Animator Letters Project Video Contest!

I have a fun contest for everyone out there that has been inspired in one way or another by this project. I know there are a lot of very creative people who follow this project so this contest should be a lot of fun for everyone! Here's what I am asking of you: Make a video telling why you love the Animator Letters Project, how you have been inspired or encouraged by it and ask other professional animators to contribute a letter. If there is any particular animator that you look up to, then you could even specifically ask them in your video to write a letter. There aren't any real rules for this contest, other than be creative! Think outside the box and have fun! Once you get done with your video, upload it to YouTube with the title "I Have Been Inspired By The Animator Letters Project!" and send me the link either here on the blog, email, Twitter, or on Facebook. Just upload the video by the end of the month, and I will pick the top three videos to post on this site. I will also give something really cool, animation related, to each of those three people! Even if you don't win, you get to be apart of helping me tell the world about this project and how it has made a difference in your life, and I will be forever grateful for your help! I am so excited to see the videos y'all create...but enough talking...let it begin!!!

Brenda Chapman Calls On All Animation Artists

I am sure all of you out there are just as excited as I am to see Pixar's up and coming film, 'Brave'! As many of you may know, the original writer and director of the film is a very talented story teller named Brenda Chapman, and this morning she wrote a great post (below) on her blog about the Animator Letters Project. Thank you so much for the kind words Mrs. Chapman, and I look forward to sharing your letter! I hope many more professionals in the animation industry will step up and follow in your foot steps by writing their own letter of inspiration.

For a young person contemplating how to land the coveted “dream job,” the road to the future can seem bleak, long and downright scary. That’s one of the many reasons mentors are so important. An experienced voice of reason can make all the difference in helping someone get a start in an industry, which is why I am such a fan of the Animator Letters Project.

The project is the brainchild of Texas resident Willie Downs, an aspiring animator who struggled with his decision to attend school and pursue a degree other than animation. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was going down the wrong path but, as he writes on the project’s website, he was hesitant to change degrees—and schools—because “my parents had already spent so much money for me to do what I was doing.”
So Willie reached out to Pixar and DreamWorks via letter, and asked the studios for advice and encouragement. The Animator Letters Project was born, and Willie now aspires to “publish a book packed full of letters from animators of different major studios, encouraging people who have a passion for animation to not give up and to follow their dreams.”

Wow. How much more inspiring can you get? And I’m not talking about the letters, although I know they’re full of invaluable advice and wisdom. I can’t help but be moved by Willie’s effort, his decision to reach out for help, and his further commitment to share the results with others who are in a similar position.

I plan to write a letter to Willie, and if you work in the animation industry, I urge you to consider participating, too. As if you needed additional incentive, Willie plans to donate the proceeds of the book to start a scholarship that will help an aspiring animator attend animation school.

If you’d like to help, send your letter to: 

Willie Downs
605 W. Main St.
Whitehouse, TX  75791 

Kudos to you, Willie. You’ve already achieved so much, and are an inspiration to so many. I can’t wait to read the Animator Letters Project book. 

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a letter to write.

Original source: Brenda Chapman's Blog 

Soggy Grits

Today, I would like to share a letter with you that is a little different that the usual letter I post on this site. This letter doesn't come from a professional animator that has been in the industry for years, but rather from an aspiring animator with a dream that he is not giving up on. His name is Clinton Racine, and he shared his story with me in hopes of inspiring some fellow aspiring animators out there going through the same difficulties. As creatives, we feed off of inspiration, whether it be from the professionals or from fellow students, so I have no doubt this letter will be an inspiration to many of you.

Please be sure to follow the Animator Letters Project on Twitter @AnimLettersProj. Also, please remember, this project is only a success because professional animators like yourself take the time to write a letter. Whether it be to share your story of how you broke into the industry, struggles that you had to overcome, or to share some advise or wisdom you have learned over the years, you can be sure that it will encourage and inspire aspiring animators around the world! Please consider contributing a letter to this project if you want to see this project continue to grow and make a difference in people's lives.

You can mail your letter to me here:

Willie Downs
605 W. Main St.
Whitehouse, TX 75791

Transcript:

Hi Will, Merry Christmas!

My name is Clinton Racine. I am a 29 year old animator from North Carolina, working in the I.T. Industry as a computer tech. When I'm not at work dealing with hard drives and firewalls, I am building myself a better animation portfolio. To be an animator is a dream I have wanted to fulfill since childhood. I came across your ebsite through Twitter, and I was inspired by the letters I have read there. I cannot wait for your book to come out. I would like to share my own story with you. It is more or less an ongoing adventure to become a professional animator. I grew up watching cartoons. As a child, I watched classic Warner Bros., and MGM cartoons, Nicktoons, Cartoon Cartoons, FOX Kids Animation, and of course Disney cartoons. I filled my bookshelves with VHS tapes of my favorite cartoons shows, Batman, Darkwing Duck, Tiny Toons, and Ren and Stimpy. The Ren and Stimpy show was, and still is my favorite cartoon. The characters felt so real to me as a child that I wanted to draw cartoons just like John K., and Spumco when I grow up. I decided then I wanted to become an animator. I wanted to create funny, slapstick cartoons that were believable in their actions and reactions. Ren and Stimpy was a huge inspiration for me throughout school, and college. 

