Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1313527
12 KEYFRAME T H E C L I M B As a kid, Eric Robles loved to draw, but he had no idea a career in animation was even remotely possible. His Mexican father and Salvadorian mother came to the US in the '70s. Robles and his sisters were raised in gang-affiliated neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Role models were few and far between. "We didn't have much, but we were a happy family… we had each other," he says. "A lot of these neighborhoods were pretty tough to grow up in because of all the drive-bys and killings going on in the late '80s and early '90s," he says. Eager to get their children away from the gang environment, his parents used friends' addresses to get them into better schools in Burbank where Robles continued to draw. After graduating from high school at 17, Robles expressed a wish to go to art school, but there was no way his parents could afford it. Instead he enrolled at Glendale Community College to study law enforcement. It was the instructor of his Evidence class, a Burbank police officer named Joe Dean, who took notice of the cartoon characters Robles was drawing on the back of his test papers. One day he pulled Robles aside and asked, "What are you doing in my class?" Robles said, "Oh, I'm sorry Officer Dean, I won't draw on your tests anymore." But Dean told Robles he should be pursuing a career as an artist. As it turned out, Dean's sister-in-law was Stephanie Graziano of Graz Studios. Dean told Robles to fill a sketchbook so he'd have something to show Graziano. Robles stayed up for three nights and delivered a sketchbook full of artwork to Dean. Soon an invitation to tour Graz Studios followed and he met the producers of the original X-Men series, The Tick, and others. Seeing his enthusiasm, a Graz Studios executive set Robles up to meet with a producer at another animation studio. The 19-year-old watched as the producer flipped through his sketchbook. When he was done, the producer pointed to the bullpen outside his office and said, "You see those artists? Unfortunately, you will never be one of these guys." He advised Robles to finish his law enforcement studies. Robles politely thanked him but instead of giving in to crushing disappointment, he was filled with determination. "It was a defining moment GROWING UP AROUND L.A. GANGS, CHARACTER DESIGNER AND CREATOR ERIC ROBLES CARVED HIS OWN UNIQUE PATH INTO ANIMATION. AGAINST THE ODDS