Next children's book

This is the cover for another "Cars" children's book I illustrated for Random House, which will be coming out on August 9th. This will be the third I've done for them, and I'm very excited to have had the opportunity. These little books are very enjoyable to work on.

Pirate Mickey magnet frame

This was fun to design, and also a bit of a challenge. The actual frame has to be able to slide into and out of Mickey's grasp, so not only his hands but also his boots had to conform to its shape in just the right way. So, I made sure to use the grooves and folds in his boots to their fullest advantage. All that to say I wanted the frame to stick. Side note: I made the hilt of his sword resemble the classic "D" in "Disneyland".

Another pencil test from "Curious George"

One of the interesting things about working on this film was that you animated every character in the scene, instead of being assigned to one particular character. It was also the first time I'd had the opportunity to animate professionally. After a decade of working as a clean-up animator at Disney (embellishing the rough drawings of the animators), it felt good to loosen up a bit. Also, working together at Project Firefly - formed after the Florida studio had closed - felt very much like the old days at CalArts. Definitely a lot of fun!

Meeting Ollie in '91

I had the opportunity about 20 years ago (!) - to meet and get the advice of Ollie Johnston, one of the famous "Nine Old Men" of Disney animation. He was at the animation art gallery at the Disneyland Hotel for the release of his and Frank Thomas' book about the making of Bambi. It was early and barely anyone was there, so I asked if he'd be interested in giving me some animation advice. "Sure," he said, so I ran all the way back to my car in the Disneyland parking lot (now California Adventure) to grab a couple of my primitive flipbooks. Back at the gallery, he graciously flipped through them, said that they needed "more squash and stretch" and wished me luck, as I had told him that I was applying for CalArts. A wonderful and endlessly inspiring person, for whom I will always be grateful. He passed on in April of 2008.