After high school, I moved to Florida to study computer animation at The Art Institute. There I was introduced to 3D Studio Max and Maya. Instead of concentrating on learning software, I decided to work on my foundation skills instead to improve my skills. I opted out of 3D classes in favor of more life drawing classes and more time in the 2D animation lab. During my time in college, I made a lot of new friends who shared my passion for animation and the cartoons we grew up with. A couple of my friends and [I] even started our own animation club. We would spend our time together watching classic cartoons and working on independent animation projects. While I was on cloud 9, I did not realize I was making some mistakes along the way. When I was in college, I built up a lot of debt. I had so much debt that my part-time job could not support paying it all off before I graduated. The stress affected my schoolwork, and ultimately my portfolio. I graduated with a mountain of debt and a sloppy portfolio. Worse than that, I had to move back home and get a job to pay off debt; bummer! I got a job as a computer tech and was able to pay down my debt before the collection calls started to happen. The first year after college was the most depressing. My friends and I look back at it now and call it, "The Worst Year". But after a few years of working, struggling, and saving, I am happy to tell you that most of my bills, my debt, is almost gone completely. Thanks to a new higher paying job, I have a fresh start.

Since I know how to fix computers, I bought some parts and built my own computer workstation to study. I started my own website called, "Soggy Grits" after my grandmother's receipe. There I post my drawings and share my adventures online to become an animator. I attend workshops in Rileigh, and plan to sign up for more next year. A couple of years ago, I travelled to Emeryville to attend a Meet-N-Greet at Animation Mentor. I met Jude Brownbill, and Bobby Beck himself. I told them my story, as I am telling you. Both Bobby and Jude were very supportive and encouraged me to move forward; to not give up. In my pursuit of my dream job, I have made new friends and learned a lot about myself through adversity and experience. My friends are always there for me to push me towards my goal. Many of them are professional artists and engineers in their own right; they continue to inspire me everyday. I have been working as a computer tech for seven years, and I still have not given up. I believe my misadventures have enabled me to see my path more clearly. The most important task at hand for myself is to have a portfolio. I love to draw cartoons! While I'm working and fixing computers all day, by night, I'm a machine working on a better portfolio! I will not give up, because I am an artist; an animator! And I want to spend the rest of my life doing what I love. I hope my story will inspire others as much as yours did for me.

Clinton Racine

"Soggy Grits"

Emotional Creatures

Today I am proud to share a very special letter with everyone. It is a very inspiring letter from Stephen Anderson, the director of Walt Disney Animation Studio's most recent 'Winnie the Pooh' as well as 'Meet the Robinsons'- to name a few from his long list of credits. I am sure that each and every one of you will take something away from Steve's great letter!


The invitation is still open to each and every professional animator to contribute a letter to this project. Please share your story of how you got into the industry and what you had to overcome to make your dream a reality. This project is only made possible when people like yourself take the time to write a letter, and you can know that you are impacting many lives around the world when you do. 

Transcript:

WALT DISNEY ANIMATION STUDIOS

11/4/11

Artists are emotional creatures. We feel things deeply. We see the world around us, react to it and base our work off of those reactions. Our work represents ourselves. It's us. Not just what our bodies can produce but what our minds and hearts have to say.

We want people to like what we do. If we didn't, we'd just draw, paint, sculpt, dance, act and write in our own living room with no documentation or recording of it. But we don't do that because we want our work to be seen. We want to express ourselves to people and, in turn, produce a reaction in them. Our emotions create the art and our art creates emotions. 

But there are days when our emotions get the best of us. They let us down. They didn't give us the strength and motivation that we need when we're discouraged or struggling. They convince us that we are "no good". That we have no talent. Or that the talent we do have us not as much as, or as good as, the talent of another person. 

Ultimately, the struggles that we have- the creative blocks we all face- come from comparing ourselves to others. I'm not as good as that person. I'm not as successful as that person. That person is at the level I want to be at and I don't have it in me to get there. I do this constantly. But I realized a few years ago that what I SHOULD be doing is comparing myself to myself. I find that when I step back and evaluate where I've come from, and where I am in relation to that. I feel much healthier. Block out all those other people and focus on YOUR work. Are you better today than you were yesterday? Were you better yesterday than you were the day before? Better than you were six months ago? A year ago? Twenty years ago? If the answer is "yes", then you're on the right path. If the answer is "no" you've got work to do. But the only person you have to be better than is yourself. That constant growth, improvement and evolution is the mark of a healthy artist. Instead of looking around the room to see what everyone else is doing, keep your eyes on your own paper. YOU have to be the best artist you can be and the only person that can drive that evolution is YOU!

