Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1079787
SPRING 2019 39 D E PA R T M E N T above, opposite: June and her gang at Wonder Park; top, this page: A younger June playing with her dad; inset: Close-up of Steve, the porcupine. eyes and wiry whiskers. I saw them as two brothers that were always causing trouble and always working hand in hand. Those designs came to life because of the great ideas from Mark and the story team. WHAT WERE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES? Designing characters with an evolving story. There are many changes to a script, characters are added and some are taken away, themes emerge over time, personalities are being created and molded as you design. It's the nature of animation and storytelling. WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF? I'm proud of the fact that some of my rough sketches somehow passed through production with approvals and were then put into many other artists' hands. Those characters are now living and breathing in the film. In the grand scheme of things, my role was small. When the entire team got their hands on the designs it was magic. WONDER AND MAGIC IS A HUGE COMPONENT IN THIS FILM. HOW DID THAT IMPACT THE DESIGN? I don't think the magical elements in the film necessarily influenced the designs. What I can speak to is the magic I saw in the original concept art created for the film. Chris Appelhans had a visual development painting that was hung on a wall down the hall from where I worked. I would pass by it every single day. There was such a fantastic mood and color palette packed into that design. For one reason or another, the mood and color palette of the animals became very playful, which in turn blended well with the environment designs. The overall effect seemed to magnify the idea of magic. DO YOU APPROACH DESIGN DIFFERENTLY WHEN YOU ARE DOING A 2D VERSUS 3D PROJECT? When designing a character in the beginning I always try to make it appealing regardless of the project being 2D or 3D. I tend to work with more graphic shapes up front. During the production phase all drawings of turnarounds, facial expressions, and any other sketches that help define the form of the character [need] to be resolved specifically for the 3D space. Images courtesy of Paramount Pictures. SPRING 2019 39