Animator's Breakfast

I've Never Animated Before - Making a Feature Film with Usman Riaz (The Glassworker) - E029

The Nine Old Men's Favourite Film - Sword in the Stone & The Jungle Book with Will Finn - E028

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 tr...

They don't get enough credit - Early Role Models with Eric Towner - E027

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 ...

Disney's Pinocchio with Andrew Chesworth - E026

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 e...

Quentin Blake wasn't the first illustrator - Fantastic Mr. Fox with Colin Jack - E025

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. Thes...

The Rise of Glen Keane with Tom Bancroft - E024

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 st...

You need to be Fearless & put your Ego aside - Storyboarding with Chris Williams E023

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 fo...

Push beyond your limitations in Drawing with Tomm Moore - E022

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 l...

Character Design Veteran: There's so many broken designs in Animation today! Peter de Sève - E021

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...

Heavy Metal with Morgan Galen King and Philip Gelatt - E020

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 finall...

Mind Game with Janina Putzker - E019

Unique storytelling and eccentric animation are two ways to describe the work of Janina Putzker. She is a powerhouse of professional animation while ensuring her work maintains the highest standard that i looks effortless. It truly appears that she fears no style . Speaking to Jani on the podcast today was a great pleasure of mine. Even more so when she told me she wanted to dive into the worlds of the visionary master that is Masaaki Yuasa and his debut feature, Mind Game I’m delighted to have ...

It's just a wild ride! Fern Gully with Kamille Rodriguez - E018

Visual development and concept artist who has worked with some of the biggest brands in the world. Kamille Rogriguez is a thoughtful, passionate and incredibly hard working artist. It didn’t come easy to her but she knew if she didn’t pursue her art, she would always regret it. It’s my true pleasure to speak to Kamille on the podcast today. Her choice caught me off guard, but I was delighted to revisit Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest. I’m grateful to have shared this discussion with her about: -...

I started drawing at 40, it's NEVER too late! Jeremy Hoffman - E017

Illustrator, character designer and self professed happy man, Jeremy Hoffman. To see Jeremy’s work, is to see joy. A playful sense of observation and imagination expressing itself through a heavily practiced hand. It’s my great privilege to welcome Jeremy onto the podcast today. His passion is infectious. What shocked me when I first spoke to Jeremy is that he only started drawing again when he was 40, he’s 47 now. I’m grateful to have shared this discussion with him about - rediscovering passio...

The Tower with Jana Kattan - E016

This was recorded in the Summer before the recent bloodshed in Gaza. When I first saw Jana Kattan’s graduate film, Checkpoint I was struck by the authenticity in which she weaved a simple story filled with heartbreak. There is a reality integral to Checkpoint I couldn’t articulate but it made me pay attention to her strong, honest and empathetic voice. As she describes, she only became aware she was Palestinian later in her life and the search for an identity that came with that has lent her an ...

Space Patrol Luluco with Sean Cunningham (Paperbag Animator) - E015

Space Patrol Luluco is a quintessential artistic declaration from Japanese animation Studio Trigger. Though lesser known, and not as critically acclaimed as other work by the team and Studio, it remains a fresh and fun mini series that never falls shy of its promise. Made on a small scale with a smaller budget, it's endlessly inspiring to younger studios who also want to put their mark on the world. Enter Sean Cunningham, aka Paperbag Animator and Creative Director of one of my favourite studios...

The Prince of Egypt with Kirsten Shiel - E014

Welcome back to Animator's Breakfast. This month we're talking about one of my favourite Animated features of all time, the sleeping titan that is The Prince of Egypt. Dreamwork's defiant call to the western world of animation that Disney isn't the only studio in town. Originally pitched as The Ten Commandments but animated, it took a dedicated team from the relatively new division in Dreamworks Animation to craft this masterpiece, and I'm not the only one who thinks it's a masterpiece, so does ...

Fred Moore with Tony Bancroft - E012

You don’t get much better than this! A former Disney Animator gushing about an even more former Disney animator! What an Honour it was to sit down with Tony Bancroft to talk about Fred “Freddie” Moore. Fred Moore was one of the earliest animator’s at Walt Disney’s Animation studios in the 1930’s. He’s most famous for redesigning Mickey Mouse into the character model we know today. Moore worked through the studio as it rose to prominence, animating on works such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs...

Aleksandr Petrov with Howard Wimshurst - E011

Welcome to season two of Animator's Breakfast and I'm very excited for it's coming year. To kick things off, I couldn't be happier or more humbled to be joined with Howard Wimshurst. He is a freelance animator, content creator and generous teacher. Howard's passion and fundamental knowledge of the processes, both technically and philosophically, of animation are unparalleled in my opinion. It's always a joy to get to speak with him and I learn so much every time. As with many people you may meet...

