pag-asaharibon:The Pin@ys and Pixn@ys of Walt Disney Studios and Pixar Animation StudiosFilipino-Jap
pag-asaharibon:The Pin@ys and Pixn@ys of Walt Disney Studios and Pixar Animation StudiosFilipino-Japanese American character animator Ruben Aquino who did Simba as an adult in The Lion King, Chief Powhatan in Pocahontas, Maurice in Beauty and the Beast, Denahi in Brother Bear, Shang and Fa Li in Mulan, and Ursula in The Little Mermaid. Unfortunately Aquino was part of the massive Disney animation division layoffs in April.Additional stuff on Aquino: 50 Most Influential Disney AnimatorsThree part interview with Ruben Aquino Part One, Part Two and Part ThreeDisney Pixar Supervising Production Artist Nelson “Rey” Bohol originally hails from Samar. Prior to working with Pixar, got to work on Fox Animation Studios Anastasia and Titan A.E. In 2000, he moved to Pixar Animation Studio, where he designed several Pixar films like Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL-E and Monsters University. “My job here in Pixar is not much different from that of an art director of live action films,” says the man who is credited with adding Pinoy touches in the design of that famous aquarium in Finding Nemo complete with bahay kubo and Mayon Volcano-inspired accessories as well as the Palawan-like feel of Nomanisanisland, the tropical hideout of the villainous Syndrome in The Incredibles. “I try to add a Pinoy flavor in the designs that I help work with whenever I can.”Monsters University’s library is called Bohol Hall, named after Nelson.Virginia ‘Gini’ Cruz Santos was born and raised in Pasay City. From her 2011 interview with BakitWhy: Santos studied at the University of Santos Tomas in the Philippines, where she took up Fine Arts with a major in Advertising. Funnily enough, she thought her lab subject of Animation was “very tedious because of its repetitive illustrating process. Animation was the farthest thing from my mind. We were grouped, and we’re supposed to make a small film. I remember going, ‘Oh, I like to draw, but I don’t wanna draw this much.’ I was kind of turned off by the process of it.”In 1988, she began working as the art director for an American ad agency, but left in 1993 because she felt that the job was holding her back artistically. She decided to study a two-year masters program, Computer Art, at the School of Visual Arts in New York. In 1996, Santos submitted her reel to Pixar. She didn’t even include her resume because it was “just for the heck of it”. Her short feature “The Eclipse”, which looked at human relationships, landed her a job as Pixar animator.Today Santos has so much passion for her job at Pixar that she has accepted the sacrifices she has had to make in her personal life. She and Ronnie Del Carmen (another Pinoy animator at Pixar) dream of holding an animation convention in the Philippines someday.In a 2010 interview, Santos said that she and Del Carmen are always talking about the idea. “We want to gather all the talented and interested Pilipino animators in the Philippines and hold an animation convention. We would love to invite some big name animators from Pixar and Disney to go over there so that the Pilipinos will see the latest technologies and styles that we use.”Also mentioned in Santos’ interview is Ronnie Del Carmen:Del Carmen graduated with a Fine Arts degree from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines. He worked briefly at an advertising agency before immigrating to the US in 1989.Before joining Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, he’s worked at DreamWorks and Warner Brothers. He also publishes his own comic book, Paper Biscuit.He’s worked on other critically-acclaimed animated movies including The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, and Wall E.The latest on Del Carmen from 2012 Philippine Daily Inquirer:Ronnie has stepped up—he’s co-directing a still untitled Pixar movie that will take filmgoers “to a place that everyone knows, but no one has ever seen: the world inside the human mind.” That’s a very significant step for a Fil-Am talent.Louie del Carmen, Ronnie’s brother, who works at rival DreamWorks Animation (another brother, Rick, is at Fox Animation). Louie’s many credits include the Oscar- nominated “Kung Fu Panda 2.”Del Carmen is also on Twitter, Tumblr and Blogspot.San Diego native Ricky Nierva joined Pixar in 1997 as a visual development artist. He lead the character team on Monsters, Inc. and was the art director for Finding Nemo. He went on to be the production designer for the film Up. The movie introduces Pixar’s first major Asian-American character: Russell, the wilderness explorer.Nierva said it was important to him as a Filipino to represent Russel in a positive way. Pixar even cast an Asian kid to give Russell his voice.It may still be up in the clouds, but Nierva could one day be Pixar’s first Filipino director. Chris Chua born in Manila to a Chinese father and a half-Filipino mother, moved to the United States at age 10. became a full-time animator on Flushed Away and went on to work on Cars 2, Up, Brave and Monsters University.2008 interview with Philippine Daily Inquirer:Asked if it was hard for him as a Filipino-Chinese to break into Hollywood, Chris replied, “In this profession, especially animation, it’s not so much about race. There is no real race barrier. It is just about how much work you put in.”Chua features his work on Blogspot.Walt Disney Pictures 2012 computer-animated family-comedy film Wreck-It-Ralph saw two new up-incomers.Two of the Filipinos who were praised by the director of the movie, Rich Moore were visual effects supervisor Cesar Velasquez and story artist Josie Trinidad.Cesar Velasquez was the visual effects supervisor of the movie, meaning he was in charge with all the visual effects productions of the film. Cesar currently works as an Effects Supervisor at Walt Disney Animation Studio. Velasquez have graduated at the University of Michigan.Cesar formerly works with Cinesite as an effects animator. He have worked also as a programmer and effects animator at Warner Digital Studios.The other Filipino who was involved with the movie “Wrect-It-Ralph” is Josie Trinidad, a story artist at Walt Disney Animation Studio. She was a former graduate of California Institute of Arts and the University of California in Los Angeles.Joseph Mateo won an Emmy award in 2010 for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation for Disney’s Prep & Landing, for which Mateo was the storyboard artist. In addition, 2007 Balitang America video interview with Mateo. -- source link
#filipino american#disney#pixar#animators#animation#art#movies