhaleCreator; has not posted on the PCB in years)
• Triton (username: TritonCreator; does not post on the PCB but showed up in one of their party pics)
• VladtheViking (old Poptropica Creators’ YouTube channel)
• Captain Crawfish (username: CaptainCrawfishCreator)

Binary Bard's hot ride!