- As a young child he had a heavy southern accent and a slight lisp, so when asked his name he was unable to pronounce 'Timothy' and instead said 'Tennessee', adults found this charming and subsequently the name stuck.
- Tennessee got his start in show business as a Panavision Camera Technician at the famed Cine Rent West, in San Fransisco. After years in animated production he returned to live action as a Producer for PBS' American Storytellers series, utilizing 35mm Panavision for F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Sensible Thing.
- Tennessee worked on Robot Chicken for eight seasons and six specials, receiving Academy of Television Primetime Emmy Award honors for contributions to Robot Chicken as both Character Animator and Director of Character Fabrication.
- Tennessee made his first stop-motion film at the age of twelve by studying Kit Laybourne's The Animation Book: A Complete Guide to Animated Filmmaking . Years later after his work on The Nightmare Before Christmas & Bump in the Night, he was featured in the new edition of The Animation Book, the same text that launched his career.
- Tennessee was responsible for painting several of the iconic characters for Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas including Zero, & Oogie Boogie (black light version) as well as the complex replacement head series for Sally and the Mayor.
- Tennessee was named after the character played by Buddy Hackett - Tennessee Steinmetz - in the original Disney film - The Love Bug (1968).
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