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Posts Tagged ‘Comic Book’

Warren Leonhardt

April 30th, 2013 Laura

 

 

What is your name and your current occupation?
Warren Leonhardt, story artist at Blue Sky Studios

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
Worked as a logger, prep cook at a truck stop, janitor at a hospital and a shoe repairman for a day. I thought about going into amateur kickboxing in 1993 or 94 after being invited by my coach to train in Thailand, but I’m too darn lazy when it comes right down to it.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
It’s not so much the gig as the folks I’ve been lucky enough to work with. I’ve been on great crews such as the one we had at Red Rover studios up in Toronto in the early ’00s. We had a blast making Puma, Mexican Gerber commercials, and concert videos for R. Kelly when he was just on the cusp of going completely bonkers. I had to draw his recently deceased mother as an angel who talked to him, which was awkward, to say the least. As far as movies or recognizable credits go, I’d have to say those guys at Sony who made ‘Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs’ were really awesome for the short time I was on that movie. Still pals with a few of em. But there were fun crews in Ottawa, Copenhagen, LA, or Toronto that I’d like to gather together in a room again anytime, regardless of the job.  Of course I have high hopes for the movie that I’m working on right now. The crew at Blue Sky has some really bright and eccentric people here, which is always awesome to be around. Makes for good comedy bits.

 

How did you become interested in animation?
Same as anyone else, I guess. Television reruns of classic Looney Tunes and Disney shorts, mostly. There was one Disney special every Sunday evening when I was a kid. I was also a “Saturday Morning” kid, but I really liked waking up really early weekday mornings and watching original Tom & Jerry cartoons, Looney Tunes on Saturday morning and these Disney specials on Sundays. On one of those behind the scenes things, Walt Disney revealed that real live people made these cartoons with pencils and paper! I decided to try to become one of those guys even if it meant I had to figure it out myself. I’d have made a crappy chemical analyst anyway. My dad’s job was not for me. I got my hands on Preston Blair’s book and copied stuff from that and comic books.  And there was this other thing, too (more…)
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Sherm Cohen

April 16th, 2013 Laura

 

What is your name and your current occupation?
My name is Sherm Cohen and I’m currently the storyboard supervisor for Disney’s Fish Hooks.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had  before getting into animation?
The craziest job I ever had before getting into the animation business was working as a psychiatric aide at a mental hospital. When I first got hired, I thought it picked me because I was a promising student in my psychology classes — but it turns out they hired me because I’m a pretty big dude, and one of the key job responsibilities was being able to tackle and restrain mental patients! I got a really grim view of the inner workings of the mental health insurance schemes, but I didn’t end up quitting that job until after I received a concussion from one of the patients in the isolation tank.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re  proud to have been a part of?
Of all the projects I’ve worked on in my cartooning career, I’m most proud of the work I was able to take part in when I was on SpongeBob SquarePants. It just makes me so happy when I can see that the cartoons that I wrote and drew have become favorites and bright spots in the lives of so many people all over the world. A few years ago, I was standing in line at the DMV when I noticed one of the office workers cubicles in the deep background; it was completely decked out with SpongeBob posters and cards and drawings and toys… and I decide it was really neat that somebody who was working in a dreary government bureaucracy, we have brightened our day by surrounding themselves with a cartoon that I worked on. I’m also enjoying the heck out of my current job on Fish Hooks. The show is pure cartoon fun and the crew is wonderful to work with. And it’s extra-special experience because (more…)
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Robert Burrows

March 3rd, 2013 Laura

What is your name and your current occupation?
My name’s Robert Burrows and I’m a comic illustrator and story artist.

 

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I was a courier for a while, being on the road 10 hours a day you tend to develop a pretty zen approach to traffic. You also see a lot of carnage. I also worked at an ahem… adult shop. I call this my “character building” phase.

 

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
The two graphic novels I’ve illustrated:Something Animal, which is a gritty look at a man losing his grip after witnessing a terrible attack on his sister and Beatrice Is Dead which is the first story in a set of short horror/dark fantasy volumes about Beat, a sixteen year-old girl coming of age in the afterlife. Both are fully painted the old fashioned way using acrylic, gouache and gallons of india ink.

 

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
I was born and raised in the southeast of England, then I lived in Detroit for most of my grown up life. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but (more…)

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