Animation Podcast 023 - James Baxter, Part One

The UNOFFICIAL Tangled Animator’s Commentary made by the biggest group of animators you will probably ever hear in one room. Here’s the plan: queue up your copy of Tangled to frame 1 of the actual film (before the castle logo) and hit pause. When we count down 3-2-1-PLAY, you un-pause and hear us talk through the film.

My focus for this show was to grab five artists at Disney who recently went through the Talent Development Program at Disney and talk about how they got there and what it’s like to work at the studio. My guests include Story Artist Jeremy Spears, Visual Development Artist Lorelay Bove, Rough Inbetweener/Jack of all Trades Joe Pitt, 2D Animator Sarah Airriess, and CG Animator (and Animation Mentor alumni) Kira Lehtomaki.

The interview concludes in Part Two where Eric Goldberg shares his extensive knowledge and appreciation for animating as he talks about many of the projects he has directed including Pocahontas, Rhapsody in Blue, and The Monkey’s Tale while the conversation continues to touch down on the details of the craft of animation. Eric is currently animating on the upcoming film The Princess and the Frog.

Eric Goldberg is one of the most admired animators working today. After years of developing his craft in the commercial business in London, he exploded on the feature animation scene with the Genie in Aladdin. After that, he co-directed Pocahontas and later directed two classic sequences from Fantasia 2000 - Rhapsody in Blue and Carnival of the Animals. Eric was also responsible for animating Phil in Hercules and he is currently animating on the upcoming film The Princess and the Frog.

Ken Duncan owns Duncan Studio in Pasadena, CA. Before that he animated Meg in Hercules, Jane in Tarzan, Capt. Amelia and Scroop in Treasure Planet, and he served as a sequence supervisor on Dreamworks’ Sharktale. In this final part of the interview, Ken shares more of his experiences on Hercules and Tarzan as well as futher insights in to his approaches to performance and how he approaches running his own animation studio.

The conversation with Ken Duncan continues. In this second part of the interview, Ken talks about some of the his earlier films at Disney. Then the conversation focuses on his personal approaches to acting and his general workflow for animating productively.

Ken Duncan has served as a supervising animator on four Disney films. His characters include Thomas (Pocahontas), Meg (Hercules), Jane (Tarzan), Captain Amelia and Scroop (Treasure Planet). Ken was also a sequence supervisor on Dreamworks’ Sharktale. He currently is running his own studio, Duncan Studio, based in Pasadena, California. This is part one of the interview.

The interview concludes with part three as James Baxter talks about learning from the old masters, what inspires him, and his experiences on films from Beauty and the Beast through Madagascar. James was the supervising animator of Belle, Rafiki, Quasimodo, Spirit, and director of the animation for Enchanted. This is part three of a three part interview.

Part two of the interview continues with James Baxter, supervising animator of Belle, Rafiki, Quasimodo, Spirit, and director of the animation for Enchanted. The conversation goes in to deeper detail regarding the technical aspects and processes James applies to his animation and acting - a must-listen for any animators looking to improve their workflow and craft. This is part two of a three part interview.

James Baxter is considered one of the most talented animators working today. At Disney and Dreamworks some of the characters he has animated include Belle, Rafiki, Quasimodo, Moses, and Spirit. He has also served as a supervising animator on Shrek 2 and Madagascar. James' latest work was creating the animation for Enchanted at his studio, James Baxter Animation. This is the first part of this interview.