1 00:00:06,652 --> 00:00:08,487 So, as a character designer, I am given a script. 2 00:00:09,196 --> 00:00:12,074 And what I do is I sketch on top of it, 3 00:00:12,742 --> 00:00:15,286 trying to get ideas. 4 00:00:18,164 --> 00:00:22,376 For inspiration, I tend to go out into the world and study people. 5 00:00:22,460 --> 00:00:23,961 [no audible dialogue] 6 00:00:25,755 --> 00:00:28,883 I study how they move, what they're wearing, what's in right now. 7 00:00:32,136 --> 00:00:36,932 I see all this joy, and that joy transfers into the sketches that I'm drawing. 8 00:00:52,782 --> 00:00:54,158 I grew up in El Salvador. 9 00:00:54,700 --> 00:00:59,080 I had a really good childhood, despite the war and chaos 10 00:00:59,163 --> 00:01:01,123 and everything that was happening around me. 11 00:01:01,916 --> 00:01:04,752 I remember escaping into a world 12 00:01:04,835 --> 00:01:09,256 of fantasy or magic, which was cartoons. 13 00:01:09,340 --> 00:01:12,301 Cartoons were a big part of my childhood. 14 00:01:13,677 --> 00:01:16,472 I remember watching a documentary on TV 15 00:01:16,555 --> 00:01:19,350 about Disney and Disney animators. 16 00:01:19,433 --> 00:01:22,269 There were people actually making these cartoons. 17 00:01:23,062 --> 00:01:26,607 So, I remember that day, right away, I began to draw Mickey Mouse. 18 00:01:28,192 --> 00:01:30,027 I remember taking it to my mom and saying, 19 00:01:30,111 --> 00:01:32,530 "Hey, one day I'm gonna work for Mickey Mouse." 20 00:01:33,823 --> 00:01:35,324 My mom said, "Yes, you will." 21 00:01:36,283 --> 00:01:37,827 [Abilia, in Spanish] 22 00:01:57,638 --> 00:01:59,140 [Jose] My mom had a dream 23 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:01,267 to give us a better future, 24 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:05,146 and, of course, get us out of the harsh reality of war. 25 00:02:06,856 --> 00:02:10,192 And so she migrated to the United States when I was 10 years old. 26 00:02:11,569 --> 00:02:14,905 So, drawing as a kid was creating my own reality. 27 00:02:15,656 --> 00:02:18,117 The cartoons I watched completely inspired me. 28 00:02:18,492 --> 00:02:20,119 Fox and the Hound. 29 00:02:20,202 --> 00:02:21,996 Robin Hood. 30 00:02:22,079 --> 00:02:24,749 Dumbo was another one that was just amazing, 31 00:02:24,832 --> 00:02:26,625 about this elephant losing his mom. 32 00:02:26,709 --> 00:02:30,337 But then he had this power to fly and get anywhere. 33 00:02:30,421 --> 00:02:32,089 Perhaps close to his mom again. 34 00:02:34,091 --> 00:02:37,511 [Abilia] 35 00:02:48,856 --> 00:02:51,275 After two years, she sent for us, 36 00:02:51,359 --> 00:02:54,695 and we came to this land of opportunity. 37 00:02:55,321 --> 00:02:59,825 So then I pursue an art career, a career in animation. 38 00:02:59,909 --> 00:03:01,869 I didn't know if I was gonna be successful. 39 00:03:01,952 --> 00:03:04,038 I didn't know if I was gonna make any money. 40 00:03:04,121 --> 00:03:05,122 I had no idea. 41 00:03:05,206 --> 00:03:09,460 All I knew was that I enjoyed to draw, and I wanted to do it for the rest of my life. 42 00:03:10,544 --> 00:03:14,673 I went to art school in Santa Monica for a year. 43 00:03:15,174 --> 00:03:17,593 Disney recruiter came, they looked at my portfolio, 44 00:03:17,676 --> 00:03:19,595 and then they called me for an interview. 45 00:03:20,805 --> 00:03:24,266 I got hired. And I remember it being the happiest day of my life. 46 00:03:24,350 --> 00:03:26,185 Picking up the phone right after I got hired 47 00:03:26,268 --> 00:03:27,520 and telling my mom. 48 00:03:27,603 --> 00:03:29,355 "I got hired at Disney." 49 00:03:30,022 --> 00:03:32,316 To me it was such an unattainable dream, 50 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:34,735 and then now, I get to be part of the magic, 51 00:03:34,819 --> 00:03:38,114 be part of these stories that are so positive 52 00:03:38,197 --> 00:03:40,574 and helped me out so much through my childhood, you know. 53 00:03:45,162 --> 00:03:48,082 As a character designer, I'm responsible to design the style, 54 00:03:48,165 --> 00:03:50,668 the look and feel of the character. 55 00:03:51,711 --> 00:03:55,589 After the script, I begin to sketch on it and gather ideas. 56 00:03:55,673 --> 00:03:58,384 Those sketches then go to the board artists. 57 00:03:58,467 --> 00:04:00,803 Now the board artists do the comic book version of the film. 58 00:04:01,303 --> 00:04:05,141 Once their characters get approved, then I clean up the characters. 