Eric Goldberg takes us on a Character Animation Crash Course!

Recently, master Disney and Warner Bros. animator (as well as animation director and producer and voice artist!) Eric Goldberg spo e wit! "nimated #ews $ %iews about !is recent boo release, &!aracter "nimation &ras! &ourse, w!ic! !as been gestating in production 'or some two(and(a(!al' decades. " contemporary animation legend, Eric !as animated on 'ilms including Raggedy "nn and "ndy, )iggy*s Gi't (bot! 'or Ric!ard Williams), "laddin, +ercules, ,antasia-.///and 0oca!ontas (w!ic! !e also co(directed) 'or Disney, and was director o' animation on 1ooney 2unes3 Bac 4n "ction at Warners. +e !as also completed a number o' special animation pro5ects, 'or a Budd!ist cultural center (" 6on ey*s 2ale), and Disney t!eme par s in 2o yo (Genie in t!eMagic Lamp Theater), "na!eim (t!e Disneyland 50th Anniversary special wit! 7teve 6artin and Donald Duc ) and 8rlando (2!e Gran ,iesta 2our starring 2!e 2!ree &aballeros). 6ost recently bac at Disney as an animator on Goo'y*s return to s!orts in How To Hook Up Your Home Theater, Eric is currently t!e 7upervising "nimator on t!e 6ic!ael 1eon Wooley(voiced c!aracter o' 1ouis t!e alligator in t!e 7tudio*s traditionally animated 'eature 2!e 0rincess "nd 2!e ,rog, set 'or release in .//9. Due to t!e inclusion o' a &D t!at !ig!lig!ts in video 'orm t!e tec!ni:ues t!at Eric writes about in t!e boo , &!aracter "nimation &ras! &ourse earns t!e notable distinction o' being t!e 'irst animator*s guide to actually 'eature real animation in it. 4n t!is interview, Eric tal s about !ow t!e boo originally came to be and gives some insig!t'ul t!oug!ts on animation in general.

Animated Views: &!aracter "nimation &ras! &ourse started out as in'ormal notes you !ad been ta ing, w!ic! were (as t!e boo ma es mention) passed around 'rom aspiring animator to aspiring animator and seen almost as t!e !oly grail o' animation notes. 2!at must !ave been 'lattering, but w!en did you 'irst get t!e idea t!at it could evolve into an o''icial boo ; Eric Goldberg: 2!e notes really started li'e as a series o' once(a(wee lectures 'or up and coming animators at my 1ondon studio, 0i<a<< 0ictures. 4 put a lot o' time and e''ort into t!em, and in 'act always !ad video clips on !and 'rom classic cartoons to illustrate t!e points. 8nce 4 reali<ed t!at t!e notes were being passed around by t!e animation 'ol s in 1ondon, and t!at 4 !ad amassed a 'air stac o' t!em, it was obvious t!at t!ey mig!t be in'ormative to ot!ers on a larger scale. 2!at said, t!e boo idea became a little more pressing w!en 4 discovered t!at people were using t!e notes to teac! t!eir college animation courses, posting t!em on t!e net, and plagiari<ing t!em w!olesale w!ile claiming t!em as t!eir own. 6y wi'e 7usan, ever my c!eerleader, saw to it t!at 4 plodded a!ead, and wit! !er encouragement, 4

completed t!e tas in a mere twenty('ive years. 4 'ran ly never !ad any problem wit! animators passing t!e stu'' around and =ero>ing it, and am 'lattered still i' someone tells me t!e notes were instrumental in t!eir animation education.

AV: 4s t!ere material in t!e boo t!at*s not in t!e notes; EG: 2!ere is :uite a lot o' new material in t!e boo t!at !as been especially created 'or it, including new sub5ects li e animating to music, as well as more dept! and new drawings 'or t!e ones t!at started in t!e original notes. 2!e notes t!emselves continually evolve too, and several lectures and pages were created in response to demand 'or certain sub5ects during my time at Disney, and t!ey !ave all been included !ere. 1ast but not least, t!e &D o' animation movie 'iles t!at illustrates t!e te>t was w!olly created 'or t!e boo , a longtime dream o' mine to include t!e actual animation 'or people to e>amine in real time or 'rame(by('rame.

AV: &!aracter "nimation &ras! &ourse is 'illed wit! !elp'ul nowledge about animating, but at w!at point do you say, ?8 ay, 4*ve placed enoug! nowledge in t!is particular boo @, and save any ot!er t!oug!ts 'or a 'uture publication; EG: "t no point in creating t!e boo did 4 say to mysel', ?Well, 4*ll !old bac on t!is in'o 'or t!e se:uelA t!is*ll eep t!e little stin ers !appy 'or a w!ile.@ 4n 'act, :uite t!e opposite was true3 once t!e te>t was complete, and 4 was 'inis!ing t!e art and t!e movie 'iles, 4 would 're:uently pause 'or a ?D*o!! 4 'orgot to include t!is! D*o!! 4 s!ould !ave e>panded on t!at!@ 4 !ope to !ave a new boo o' D*o!s some time in t!e 'uture.

AV: +ow did 7ilman(Bames 0ress become your publis!er; EG: "t a boo 'air a 'ew years ago, 7tuart and "my #g mentioned to t!eir 'riend 2om Rusc!, o' 7ilman( Bames 0ress, t!at 4 !ad been wor ing on t!is animation boo 'or :uite some time, and would t!ey be interested in publis!ing it; 2om got in touc! and !oo ed me up wit! Gwen ,eldman, publis!er e>traordinaire, and we came to a speedy agreement. W!at wasn*t speedy was !ow muc! longer s!e !ad to wait 'or it, but t!an goodness s!e*s a patient soul!

