pencil test

One of my rough scenes from "Curious George", prior to cleanup. This was back in 2005, while at Project Firefly.

Pencil test

One of the highlights of working at a small studio (I was at Project Firefly in Orlando from 2004 to 2007, following the closing of the Disney Florida studio) was getting to wear different hats for different projects. On the "Curious George" film, I was one of the character animators (both rough and clean up) - and it was an absolute joy. Every scene, such as the one here shown in an early pencil test, presented new challenges for me. I was thrilled to have had the opportunity.

It's funny - whenever I draw Woody from "Toy Story" for a children's book or on theme park merchandise, I have to be careful not to start drawing Ted (the Man with the Yellow Hat), whose features I  find to be slightly similar in some regards. 

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!

Pencil test - Curious George

Here is a pencil test for a scene I animated in the 2005 film "Curious George" (Universal), while working at Project Firefly in Orlando.

"Curious George" rough animation

I recently watched the "Curious George" film again, and recalled how much fun it was to work on (for Universal Pictures, via Project Firefly). Here's another of my scenes. While I had always enjoyed the embellishing precision of clean-up animation (which I did for a decade at Disney), the opportunity to animate in rough was an absolute joy! This was the first film for which I'd animated professionally, as opposed to final line, clean-up animation.

Rough animation - "Curious George"