Mikey Ilagan, my brother-in-law, and a few Filipinos were ably showing their talents in the animation hallways of Disney. Unfortunately Michael Eisner’s faction decided to hack off the whole of the traditional (as opposed to digital) animation department based in Disneyworld in Florida just this last March. And when I mean the whole dept. I mean the whole lot – from admin people to the head honchos including all the furnitures! What a shame.
The Filipino group there was headed by Ruben Aquino who was a Senior Supervising Animator. He was the key person who did characters like Shang in Mulan, Nani in Lilo and Stitch, etc. As far as I know he was born in Manila and moved to the US at a very young age. Others like Mikey was an Key Asst. Animator, Armand was a Layout Artist, and Gerry an Animator. All very talented Pinoys. They were involved in the creation of Disney movies like Mulan, Lilo & Stitch, Brother Bear, John Henry, etc. They are also very good artists in their own right, creating artworks in a number of mediums including illustrations for comics and children’s books, sculpting, painting in watercolor, oil, charcoal, or mixed media, photography, even digital/computer graphics.
Here's one of Mikey's artworks:
Below is another sample of his artwork in the comics genre:
You can see his portfolio at Animatrix Studio.
I wish I could put Armand's, Gerry's, and Ruben's work here so you could see that we have a lot of unsung talented Pinoys in the animation world.
9 comments:
Hmm, rubbing elbows ka pala with the almighties ha. No wonder, Mulan was appealing to me. Eh Shrek, me Pilipino ba doon? Galing kasi ng pagkagawa..now, now, disney ba ang Shrek BTW?
Meron akong joke tungkol diyan (ay sa Kuya ko pala). Sa hirap daw maghanap ng trabaho ngayon, pinapasukan na lahat ng Pinoy kahit ano, kaya naman nang nag-apply yung isa sa Animal Kingdom ng Disney tanggap na daw siya. Ang role daw niya is ipapakain sa leon(although di naman daw siya kakainin ng Leon). Eh nung akmang kakainin na siya ng leon, bigla siyang napa sign of the cross at sinabing "naku po, tulungan niyo ako". Tumigil daw yung leon at sinabing, "Pilipino ka rin?" hehe (magugulat yung nag-email sa akin..akala daw niya seryoso ako as in Ms. Tapia..di daw niya akalain na kenkoy ako dahil sa nabasa niya sa blog mo tungkol sa promdi tales).
Sira ka talaga Ting, umagang-umaga pinatatawa mo ako. Hahaha!! Lokong leon yun ah marunong magsalita. Hehehe!
About Shrek, it was done by Dreamworks and my BIL said there are Pinoys there as well. Bayaan mo ire-research ko. Usually magkakakilala naman sila within the animation industry lalo na ang mga Pinoys.
Makes you feel proud reading articles or stories like this. Did you notice the 'bahay kubo' in "Finding Nemo"?
Hi Lady C, merong bahay kubo?? Saan? Teka let me watch it again. Btw, I like your article in Pinoy Expat Ezine. Talented writer ka pala.
very talented indeed... they've been cut off from work but I am sure with the Disney background behind them, it will not be very hard to find another good outfit to work for...wish them all well...
nakakatuwa naman na may mga pinoy animators ng sikat na mga pelikula! pero i'm not surprised by our talents. Belib na belib ako sa galing nila. I'm sure marami ang sasalo sa kanila na mga ibang animation companies. Parang ang sarap na trabaho ng animation. aliw na aliw kasi ako sa cartoons kahit na ngayon.
maraming salamt po for reading PinoyExpats!
as for the bahay kubo...nandun sa fish tank at the dentist's office. dun nagtatago si nemo. watch it again.
Cerridwen: Hi there, yes pls wish them well 'coz not all of the laid off staff have found jobs up to now.
Sienna: I really liked your blog skins. Maybe later I'll contact you re:changing my blog skins.
Lady C: Yeah I saw it already! I didn't realise it was a bahay kubo.
Cheers ladies, sorry I wasn't able to answer right away. Blogger and tagboard really sucked in the past few days. Actually I'm gonna move to a different msg board soon.
hi celia! reading from ur blog on pinoy animators..i got so intrigued i wonder you think u can ask them a few questions for me? like things they needed in order to survive in the animation-making world, the tasks involved , career trends in the field, and the negative scenarios to watch out for.. i am a 21 year old college student..who wants to be a part of the world of animation.. am looking forward to ur reply..thanks alot! very good blog:)
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