Animator's Breakfast

Will Finn has definitely animated a movie from your childhood. Joining the industry in 1979, despite being told that Animation was dead. He sweated his way up the ranks, being taught by the last remnants of the Nine Old Men. Nobody knew where the industry was going but having put in the work through the difficult period, he was ready to sink his teeth into great characters during the renaissance, like Cogsworth or Iago. Getting to talk to Will is such an amazing treat for me, he’s such a deep treasure trove of insider information across many studios and he’s kind enough to share all that throughout this podcast. Styling himself similar to Grandpa Simpson, recounting his tales. True to form, Will surprised me when he wanted to talk about not just one, but two Disney features of the 60’s: Sword in the Stone and The Jungle Book. These are a few of the things we talked about: The difficulty animation faced in the 1970s Why Sword in the Stone was everyone’s favourite film to work on How The Jungle Book worked where The Sword in the Stone didn’t & so much more! I’m really excited to hear your thoughts after listening to us ramble on!

When I think of the words play and animation, two words come to mind: Robot Chicken. A show from the insanely talented folks at Stoopid Buddy Studios. Animator and Studio Founder, Eric Towner, shares his story of moving to LA, finding a stop motion animation job on Craigslist which ultimately led him to working on the second season of Robot Chicken, and from there, becoming one of the lead creatives at the studio. Sitting down with Eric was an incredible treat for me, I’ve always wanted to know more about their studio and the playful approach they have to creation. Then Eric shared with me his chosen point of inspiration: his mother. A creative soul who encouraged her children to engage with the world in a thoughtful and curious way, which has shown through Eric’s own work. These are a few of the things we talked about: - The limitations of filming stop motion back in the day - behind the scenes on early seasons Robot Chicken - The importance of early mentors in shaping your creative path & so much more! I’m really excited to hear your thoughts after listening to us ramble on! If you want to know more about the nounsfest we discuss in the conversation, check it out here! NOUNS FEST — www.nounsfest.tv

Oscar nominated director Andrew Chesworth has such an interesting career. He worked at Disney animating on Frozen, Feast, Big Hero Six, Zootopia, Moana, Get a Horse! to name a few, before working with SPA Studios on Klaus and Ember, as well as directing two of my all time favourite animated shorts: One Small Step and The Brave Locomotive. Sitting down with Andrew was a great privilege, especially when he told me he wanted to talk about Disney’s 1940 Pinocchio. Often overlooked in the oeuvre of early Disney animated features, Pinocchio is a true tour de force in pushing the medium forward. More expensive than the highly successful Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, you can see no corners were cut with Pinocchio. Approaching with the mentality of no limitations, Walt Disney and his team were firing on all cylinders, finding a strong moral story, complex characters with distinct personalities mixed with incredible technical innovations as well as standout artistry in animation. These are a few of the things we talked about: The making of One Small Step and The Brave Locomotive The stylistic approach of each animator, including the criminally overlooked Art Babbitt and Bill Tytla. Irony at the base level of Pinocchio and the dangerous world that lurks in every corner & so much more! I’m really excited to hear your thoughts after listening to us ramble on!

Colin Jack is currently a co-director at Dreamworks Animation, and has storyboarded on everything from Ed, Edd n Eddy, Captain Underpants, Puss in Boots, The Croods, Boss Baby as well as more recently been Head of Story on Trolls Band Together. As we siphoned through a list of potential candidate works to talk about, he quickly decided on Fantastic Mr. Fox, the 2009 debut animation from visionary director Wes Anderson. I was so excited ot get to share a discussion about his work with Colin. These are a few of the things we talked about: - Moving from Live Action to Storyboarding - The themes of Fatherhood in the movie, reflected in Colin’s Life - The design choice of Fantastic Mr. Fox as it doesn’t resemble the visual style of Quentin Blake. & so much more! I’m really excited to hear your thoughts after listening to us ramble on!