59 00:04:05,224 --> 00:04:09,395 Then a talented color stylist gives them color and brings them to life, 60 00:04:09,478 --> 00:04:11,772 and then it goes onto the animators. 61 00:04:12,857 --> 00:04:16,152 When I first began my career here at Disney as a character designer, 62 00:04:16,235 --> 00:04:20,239 I started on a show called Recess, which was an incredible show. 63 00:04:20,322 --> 00:04:22,575 It had to do with kids and school. 64 00:04:22,658 --> 00:04:27,663 And that's when I learned everything I needed to know about animation 65 00:04:27,747 --> 00:04:29,290 and being a character designer. 66 00:04:29,707 --> 00:04:33,044 And then my second show was Lilo and Stitch. 67 00:04:34,879 --> 00:04:38,132 I love Stitch because you don't know if Stitch is gonna be the kind of character 68 00:04:38,215 --> 00:04:39,967 that's gonna hug you or bite you. 69 00:04:40,051 --> 00:04:41,719 There's, like, that edge, right? 70 00:04:43,262 --> 00:04:44,972 I always keep on learning. 71 00:04:45,056 --> 00:04:46,724 Like, for instance, for Lion Guard, 72 00:04:46,807 --> 00:04:48,392 I dived into the animal world. 73 00:04:49,185 --> 00:04:50,603 "What does a cheetah look like?" 74 00:04:50,686 --> 00:04:52,313 So then I look for reference on a cheetah. 75 00:04:52,730 --> 00:04:55,358 -Simba? -Dad? Is he all right? 76 00:04:55,441 --> 00:04:57,943 Sorry, Kion, I... I couldn't tell. 77 00:04:58,027 --> 00:05:00,071 Kion, go. We got this. 78 00:05:00,154 --> 00:05:01,155 Thanks, Fuli. 79 00:05:01,238 --> 00:05:03,741 Another thing that character design has given me 80 00:05:03,824 --> 00:05:06,535 is to have love for people and people's differences, 81 00:05:06,619 --> 00:05:08,245 'cause in people's differences 82 00:05:08,329 --> 00:05:11,332 is what separates all the characters that I get to do 83 00:05:11,415 --> 00:05:14,668 to create this world and this dynamic between them. 84 00:05:16,837 --> 00:05:18,422 To give this character life. 85 00:05:20,132 --> 00:05:22,134 How you do that is with expressions. 86 00:05:23,010 --> 00:05:25,429 You start thinking, "What is this character about? 87 00:05:25,513 --> 00:05:27,640 Where does he come from? Where is he going? 88 00:05:27,723 --> 00:05:29,892 What is his weaknesses and strengths?" 89 00:05:32,853 --> 00:05:34,689 This is, like, a rough of Bunga. 90 00:05:34,772 --> 00:05:36,440 You gotta put his big teeth too. 91 00:05:37,108 --> 00:05:39,735 My favorite character that I've created is Bunga. 92 00:05:42,113 --> 00:05:47,243 Bunga is now this cute honey badger that is, like, the bravest of them all, right? 93 00:05:47,326 --> 00:05:49,120 But he's got this cute voice. 94 00:05:49,203 --> 00:05:51,706 If Simba just listened to me... [grunts] 95 00:05:51,789 --> 00:05:54,333 You know, it's almost like you're creating something from nothing 96 00:05:54,417 --> 00:05:56,293 that then goes all over the world, 97 00:05:56,377 --> 00:05:59,505 and we have voice actors that combine their talents. 98 00:05:59,588 --> 00:06:01,966 [Mickey] Heads it is. Goofy, it's your turn. 99 00:06:02,758 --> 00:06:07,763 The stories that we do need to have, like warmth and heart and family. 100 00:06:10,683 --> 00:06:13,602 These films were there to kinda teach me how to be positive, 101 00:06:13,686 --> 00:06:16,355 how to have hope in the middle of the chaos. 102 00:06:16,439 --> 00:06:20,568 How, at the end of the day, things were gonna be okay. 103 00:06:22,528 --> 00:06:25,156 Just like how I used to feel with these cartoons, now I'm part of that, 104 00:06:25,239 --> 00:06:28,451 and have that responsibility to put a little bit of that, 105 00:06:28,993 --> 00:06:32,705 "Everything is going to be all right. Dreams do come true." 106 00:06:37,835 --> 00:06:42,882 [Abilia] 107 00:06:46,010 --> 00:06:48,846 [speaking Spanish] 108 00:06:48,929 --> 00:06:50,306 [Jose] You know, as I grow older, 109 00:06:50,389 --> 00:06:53,642 I realize more and more the sacrifices my mom made, 110 00:06:53,726 --> 00:06:56,062 and I'm thinking about having children, I'm married, 111 00:06:56,145 --> 00:07:00,691 and what it would be like to leave your children behind for a better future, 112 00:07:00,775 --> 00:07:05,196 to give yourself, to sacrifice, makes me appreciate her more and more. 113 00:07:07,198 --> 00:07:08,783 [speaking Spanish] 114 00:07:08,866 --> 00:07:11,035 I am so grateful, 115 00:07:11,827 --> 00:07:15,539 you know, and understanding the meaning of that is just-- 116 00:07:15,623 --> 00:07:17,166 It's very real for me.