---

Jeff Joe:

I currently reside in Sunnyvale, Calif., which is 40 minutes driving distance from San Francisco.

---

Jeff Joe:

PDI/DreamWorks since 2003. Before that, I was at Blue Sky Studios for five years.

---

Jeff Joe:

Senior character animator.

---

Jeff Joe:

I think my desire to learn character animation was a combination of my love for movies and my love for drawing. Pop culture is very big in my life, and I have three main influences from my childhood: The Muppets, Looney Tunes, and Star Wars. Star Wars is important because it taught me how sophisticated storytelling can be and how it can appeal to and transcend all age groups. Looney Tunes first introduced me to the art of comic timing. And The Muppets, to me, have been the gold standard for characterization; how to take these static things and give them full, three-dimensional personalities and attitudes.

---

Jeff Joe:

First and foremost was my exposure to lots of television and movies. Thankfully, my parents were very liberal in that part of my upbringing, so I was exposed to a lot of pop culture and creative influences growing up in the 1970's.

Second, I had a couple of art teachers in my childhood who completely changed my life. From elementary to high school, I took Saturday morning classes from the wonderful Mrs. Juanita Parks, who taught me how to use all different sorts of art mediums, such as charcoal, pastels, and watercolors. So I got a lot of that training at an early age. And in high school, I had Mr. Jim Womack, who taught me advanced-placement art history and actually took my class to various museums across the country, such as Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston. I feel very fortunate to have gotten such exposure during those early years.

As far as animation training, that came later, when I got more serious about the craft and wanted to know more. CGI became more and more widely used as I got older, in such movies as The Abyss, Terminator 2, and Jurassic Park, so I did more research as the years went by, studying behind-the-scenes books and the like. At the same time, I would watch the old Bugs Bunny classics (mostly for sheer entertainment), but I would also pause, step through, and rewind them over and over again to study how they animated certain sequences. Then, when I entered animation school (after college), I got my hands on the book The Illusion of Life by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson, and that's when I started understanding what animation was all about.

---

Jeff Joe:

If I could do it all again, I would have entered a school that was more comprehensive in animation training, such as the Ringing School in Florida or The Academy of Art in San Francisco, because my college and graduate schools didn't teach the principles of animation really at all. You kind of had to learn it on your own as you made your student short film.

But I sure wish Animation Mentor existed when I was just starting out in the industry, because it would've made the learning process a whole lot easier!

---

Jeff Joe:

I currently work as a senior animator at PDI/DreamWorks in Redwood City, Calif., where I have worked on Shrek 2, Shrek 3, Madagascar, Madagascar 2, soon-to-be Madagascar 3, and Megamind. I have also helped out on Over the Hedge and Bee Movie.

Before DreamWorks, I was at Blue Sky Studios, where I was a character animator on the original Ice Age, as well as the Academy-Award winning animated short, Bunny.

As an animator, my role is to take the 3D characters, such as Shrek, Alex the Lion, Sid the Sloth, or what-have-you, and make them sing, dance, and act in sync with the voice actors' performances, and according to the direction that is given by the directors. Once my shots are approved by the director and supervising animators, I pass them along to the next departments.

---

Jeff Joe:

I would say Shrek. For me, it was very comfortable to slip into Shrek's shoes and into the Shrek universe, just because he's the character I've had the most experience with. He's also the most human, and to me, the most vulnerable out of all the characters I've dealt with, and I find that most appealing.

---

Jeff Joe:

Back at Blue Sky Studios, the first animation gig I got was several shots on Chris Wedge's short film Bunny. That project was a labor of love that we would work on a little here, a little there, in between commercial and movie projects.

---

Jeff Joe:

I would consider my mentors to be my supervisors at PDI/DreamWorks; Jason Schleifer (a former mentor at Animation Mentor), Tim Cheung, and Rex Grignon. These guys are incredible animators who keep us energized and inspired, even when things get a little crazy on the job.

---

Jeff Joe:

The greatest thing about teaching at Animation Mentor is seeing when animators start to "get it." It's awesome to see someone who's never set a keyframe in their life start producing awesome animation!

---

Jeff Joe:

There's nowhere else where you can learn as much about the principles of animation, in as little time, from as many experts who know it so well. It seems like more studios are hiring more and more Animation Mentor graduates than any other schools right now. And that's because they're the most prepared for the real-world studio atmosphere. And they're also the ones who catch on and adapt the fastest out of anyone else who is hired.

---

Jeff Joe:

Being able to make movies that will make people happy is the most rewarding aspect of being an animator, in my opinion. I still can't believe I'm in this industry.

---

Jeff Joe:

Being an animator requires you to be supportive of everything that comes out of the animation industry. So in addition to watching the mainstream Hollywood animated films, we at Dreamworks will screen the latest independent projects that come from all over the world, some student pieces, and other gems that are hard to find. It keeps us on our toes and helps us think of ways to bring new ideas to the table.