AV: +ow did Brad Bird land t!e 5ob o' writing t!e 'oreword; 4' Bird !ad not written it, w!o would !ave; EG: 4*ve nown Brad 'or many years, and !e*s always been very nice about me in print, so 4 t!oug!t at least !e mig!t actually t!in some o' t!ose nice t!ings !e says. "t t!e last "nnie "wards, 4 collared !im about t!e possibility o' writing it 'or me. +e graciously put !is 'or li't (t!e one carrying all o' !is awards t!at evening) into neutral, and agreed, 'or w!ic! 4 am eternally in !is debt. 2!ere was only one ot!er candidate 'or t!e part, but un'ortunately 4 was too late in completing t!e boo . Be'ore !e passed away, &!uc Bones !ad o''ered to write it.

AV: Was t!ere anyt!ing you wis!ed to include in t!e boo or on t!e &D t!at you couldn*t due to copyrig!t laws; EG: Well, i' 4 !ad oodles o' money and p!alan>es o' lawyers to ac:uire rig!ts 'or me, 4 would !ave loved to include video clips o' every cartoon 4 re'erence in t!e boo , as well as t!e complete 'reedom to draw any c!aracter 4 'elt li e regardless o' w!o owns it. "s it is, 4*m very grate'ul to Disney 'or allowing me generous usage o' t!e Genie, 0!il, 2!e 7notty 7i>, and lots o' ot!er c!aracters t!at re:uired t!eir permission. AV: During your time at Disney, you*ve wor ed under t!e management o' Be''rey Cat<enberg, 2om 7c!umac!er and Bo!n 1asseter D all but David 7tainton. &ould you compare and contrast !ow it was wor ing 'or eac! o' t!ose people; EG: 2!ey were all marvelous. 4 never wor ed 'or David 7tainton, but !e was marvelous too. "nd you 'orgot 0eter 7c!neider. "lso marvelous. "nd Bo!n 1asseter is currently marvelous, and will be 'or years to come.

AV: W!at can you say regarding your wor on 2!e 0rincess "nd 2!e ,rog; EG: 4*m !aving 'un. 6ore in'o to come w!en t!e time is deemed rig!t by t!e wise publicity mavens at Disney. AV: "re you animating t!e title se:uence 'or 2!e 0in 0ant!er ., since you animated t!e previous 'ilm*s titles; EG: #ope. AV: W!y does Wi ipedia state t!at you are ?t!e director o' 0irates 8' 2!e &aribbean, a cartoon based on one o' t!e Disney attractions@; EG: Because somebody at Wi ipedia really, really, really wanted me to !ave done it, and !e made it so!

AV: "'ter E/(plus years in t!e animation business, w!at are some t!ings you now now t!at contradict belie's you !ad during your 'irst years wor ing in animation; EG: W!en 4 'irst started animating, 4 did everyt!ing straig!t(a!ead, !aving trained mysel' primarily on 'lip boo s. During my 'irst years at Ric!ard Williams, 4 slowly, pain'ully, made t!e transition to wor ing wit! eys and brea downs, saw my wor sti''en up, and t!en learned 5ust !ow instrumental it was to planning your animation to do w!at you wanted it to. "lso, 4 used to believe in t!e Easter Bunny, and now 4 don*t. AV: W!at is t!e greatest accomplis!ment 'or an animator; 1i ewise, w!at is t!e greatest 'ailure; EG: 4 t!in t!e greatest accomplis!ment 'or an animator is to !ave created a c!aracter t!at doesn*t loo li e you created it D t!at t!e be!avior, t!e movement, t!e e>pressions, t!e timing, t!e nuances all come 'rom t!e c!aracter !imsel', 'ully 'ormed. 4 t!in t!e greatest 'ailure 'or an animator is not to aim 'or t!at every time out.

AV: +ow do you 'eel about t!e 'uture o' !and(drawn tec!ni:ues as animation s!i'ts to paperless production using &inti: tablets in place o' traditional animation discs and drawing in programs li e 2%0 "nimation, w!ic! !as t!e ability to simulate t!e te>ture o' pencil and watercolors, or 2oonBoom +armony; "re t!ese types o' so'tware getting close enoug! to t!e loo and 'eel o' traditional tec!ni:ues or do you t!in pencil on paper still !as t!e advantage 'or 'ull, classical c!aracter animation; EG: 4 actually don*t !ave a problem wit! t!e notion o' paperless animation, and 4*ve been com'ortable on a Wacom &inti: since .//. on 1ooney 2unes3 Bac in "ction, w!ere 4 used it 'or pose drawings, and subse:uently comping t!em over t!e live(action ta es 'or creative approvals. 4 use it a lot in storyboarding and design wor , and almost all o' t!e animation tests on t!e &D, as well as t!e boo *s many illustrations, were drawn t!at way, even i' t!eir origin was as a paper s etc! in t!e original notes. 4' t!e program is sop!isticated enoug! to accommodate t!e subtleties o' good classical animation drawing, t!en 4 can ma e use o' it. +owever D not!ing replicates t!e one(on(one, tactile p!ysicality o' rolling, 'lipping, and drawing on paper, and 4*ll always consider it t!e premiere way.

AV: W!en do you e>pect you mig!t write a 'ollow(up to &!aracter "nimation &ras! &ourse; EG: 4 !ope to !ave t!e ne>t installment out some time in t!e ne>t twenty('ive years. 6aybe sooner!