What does a story artist do at Pixar?
In a nutshell, it’s the constant search for entertainment via still drawings. A story artist gets the plan for a scene, whether in script form or a loose outline, and starts to draw, exploring possibilities, imagining the scene in pictures, making discoveries, and uncovering unforeseen problems—dramatic or logistical. Out of this exploration, the story artist then begins to formulate a presentation called a sequence to show to the director and other story artists in what is called a story meeting. In his/her "pitch," the artist acts out the boards, telling the story and trying to relate the material in the best way. When the pitch is over, it's time for feedback and brainstorming. Choices are made, options are eliminated, and new options are put before the story artist for further exploration. In a best-case scenario, a clear direction is given to pursue the scene again. Then it’s back to the drawing board for another round.

Typically, how many times does a story artist revise a sequence?
As many times as is necessary to make the scene work. There is no magic number. Sometimes the first try works while other times a dozen or more passes are required.

What if you’re attached to a particular idea or drawing? It sounds like you need thick skin to be a story artist. How do you prepare yourself for pitching and revising?
What helped me a lot with that was taking improvisation classes. In an improv class, you take a suggestion and you commit to it. That’s the whole game. Whatever suggestion is thrown up, you commit to it 100 percent and see where it goes and then… [snap!] you let go of it. So it just helps so much in this process. It’s like, "Fine, let’s move on to the next thing. Let’s keep digging."

Did improv also contribute to your interest and success in getting voice parts in the movies you work on?
I’ve always enjoyed doing voices. In high school my friends and I would memorize routines from Monty Python and Cheech & Chong movies and the Firesign Theatre. We would imitate the characters from Warner Bros. cartoons while walking to school in the morning: "Duh, which way did he go, George? Which way did he go?" To me, doing improv classes was an extension of messing around and playing with my friends. So I’d have to say yes, the [improv] classes did help me a lot.

Back to your job as a story artist, what’s the most challenging thing on a day-to-day basis?
There are two sides to every coin: It’s a luxury to be able to refine something over and over and make it better and better, and it’s really hard work at the same time. The hardest thing is doing a bunch of drawings at 11:30 at night and having to be funny after you’ve been working on that sequence over a long period of time. Trying to keep it fresh when you’re doing it over for the ninth or tenth time and making it good and as entertaining as possible is challenging.

How does storyboarding at Pixar differ from storyboarding for live action movies?
In live action, the production illustrators I’ve seen are trying to solve problems for the director ahead of time, for camera angles, logistics, etc. What we’re doing is different in that it’s more character-based. It’s like you’re playing around with first stabs of what the acting is going to be like.

And you have a lot more input in creating the story…
Yes, we’re in the Disney tradition of storyboarding. In the early days, they developed their stories pretty much 100 percent through drawings. There’s something that happens when you see it in a drawing that suggests new possibilities. There’s something concrete. When you read it on a page, everyone’s imagination is open to many possibilities. Or 10 people can be in a meeting, read a script and agree on it. The second you do a drawing of it, all the unseen potential problems, and all the unseen potential wealth in the scene can come out.

You worked on several Disney films a while back—how did you get started?
I went to CalArts [California Institute of the Arts]. I was a freshman when director John Lasseter was a senior there. Pixar directors, Brad Bird and John Lasseter, were in the very first class of character animation. After two years at CalArts, I left and kinda jumped right into story. Disney liked my student film and thought it was funny. They hired me and assigned me to do these "TV shows with humor in them." I thought I’d get trained. Instead, they threw me in a room and said, "Make it funny," and I was like, "Huh?" I learned a lot by trial and error. In my first five years at Disney I ended up working on a lot of things that never got made.

What did you do next?
At that point I left Disney to work on a movie called The Brave Little Toaster. Then I came back to Disney and worked on Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Little Mermaid, Oliver & Company, Beauty and the Beast and The Rescuers Down Under. In my third incarnation I came to the Bay Area to work on The Nightmare Before Christmas. I was in touch with John [Lasseter] the entire time. Pixar was pretty small then. I had always said, "John, when you get your first feature, I want to work on it." So after Nightmare, I jumped onto Toy Story. Then I left and went to work on James and the Giant Peach. Finally, I settled down at Pixar. My wife and I had kids, so I stopped Ping-Ponging around.

Were you always interested in art and animation?
In grammar school I won an art contest. I wasn’t the greatest academic student, so I decided I was going to go for art. It was something I did well. And then I had all these interests that all wove together into animation. Like, I was really into slight-of-hand magic. I was also into movies and into reading, drawing and creating stories.

Did anything else inspire you at that age?
There was this book called A Wrinkle in Time. It was the first book I read where I realized "Oh, it’s fun to read books," rather than just doing reading assignments. Up until that point, I thought, "Oh, they’re just trying to make me read words." I didn’t get what it was about till I read that book. Then I discovered Mad Magazine and it was like, "Oh my god, this is the greatest thing I’ve ever come across." I loved the subversive, satirical comic stuff.

Was your interest in art supported?
My parents supported any interest I had. My mom would take me to Kmart to buy me brushes and paint. I was always exploring my art interests. When I was a sophomore in high school, I was really into M.C. Escher. I wanted to learn how to draw like that, and my art teacher said, "Well, that’s lithography." I had no idea what that was, so I enrolled in a printmaking class at a junior college. My dad drove me to class on Saturday mornings. Most of the students were older than 50—it was great. I’d watch them do etchings and lithographic prints. (The teacher started me out on linoleum cuts.)

For a time, you taught at CalArts—and many of your students are working at Pixar and other animation studios today. What advice would you give to aspiring story artists?
Try to draw something that connects with people. Draw things that connect with yourself and try to express that through your drawings so that other people get it. At Pixar, it has to do with character. Whether it’s an individual character that you’re trying to find the expression of, or the character of the environment. How does it feel? What does it evoke in others? Is it funny, sad, beautiful, irritating, claustrophobic, invigorating? Work on creating expressive drawings—drawings that feel like they’re alive.

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