Animation Mentor:
What inspired you to become an animator?
Chris Derochie:
I wish that I could say that I was drawing since birth or that I was animating before I could even walk but I can't - I was actually a bit of a late bloomer. I started drawing when I was 13 and my aspiration was to become a comic book artist for Marvel. I didn't have any interest in animation at all until I saw THE SECRET OF NIMH. What caught my interest was that it was the first animated film that I had seen that had a dramatic, fantasy based story instead of being the usual musical comedy for kids.
I discovered many years later that my real passion for animation lies in the storytelling - this is why I would have been happy as comic book artist, an animator or a novelist, as long as I could tell my stories, I would be happy. When I saw NIMH, it started a train of thought - perhaps I could tell my serious, dramatic, fantasy based stories as animation rather than as comics!
At that time (1983), my brother was taking an animation class while he was in film school. He gave me the Preston Blair animation books and The Kodak Book of Animation - I used them to try some animation tests and found my true calling!
Animation Mentor:
What was your first animation job?
Chris Derochie:
My first job was a really intense 5-day stint on the Canadian TV series, The Raccoons. I was a member of the Vancouver Society of Independent Animators at the time and they acquired 200 feet of animation from the show for a few of us to work on, but it had to be done in 5 days. I set out to prove myself in the hope that the studio (Hinton) would be so impressed with me that they would beg me to work for them! I spent 5 days working without sleep and almost without food - by the end, I was in really bad shape, I was even having hallucinations!
I delivered the work and much later, received my money - no offers, no thanks, no gold statues or blessings from the Pope. Welcome to the real world, Chris!
Animation Mentor:
If you could do one thing differently on your journey to becoming an animator, what would it be?
Chris Derochie:
Ooohhh, that's a loaded question! I've had a lot of time to think about this over the years and there are several things I would change. If I could go back in time and give myself some advice, I would strongly recommend the following things:
1) Have a backup skill! I have been animating professionally since I was 17 and working crazy hours the whole time. I’ve been through some pretty rough times when the animation work dried up and I realized that I had no other skills that I could fall back on! With a wife and 3 kids, I couldn't start from scratch in another industry or go back to school, so a good fallback would have been a life saver!
2) Don't stretch yourself too thin! I have an annoying habit of taking on more things than I can handle. It would have been better if I had spent the time strengthening my skills instead and having more of a social life.
3) Get into the habit of sketching every day! I always put it off and never really acquired the habit. This really slowed my progress considerably! If I had started a lifelong habit at the beginning of my career, I'd be a far better artist and animator today.
Animation Mentor:
Who would you consider your mentor to be in animation?
Chris Derochie:
There is no one person that I can call my mentor, just as there is more to animation than simply the craft. I learned some great, life-changing lessons from a number of fantastic people along the way.
Don Bluth was my directing animator for over 2 of the 4 years that I was at his studio and I learned more about animation from him in that time than you could imagine!
I learned some very important lessons about attitude and integrity from T. Dan Hofstedt - I owe my positive outlook to him!
Murray Debus helped me fill a huge gap in my animation education - zany graphic cartoony animation.
Animation Mentor:
Who is your favorite character that you've animated and why?
Chris Derochie:
Hmmm... It's a toss-up between Goofy and Quasimodo.
I always loved the Goofy cartoons when I was growing up, so I was thrilled to be able to animate him in A GOOFY MOVIE. I especially liked the fact that they went back to a 40's style Goofy design for that movie.
Although I didn't work on the feature, I had the opportunity to animate Quasi for The Animated Storybook and couldn't get enough of him! He was by far the most fun I've had animating a character so far! It was a challenge getting into the physics of how he would move and balance himself, especially when doing his usual acrobatics. What I enjoyed even more was acting the serious, dramatic scenes with him.
Animation Mentor:
How has the Animation Mentor experience been for you so far?
Chris Derochie:
I have found that being a mentor has been of more benefit than I had imagined it would be! Some of the best moments have been when I have seen a student with great potential finally "get it" and start to make huge advances. Mentoring has also helped me with my own work - when you have to translate the visual communication that you use every day into words, it helps solidify it in your own mind. Nothing so far has quite compared to seeing my students in real life for the first time while watching them graduate! I'm very proud to have been a mentor to the first graduating class!
