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.