Happy (Tangled) Thanksgiving!

I, like most people who’ve been born in the last 70+ years, grew up on Disney. Cinderella, Peter Pan, 101 Dalmations, and later The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and the Lion King, just to name a very few. Even the ones that didn’t involve magic had something magical about them. Disney was the main factor in my decision to go into the animation industry, and I had two major goals when I started: Work on a Batman or comic-book related movie, and work on an animated feature film.

By the time I got out of school, traditional animation was pretty much dead in the water. I got into the visual effects side of things, and before long was able to work on The Incredible Hulk. One goal accomplished, one to go. But I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get the chance to work on an animated film. Through a series of events and setbacks and good fortune, I wound up at Disney last year. It was incredible to be in the same building that so many amazing movies had been created in.

After working on an animated short, I was able to work on Tangled. I didn’t know it when I started, but Tangled is Disney’s 50th animated feature film. It’s a huge accomplishment, and I’m grateful and humbled to be a part of that legacy. Tangled finally came out yesterday, and I’m so excited for people to see it. All biases aside, it’s one of my favorite Disney movies. It has all the heart, laughs, adventure, and yes, magic, that have been synonymous with Disney at its best. I hope people go and see it. I want people to see that the Disney magic we grew up with is alive and well. I want them to believe in fairy tales again.

This video will be playing in front of Tangled, and shows a clip of each of Disney’s 50 animated films. It’s definitely worth a watch. Happy Thanksgiving!

Eight Years and Counting…

Yesterday was my eight year anniversary. I met my beautiful wife in Anchorage, Alaska in the summer of 2002. We were both there for the summer driving tour buses for one of the cruise lines. We instantly hit it off, and within a few weeks we were engaged. Six months later on a rainy day (which is good luck) in San Diego, we got married. Kind of crazy, I know. But it’s worked out amazingly well so far, and I don’t see it ever stopping. During that summer, I made my soon-to-be wife a few mix tapes, (back when people actually used cassette tapes) and on one of them I put the Ben Folds song The Luckiest. It’s an incredible song, and we both kind of clicked with it. It expressed exactly how we felt (and still feel) about each other. Although I didn’t ever think I’d have one, we had found “our song”. Sorry to get all mushy, but this is seriously one of the best love songs ever. I hope you can all find someone in your lives who reflects the feeling in this song.

Now I know all the wrong turns,
The stumbles and falls
Brought me here
And where was I before the day
That I first saw your lovely face?
Now I see it everyday
And I know
That I am
The luckiest