Steve Anderson

Disney Animator Dale Baer on KCRW's The Business

Back on November 14th, KCRW's The Business aired a recording of Dale Baer, Supervising Animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios, reading the letter that he wrote for the Animator Letters Project. KCRW's The Business will be airing some of the letters contributed to the project over the coming weeks, read by the letters' authors. Below is the segment of the aired show that features the Animator Letters Project and the reading of the letter by Dale Baer.

You can listen to the full radio show aired by KCRW's The Business featuring Kevin Clash, the man who has played Elmo in Sesame Street for the last 26 years, here. 

Brighter Days Ahead

Today I want to share with you this incredibly inspirational letter written in the hand of Ruben Aquino, Supervising Animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios, written on some really cool Disney stationary. It is such an honor to have Mr. Aquino's letter as a part of this project, as we have been amazed by his work in Disney films for years and now we can be inspired by his great story. If you don't recognize his name, then you will know him by his work as supervising animator on "Adult Simba" in The Lion King, "Maurice" in Beauty and the Beast, and "Ursula" in The Little Mermaid, to name just a few from his long list of credits. I hope you find Mr. Aquino's letter just as inspirational as I do!

As always, I want to take this opportunity to ask other professional animators to please consider writing a letter, and sharing your story with aspiring animators. You never know who your story could impact, and without a doubt, this project is changing lives and I want you to be apart of that. I can't do this project without people like yourself, willing to invest a few minutes in making a difference in the lives of future animators. As a reminder, please address your letter to aspiring animators (or something to that affect) but don't address it to me personally. You can also read more about this project by going here. Thank you so much!

You can mail your letter to me here:

Willie Downs

605 W. Main St.

Whitehouse, TX 75791

Transcript:

October 4, 2011

Dear aspiring animator,

I am writing to share some of my experiences early in my animation career.

Unlike many of my colleagues who knew they wanted to be animators since their childhood or teen years, I did not aspire to a career in animation until I was in my late 20's...

My major in college was architecture (I loved drawing cartoons as a child, but never even considered that as a viable profession..my dad encouraged me to be an architect instead); unfortunately, I graduated in the middle of a recession (in 1975), and I couldn't find a job (builders weren't building, and architects weren't hiring)....

So...I switched careers and worked as a graphic artist (at a print shop in Honolulu, Hawaii); the job was not very creative or satisfying, but I kept at it for 4 years....

In 1979, I heard about an available trainee position at a small animation studio (also in Honolulu). I had absolutely no prior animation experience, but I decided to apply anyway. I did a short animation test (my first animation ever..of a humanoid/ frog creature jumping), which the owners liked, and I got the job!! It was a very small studio (only 5-6 people), so I wound up doing a lot of different things (inbetweening, animating, clean-up, layout, test camera, ink & paint, etc.)-- it was a great way to learn all aspects of making an animated film. The pay was not great, but I was having the time of my life!! :)

The following year, I moved to Los Angeles, and got a job at Hanna-Barbera studios (in visual development, character design, & layout). I was laid off after about a year (along with many of my colleagues), :( but was able to get into the clean-up training program at Walt Disney Animation Studios several months later (in February, 1982). :)

Soon after I completed my clean-up training at Disney, I worked on a 30-second animation test (of Fflewddur Fflam, from the Black Cauldron), submitted it to the review board, and was promoted to animating assistant. I've been animating at Disney ever since....

There were a few bumps in the road before I started my animation career at Disney, but I always worked hard to improve my artistic skills, and always looked forward to brighter days ahead!

I hope my story will be inspiring for young artists who may be experiencing a few "bumps" in their own road--I encourage you to never give up, and to keep challenging & improving yourself as artists/ animators! There will always be great opportunities in the future!!

Warmest Wishes,
-Ruben Aquino
Supervising Animator, Walt Disney Animation Studios

'Persist' on KCRW's The Business

Over the weekend, KCRW's The Business, talked about the Animator Letters Project and aired a reading of the 'Persist' letter contributed by Pixar animator, Austin Madison, read by Austin himself. You can listen to the segment of the show that featured the letter by clicking the link below.

Pixar Animator, Austin Madison's Letter- KCRW's The Business by KCRW

You can listen to the full length show that was aired, featuring an interview with Kurt Sutter of 'Sons of Anarchy' by clicking here.