When did you start drawing?
My first drawings were done on a wooden bed frame. I asked my mom, “Who did these drawings?” And she said, “You did—when you were three years old.” She said I found a Sharpie marker and started drawing on the bed.

So you grew up training to be an artist?
No. I’m the youngest of five children, and I wanted to be a doctor like my brother. So I went to UCSD [University of California at San Diego]. I had this weird stereotype of the starving artist. I thought you couldn’t make a career out of cartoons.

What made you change your mind?
Well, it dawned on me that I had watched cartoons all my life not realizing that someone got paid for making them. Then a friend I went to high school with told me about his classes at Cal Arts. He said, “You gotta come here, it’s amazing!” He said I’d have to put a portfolio together, but I didn’t even know what a portfolio was. I found out you’re supposed to put your best work in them, but I didn’t keep my work. So I went to the zoo and drew animals and drew other stuff too. I took my portfolio to Cal Arts and they told me my strengths and weaknesses. I worked on [the weaknesses], had an interview, and got accepted.

And you didn’t become the starving artist after all?
That’s right. After four years at Cal and an internship I got my first gig at Turner doing development, where I got to work on these amazing films that never got to see the light of day. I met all these amazing people.

Like who?
Many great people, but most notably Maurice Noble. Before Turner I knew of Maurice. I grew up watching his films. They’re my favorite ones—his work stands out from the crowd. He worked on “What’s Opera, Doc?” Snow White, Fantasia, and the pink elephant sequence in Dumbo. Most of all he did Chuck Jones and Warner Bros. shorts. Maurice was [he recently passed away] an amazing layout artist who everyone keeps trying to emulate.

And you were one of those followers?
Yeah, I kept saying, “I want to be like Maurice, I want to be like that.” I was young and struggling with finding a style. Then Maurice said, “Ricky, everything’s been done before, you just have to do it your way.” It was an epiphany. It’s true—Michelangelo did it his own way. Maurice gave me amazing advice about the industry and a lot of life-lessons advice. He was such an inspiration and he was such a nice guy.

So you took Maurice’s advice and went to Pixar?
Not exactly. When I was working in Los Angeles, I got asked a couple of times to come up to Pixar to work, but I wanted to stay in L.A. The third time Pixar asked, I thought, was the charm. If I said no I figured they’d never ask me to come again. So I said yes and came up to work on Monsters, Inc. Now I’m here doing my thing and I love it. It’s the best place I’ve ever worked.

Rumor has it you wear many hats at Pixar. Which hats?
I’m a character designer/visual development artist/storyboard artist/art director/children’s book illustrator. But most of my time is spent character designing. I help to design the main characters and miscellaneous characters, making sure the look of all the characters of the film feel integrated with the type of story that’s being told and the type of world that’s being created.

What’s the most challenging thing about character design?
Making sure that what we draw on paper and what we visualize translates onto the 3-D models. It’s very difficult and yet that’s the best part of the job. What you see on the computer screen is what the public sees. They won’t see the drawings. There’s an appeal that we do in 2-D drawing, and we need to make sure that essence and appeal translates into the 3-D model. I’m always trying to figure out why something is appealing, why it works. Maurice taught me that when you design, you don’t design from the outside in, you design from the inside out. You don’t go, “Wow, this is a cool shape, let’s put it in the movie.” You have to know who the character is, what his favorite foods are, how he relates to and fits into the world. Then you can start designing him. You have to get to know the characters intimately. That’s a character that will stay with you and not just be a pretty drawing.

Do people assume you work on the computer?
Yes! I always get, “So you scan your drawings in and then it animates?” I tell people I use old-fashioned pen and paper. The only time I use the computer is for email.

Are you working on any projects outside of Pixar?
I’m in this group called The Noble Boys. It’s made up of people Maurice put under his wing. [The members] are all over the place, and we’re not all boys; we’ve got some girls too. Right now we’re working on a project called Noble Tales, which is a collection of ethnic fairytale films. I’m doing a Pilipino fairytale called “Bamboo.” It’s a working title and is up in the air. Actually, the first film from Noble Tales was traditional 2-D and Maurice narrated it. He’s shining through all of us. I’m so glad I got to know him.

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