From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Yoshito "Tom" Yasumi (born August 20, 1965 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese-born American animator and director best known for his work on SpongeBob SquarePants as well as Rocko's Modern Life. Yasumi was the animation director on SpongeBob SquarePants from the beginning of the series to season 12. He also worked as an animation director on one other Nicktoon, Sanjay and Craig.