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by Kirk Bangstad
kirk.bangstad@theanimationschooldirectory.com
Animation School Directory Columnist

Animation kings John Lasseter and Ed Catmull are doing pretty well for themselves. John is the creative spirit behind Pixar, and Ed is Pixar’s president and technological whiz. These two men were pivotal in Disney’s buyout of Pixar.

Two Animation Jobs that Pay Pretty Well

When Disney merged with Pixar, it made sure that Pixar’s president and main creative talent were part of the deal. The language in the contract even stipulated that the $7.4 billion deal depended on these two men. Catmull will step into a new animation job—president of the new Pixar/Disney animation studio. Lasseter’s new Disney animation job will be chief creative officer of the new studio.

Bringing Computer Animation Expertise to Disney

This dynamic duo has a long history. Catmull started at Lucasfilms, and was always excited about computer animation. In fact, he had the original dream to create an entire movie solely using computer animation. Once he met Lasseter, a creative talent who embraced 3d animation jobs and who was working for Disney at the time, he knew he had to hire him.

This duo was created and heavily financed by Steve Jobs, Pixar’s Chief Executive Officer, and the rest is history. The two animation experts led Pixar to produce hugely profitable films—and if all goes well, they’ll do the same for the new Pixar/Disney studio.

Sources

Ed Catmull
John Lasseter
Pixar

About the Author

Kirk Bangstad is a singer living in Chicago, IL. Having received his B.A. in Government at Harvard, Kirk previously worked as a management consultant.

by Kirk Bangstad
kirk.bangstad@animationschoolreview.com
Animation School Review Columnist

Animation has lasted 100 years and shows no sign of stagnating. In fact, most animators still think the industry is in its early stages.

According to the Cox news service, the first known animated clip was released in April of 1906. It was a three minute clip entitled “Humorous Phases of Funny Faces,” and it consisted of animated chalkboard drawings showing a brief and funny interaction between a man and a woman. Animation really took off after 1928, when the first animated picture came out with sound. From then until about the 1950s, animation continued to grow and develop. For the next thirty years, animation quality stagnated and even declined because most of the animation jobs available were at studios creating children’s cartoons. Those studios must have concluded that kids would watch cartoons regardless of the animation quality.

Adult Animation Market Realized

In the late 1980s and 90s, films like “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and “The Lion King” gave animation another boost. Animators were now exploring new technology that allowed computer animation to boom. There was now a new market for computer animation jobs as big studios like Disney and Pixar realized that adults would flock to see good animated movies.

High Demands Bring a Rise in Computer Animation Jobs

Today, animators believe the industry has just hit the tip of the iceberg in what is possible with computer animation. Demand for animated movies is still on the rise, and each year, studios are increasing their animated movie output by leaps and bounds. This growth has stimulated the demand for computer animation jobs. Demand has become so high that studios are starting to donate money and talent to animation schools in order to train the next generation of computer animators.

Source

100 Years of Animation

About the Author

Kirk Bangstad is a singer living in Chicago, IL. Having received his B.A. in Government at Harvard, Kirk previously worked as a management consultant.

by Kirk Bangstad
kirk.bangstad@animationschoolreview.com
Animation School Review Columnist

What’s the secret to finding jobs in animation? Randy Cook’s story may give you some hints.

Randy Cook might not be a household name, but Gollum surely is. Cook was the lead animator who created the Gollum character in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Cook’s animation career definitely took some twists and turns before his Gollum put him in the spotlight.

First Animation Jobs Often Start at Disney

After graduating from the UCLA film school, Cook’s quest for animation jobs inevitably brought him to Disney. While there, he worked with John Lasseter, the animation guru who made Pixar a household name. Cook’s Disney career went south quite unexpectedly. He turned out to be quite a good Mickey Mouse impersonator, and started doing a lot of voice-over work. When he told management that he preferred animation to voice-over work, he ruffled a few feathers and was essentially placed in “animation Siberia,” meaning that he was given very low-profile jobs in animation.

Jobs in Animation: Networking and Coincidence

Throughout these trying times, Cook met Peter Jackson, the director of Lord of the Rings. Jackson liked Cook’s visions on stop-motion animation, and after some other collaborations failed to materialize, he eventually asked Cook to create Gollum. Since then, Cook’s career has taken off and he hasn’t looked back.

If you are currently looking for jobs in animation, you should take heart from this story. Some people’s animation careers take a while to materialize and take off. If you get stuck in an animation job that isn’t that fulfilling, who knows who you’ll meet along the way and what new opportunities may open up. As long as you’re pursuing your passions, you’re better off than most other working professionals.

Source

biganimation.com

About the Author

Kirk Bangstad is a singer living in Chicago, Illinois. Having received his B.A. in Government at Harvard, Kirk previously worked as a management consultant.

by Kirk Bangstad
kirk.bangstad@animationschoolreview.com
Animation School Review Columnist

Voice-over acting has always played a major role in cartoons and animated full length films. Today, the video gaming industry is creating many new jobs in animation for voice-over actors.

Video gaming became much more advanced with the introduction of the Sony PlayStation 2 and the Microsoft Xbox a few years ago. These systems’ memory capabilities enabled more lifelike animated scenes. Video-games started looking a lot more like cartoons and animated movies than ever before. Now that consumers have become used to realistic-looking flight simulators and battle scenes, they expect the sounds coming from their TV screens to also be realistic. This desire has provided a lot more jobs in animation for voice-over actors, because gaming companies are starting to invest more in voice talent than ever before.

Most Jobs in Animation Go to Multi-Voiced Actors

According to an article in Animation World Magazine, voice-over actors looking for jobs in animation generally need to be able to create a lot of different voice personalities. This versatility makes them valuable because they can often perform a number of different roles for the same production.

First Animation Jobs Always Hardest to Land

Landing voice-over animation jobs is similar to landing other jobs in the entertainment industry. You need to know someone. Of all your future animation jobs, the first will be the hardest to get because you don’t have many connections in the industry. Once you’ve worked with and impressed a few animation directors who need voice-over work regularly, you’ll start seeing more animation jobs on the horizon.

Source

Animation World Magazine

About the Author

Kirk Bangstad is a singer living in Chicago, IL. Having received his B.A. in Government at Harvard, Kirk previously worked as a management consultant.