Animator's Breakfast – Details, episodes & analysis

Will Finn has definitely animated a movie from your childhood.

Joining the industry in 1979, despite being told that Animation was dead. He sweated his way up the ranks, being taught by the last remnants of the Nine Old Men. Nobody knew where the industry was going but having put in the work through the difficult period, he was ready to sink his teeth into great characters during the renaissance, like Cogsworth or Iago.

Getting to talk to Will is such an amazing treat for me, he’s such a deep treasure trove of insider information across many studios and he’s kind enough to share all that throughout this podcast. Styling himself similar to Grandpa Simpson, recounting his tales. True to form, Will surprised me when he wanted to talk about not just one, but two Disney features of the 60’s: Sword in the Stone and The Jungle Book.

These are a few of the things we talked about:

• The difficulty animation faced in the 1970s
• Why Sword in the Stone was everyone’s favourite film to work on
• How The Jungle Book worked where The Sword in the Stone didn’t

& so much more!

I’m really excited to hear your thoughts after listening to us ramble on!

Unique storytelling and eccentric animation are two ways to describe the work of Janina Putzker. She is a powerhouse of professional animation while ensuring her work maintains the highest standard that i looks effortless. It truly appears that she fears no style .

Speaking to Jani on the podcast today was a great pleasure of mine. Even more so when she told me she wanted to dive into the worlds of the visionary master that is Masaaki Yuasa and his debut feature, Mind Game

I’m delighted to have shared this discussion with her about:

• Finding your path even if there is nothing around you to help
• How the only obstacle in this world is yourself
• Why Mind Game encourages her rather than inspires

& so much more in this conversation!

I’m excited to hear your opinions and thoughts!

Find Jani’s work here: https://vimeo.com/janinaputzker

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/jani.pu/

Visual development and concept artist who has worked with some of the biggest brands in the world. Kamille Rogriguez is a thoughtful, passionate and incredibly hard working artist. It didn’t come easy to her but she knew if she didn’t pursue her art, she would always regret it. It’s my true pleasure to speak to Kamille on the podcast today. Her choice caught me off guard, but I was delighted to revisit Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest. I’m grateful to have shared this discussion with her about: - Always knowing the direction of your path in life - Talent is only a small part of success, Hard work is crucial - The impact Fern Gully had on our development (me too) - Drawing from Imagination vs needing real references & so much more in this conversation! I’m excited to hear your opinions and thoughts!

Find Kamille’s incredible work here: https://kamillustrator.com https://www.instagram.com/kamillustrator?igshid=ZGNjOWZkYTE3MQ==

Illustrator, character designer and self professed happy man, Jeremy Hoffman. To see Jeremy’s work, is to see joy. A playful sense of observation and imagination expressing itself through a heavily practiced hand. It’s my great privilege to welcome Jeremy onto the podcast today. His passion is infectious. What shocked me when I first spoke to Jeremy is that he only started drawing again when he was 40, he’s 47 now. I’m grateful to have shared this discussion with him about - rediscovering passion - Losing touch with our childhood passions - Is fear a worthwhile reason to hold yourself back from your dreams? - How you can achieve your dreams at any age & so much more in this conversation! I’m excited to hear your opinions and thoughts!

This was recorded in the Summer before the recent bloodshed in Gaza. When I first saw Jana Kattan’s graduate film, Checkpoint I was struck by the authenticity in which she weaved a simple story filled with heartbreak. There is a reality integral to Checkpoint I couldn’t articulate but it made me pay attention to her strong, honest and empathetic voice. As she describes, she only became aware she was Palestinian later in her life and the search for an identity that came with that has lent her an unparalleled empathy matched with an iron resolve to tell the story of her people. Along that line, she chose to discuss The Tower by Norwegian film maker Mats Grorud. This is a film about a young girl called Wardi who is asking similar questions, why did they leave their home to move to Lebanon and why can’t they just go back. Grorud weaves a masterful tale of events as seen through young Wardi’s eyes, moving up the tower they live in, layer by layer, uncovering history and trauma but also joy in loving their lives. The Tower is currently a difficult film to locate on streaming but if you dig deep enough, your efforts will be rewarded. _________________ The Tower Trailer: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec8ahECKpQE&ab_channel=Unifrance] Watch Checkpoint here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBBY6EQe4gk&t=] Find more about Jana here: https://janakattan10.myportfolio.com/home ------------------------------ Animator’s Breakfast is part of Any-mation and hosted and edited by Cole Delaney.