Bambi with James Baxter - E010

Welcome to the final episode of Animator's Breakfast, for now! What an episode it is. I'm hugely humbled to be joined with one of the greatest living animators, James Baxter. You might know him as a horse on a ball making people happy, but James has been working in the industry for over 30 years, starting on Who Framed Roger Rabbit? He's responsible for some of the most beautifully animated moments in animation history, including Belle and the Beast dancing in the ball room, or Quasimodo carryin...

Treasure Planet with Fatma Almheiri - E09

Welcome to the penultimate episode of the first series of Animator's Breakfast! On this episode I'm truly honoured to be joined by the incredible and insanely talented Fatma Almheiri, the creator of Emara. I don't have enough positive adjectives to describe Fatma, so I'll just say it's humbling to consider that she has directed a 5 episode web series about an Emirati superhero named Emara. Her chosen topic is Treasure Planet, a beautiful and completely underrated Disney Animation. Released in 20...

The Last Unicorn with The Joopis - E08

Welcome to the next episode of Animator's Breakfast. On this episode I'm joined by the fantastic Jessie Smith, aka The Joopis. She's a really talented designer, animator and has a really wonderful Youtube channel where she uploads very original and interesting work. Today we're discussing The Last Unicorn, a 1983 film produced by Rankin/Bass. The power of their studio in the 70s and 80s can't be understated, and although they made classic stop motion works like Rudolph The Red-nosed Reindeer, th...

Adrien Merigeau with Tomm Moore - E07

Welcome back to Animator’s Breakfast everyone. This next episode is a real honour for me, I get to sit down with the ineffable Tom Moore, and his surprising, yet completely honest choice of topic: Adrien Merigeau. Adrien is an animator and film maker that worked win Cartoon Saloon for many years. Following his graduation film, Le Carnet de Chloe, he has created several other shorts including Old Fangs and the more recent Genius Loci, as well as several music videos you can find on his website he...

Grave Of The Fireflies with Sean Mullen - E06

Welcome back to Animator's Breakfast. In our 6th episode, we discuss the heartbreaking Grave of the Fireflies. An amazing animated film in many ways, it was directed by the legendary Isao Takahata, as his first feature for Studio Ghibli. It was featured as a double bill with My Neighbour Totoro in 1988. The feature still stands the test of time and its spotlight on Setsuko and Seita's journey is a tale that shouldn't be missed. I'm joined by the incredible Sean Mullen, one of the creative leads ...

King Of The Hill with BaM Animation - E05

Welcome to the Fifth episode of Animator's Breakfast. This episode is a continuation with both the incredibly talented boys of BaM Animation: Brent Noll and Maximus Pauson. The second of our two episodes we talk about a quiet Tour de Force in Animation, which is King of The Hill. Created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, it ran for 8 seasons, with some incredibly smart writing. Up against shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy, at the height of their popularity, it was impossible to deny the hones...

Garfield with BaM Animation - E04

Welcome to the fourth episode of Animator's Breakfast, one I'm really delighted to share! This episode is a bit different in that it's a conversation with both the incredibly talented boys of BaM Animation, Brent Noll and Maximus Pauson. This is the first of two conversations we have, and this time Max chose to discuss a character, rather than just an animation. Character design is really important and what greater mascot to pick than Garfield the cat. He holds the Guinness World Record for most...

Pojd'te Pane with Eimhin McNamara - E03

Welcome back to Animator's Breakfast, my monthly podcast. In our third episode, I'm joined by Irish Industry veteran Eimhin Mc Namara, and his influential choice of Pojd'te Pane, budeme si hrát (Hey Mister! Let's Play). Its a Czech animated tv series by Bretislav Pojar, released 1965-1973. They are essentially a series of shorts of 2.5D animation, surrounding two bears that have wild imaginations and personalities. The shape shifting alone is spectacular, and one thing that comes out of Pojar's ...

Jonny Quest with Dan Nosella - E02

Welcome back to Animator's Breakfast, my monthly podcast. In our second episode I was gifted the chance to watch the original 1964 Jonny Quest tv series by Hanna-Barbera. I'm joined by Dan Nosella who picked the series out of his past and influenced his drive toward comics and ultimately moving across to the Animation Industry. The original Jonny Quest is an incredible programme, a globe trotting adventure to show everyone the wonders of the world outside, filled with science and adventure, very...

The Iron Giant with Aidan McAteer - E01

Welcome to Animator's Breakfast. In our first episode, I'm joined with Aidan McAteer to discuss The Iron Giant. Directed by Brad Bird, this 1999 epic traditionally animated feature film has stood the test of time to become one of the greatest animated features of all time. We talk about its storytelling mechanics and how important it is to understand giving relationships time and earning that emotion. We also discuss how it inspired Aidan's work throughout the years, from college all the way to ...