FOR an artist, there's not much better than working at Disney, home to legendary worldwide animation films, television shows and characters spanning through decades and generations of adoring fans.
Ask just about anyone what their favourite Disney movie is and they'll have a hard time narrowing it down (even if the correct answer is Alladin. Or The Lion King. Maybe Toy Story . . . it's impossible).
But if someone pulled an animator by the ear and forced them to answer what was better than working at Disney, it would have to be working at Disney - and winning an Oscar at the same time.
This surreal experience is one two former Capilano University graduates are living through right now, having both been a part of Disney's Academy Award-winning animated short film Paperman, as seen before the showings of Disney's animated feature film Wreck-It Ralph, released in November, 2012. The short also accompanies the new DVD release of Wreck-It Ralph as a bonus feature.
Sarah Airriess, graduate of Capilano University's Commercial Animation program in 2002, worked as a final line supervisor on Paperman, establishing the drawn look for the characters and making sure the other final line artists didn't stray from the style they were shooting for.
When asked to describe the feeling she had working on an Academy Award-winning film, Airriess had trouble coming up with an answer, as her work was officially over on the project more than a year ago. But she gave it her best go.
"Kind of surreal . . .the short itself feels so long in the past now (I finished on it just over a year ago) that I feel a little detached, personally," she said in an email interview from Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, Calif. "But suddenly, after the Oscars, people I hadn't heard from in ages sent me congratulations after recognizing my name in the credits."
Clio Chiang, also a graduate of Capilano University's Commercial Animation program in 2005, worked as a story artist on Paperman where she constructed camera angles and composition of each shot, made sure the storytelling was clear and created a "blueprint" of sorts for the film.
"I feel incredibly proud of our director, John Kahrs," Chiang says. "Sometimes it's difficult to realize a personal story in a large corporation such as Disney, but after being put through the story wringer he managed to stick to his original vision for the short. I also feel a lot of pride in it having been such a small group, like a sort of guerrilla project."
Having been professional artists since their respective graduations, both Airriess and Chiang worked in smaller studios around Vancouver before
making the jump to Disney.
But it could be said their paths started before that.
Way, way before that.
"I'm still learning, but I have been making marks on paper since I was three," Chiang said.
It wasn't until university Chiang knew for sure animation was the kind of work she wanted to pursue.
"I knew it was possible to work in the animation field but had no idea how to go about it - that is until I found out there was a good school locally, Capilano University, where I could start my education," Chiang says.
Her first job out of school was with Atomic Productions and then Studio B Productions (now DHX Media), before moving on to Disney.
Airriess followed a similar path.
"I've drawn since I was about two," Airriess says.
Yet it wasn't until she was a teenager she knew she wanted to animate for a living.
"For some reason, it wasn't until I was 14 that I realized ordinary people become animators, and that because I liked to draw and act I could become an animator . . . as soon as I made that connection I was set on that as my goal," she said.
Airriess found work out of the gate with Bardel Entertainment based in Vancouver. She produced 2D animation before moving to Los Angeles and eventually finding work in Burbank with Disney.
But Paperman isn't the only film these two have worked on.
Both Airriess and Chiang had a hand in 2011's Winnie the Pooh.
Currently Airriess is working on a movie that will be released after Disney's next animated feature film Frozen.
Chiang just worked on Frozen as a story artist, but was mum on her next project.
In the end, Airriess and Chiang are both honoured to have been a part of an Oscar-winning film, but they are not letting it explode their egos, instead choosing to keep their heads down working on the next project.
So, in the end, what is it like to work for Disney?
"Some of the toughest and the most inspiring times of life," Chiang says.
"It's complicated," Airriess explains.
It's a great experience and she has access to all kinds of training and resources she normally wouldn't, she said, but there has been a cultural and professional shock when it comes to living in LA and working for a massive corporation like Disney.
"This isn't to denigrate any of the lovely and amazingly talented people I work with at all - Disney is full of the nicest people you'd meet anywhere and they're all both brilliant and humble, so it's a pretty inspiring place to come to every day."
James Prevette, staff at Capilano University's Digital Visual Effects department, also worked on Academy Award-winning film Life of Pi as a digital artist.
Contributing Writer