Space Patrol Luluco is a quintessential artistic declaration from Japanese animation Studio Trigger. Though lesser known, and not as critically acclaimed as other work by the team and Studio, it remains a fresh and fun mini series that never falls shy of its promise. Made on a small scale with a smaller budget, it's endlessly inspiring to younger studios who also want to put their mark on the world. Enter Sean Cunningham, aka Paperbag Animator and Creative Director of one of my favourite studios in Ireland, Studio Meala. The work he and his team produce is world class, allowing a new wave of voices in Irish animation to flourish as they produce their vision fostered by Sean and the whole team. Sean is an incredible animator, writer, saxophonist and director in his own right, blasting onto the scene with his graduation film Define Intervention. You can check out Sean's work here: https://www.youtube.com/@paperbaganimator/featured Studio Meala: https://studiomeala.com/ Animator’s Breakfast is part of Any-mation and hosted and edited by Cole Delaney. Support this podcast and other work on Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/anymation

Welcome back to Animator's Breakfast. This month we're talking about one of my favourite Animated features of all time, the sleeping titan that is The Prince of Egypt. Dreamwork's defiant call to the western world of animation that Disney isn't the only studio in town. Originally pitched as The Ten Commandments but animated, it took a dedicated team from the relatively new division in Dreamworks Animation to craft this masterpiece, and I'm not the only one who thinks it's a masterpiece, so does Kirsten Shiel. Kirsten is a mega talented artist who's work I have been drooling over for years. She is an Art Director and Freelance Designer that has worked on shows for Sesame Street, Netflix, Disney, Nickelodeon, NBC Universal, and Apple TV as well as being an Award winning Illustrator. It was such a joy to sit down and discuss one of my favourite and her all time favourite animated work. To see more of Kirsten's work, check out her website here: http://www.kirstenmshiel.com/ Animator’s Breakfast is part of Any-mation and hosted and edited by Cole Delaney. Support this podcast and other work on Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/anymation

Welcome back to Animator's Breakfast. This month we're diving deep into the world of French animator, Sylvain Chomet and his foray into feature film making. A tour de force, while looking a the tour de France, it's impossible to narrow The Triplets of Belleville down to a succinct description, rather it's a story that needs to be witnessed. I was lucky that Cliona chose it as her inspiring touchstone.   I've been a big fan of Cliona Noonan ever since I saw her short film, Wet and Soppy. It's a graphic tour de force of controlled storytelling. When I saw her college short, Tuna, I knew she was someone who has a unique and continuously developing voice in the world of animation. It's even better that she comes from Ireland and is emerging as one of the strongest voices in the next generation of storytellers. So, it was a privilege to get to sit down and talk with her.  To see more of Cliona's work, check out her website here:  https://clionanoonan.com/  ----------------------------------------------  Animator’s Breakfast is part of Any-mation and hosted and edited by Cole Delaney. 

You don’t get much better than this! A former Disney Animator gushing about an even more former Disney animator! What an Honour it was to sit down with Tony Bancroft to talk about Fred “Freddie” Moore.   Fred Moore was one of the earliest animator’s at Walt Disney’s Animation studios in the 1930’s. He’s most famous for redesigning Mickey Mouse into the character model we know today. Moore worked through the studio as it rose to prominence, animating on works such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella. His design of female characters influenced characters such as Ariel in the Little Mermaid which has informed what we think of as the Disney aesthetic now. Moore was a giant influence in the development of Disney animation’s design style after Ub Iwerks left, and before the Nine Old Men rose to prominence. Unfortunately, Moore’s propensity for alcohol held him back, leading him to be fired in 1946 and he’s been generally left out of conversations in the sanitisation of Disney’s history. He returned to Disney is 1948 but was killed in a car crash 4 years later.   For anyone who’s unfamiliar with Tony, he is one half of the Bancroft Bros. Animation podcast, as well as one half of the Bancroft twins. They both began their careers animating in Disney at the very beginning of the Disney Renaissance. Tony is notable for working on characters such as Cogsworth, Iago, Pumba, Kronk as well directing Mulan in 1998 with Barry Cook. He Has had an incredible, far ranging career animating, directing, podcasting as well as teaching and it’s a pleasure to get to talk to him!   Find Tony's work and social link here:  https://twitter.com/pumbaaguy1  https://www.instagram.com/pumbaaguy/  https://tonybancroft.com/  ----------------------------------------------   Animator’s Breakfast is part of Any-mation and hosted and edited by Cole Delaney.   Support this podcast and other work on Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/anymation