Tom Bancroft needs no introduction, but I’ll try to briefly summarise his career. Graduating from CalArts he was catapulted in Disney Animation at the beginning of its Renaissance. Working on nearly every film of that time. Animating Iago, Young Simba, Pocahontas and Mushu to name a few. Currently directing Light of the World with John Schaffer as well as bring CEO of Pencilish Studios and a creator of MerMay. He previously created the documentary Pencils vs. Pixels about the rise of 3D as it stole the light of hand drawn animation’s rebirth. Speaking to Tom on this podcast was amazing. I’d recently gotten to help them with their famous Bancroft Brothers Animation Podcast while they were here in Dublin. I was even more delighted when Tom chose to talk about Animation Legend, Glen Keane. I can’t think of another artist today who’s soul speaks from their pencil. His legacy is vast, so Tom chose to talk about the rise of Glen Keane in Disney during the 80s and 90s. These are a few of the things we talked about: The making of Mulan in Florida Glen Keane’s work on the Bear in The Fox and the Hound and Ratigan Why Glen is a fine artist disguised as an animator & so much more! I’m really excited to hear your thoughts after listening to us ramble on!

Oscar winning director Chris Williams has been storyboarding for most of his career. Joining Disney in the 90s and working on classics like Mulan, Lilo and Stitch and The Emperor’s New Groove he was then oven the chance to cut his teeth in the hot seat. Directing Bolt, Big Hero 6 and co-directing Moana, he then left Disney and directed The Sea Beast, an incredible action adventure that is one of the few animated movies that verges on Epic. Speaking to Chris on this podcast is a huge privilege for me and I’m so thankful he took the time to be open, honest and transparent about the nature of sitting with stories and developing them into animated features. Even if the conversation can get a little opaque, I love the message of this conversation. These are a few of the things we talked about: Understanding what makes a story Developing a story takes time The three ingredients that add up to some of the best artists in the industry & so much more! I’m really excited to hear your thoughts after listening to us ramble on! Link to document: https://any-mation.ck.page

Three time Oscar nominated director, Tomm Moore has been drawing for decades, but he has never stopped growing. Recently, after the release of Wolfwalkers, he took a sabbatical to study Life Drawing in Paris and Amsterdam, seeing his growth is inspiring. Having Tomm on the podcast again was a huge privilege for me. Last February, I ventured down to Kilkenny to pick his brain about the nature of drawing. Originally this was intended to be a short discussion that I could pull moments from, but I loved the whole conversation so much I had to share it with you all. Every time I speak with him, I’m reminded of the depth of his thoughts and care in his expression. His understanding of art and how he communicates that is so honest. I know in another year I’ll still come to new understandings of his musings. These are a few of the things we talked about: Actionable tips for improving drawing practice How style is defined by your limitations (Incredible thought) Animation is collaborative but Drawing is individual & so much more! I’m excited to hear your thoughts after listening to this!

Character design and Illustration titan, Peter de Sève is nervous about A.I. Not for its capabilities but because studios are so driven by the bottom line, they’ll lean on the tool more rather than human imagination. There’s an epidemic of generic character design in the industry at the moment and de Sève wants to fight it. Speaking to Peter on the podcast today was a huge honour of mine. He breaks down his incredible career, Illustrating for the New Yorker to moving across to animation starting with The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and his seminal work with Blue Sky Studios on Ice Age. I’m delighted to have shared this discussion with her about: How studios will seek to use A.I. as part of their design pipelines Imposter Syndrome Advice on how to become a great illustrator & so much more in this conversation! I’m excited to hear your opinions and thoughts! Find Peter’s work here: https://peterdeseve.com/

Rotoscoping is far from dead, and these two men prove it. Co-Directors of The Spine of Night, Morgan Galen King (Mongrel, Exordium) and Philip Gelatt (Europa Report, Love, Death and Robots) join me to discuss the cult film that hasn’t left them since childhood, Heavy Metal. Getting to share in conversation with them about Heavy Metal was a dream come true. The passion, thoughtfulness and humour they approach the film through was a joy to witness, especially as their suggestion of the film finally gave me creedence to watch it. I’m delighted to have shared this discussion with them about: Approaching storytelling in an Anthology series How Heavy Metal came into their lives on VHS How they referenced Heavy Metal in the Spine of Night The Importance of music in stitching disparate elements together & so much more in this conversation! I’m excited to hear your opinions and thoughts! __________ Find more of Morgan’s work here: https://www.youtube.com/@GorgonautAnimation