Nancy Beiman (L) and Yvette Kaplan (R)
Click image to enlarge

Nancy Beiman and Yvette Kaplan are both successful animation artists, but in the 1980s when they were getting their starts in the animation industry, it was relatively difficult to find women who had advanced very far. Not so today! We asked these two women to talk about the mentors in their lives and the talented young women they have encountered, as well as the female character they’ve most enjoyed bringing to life.

Beiman graduated in the first class of the character animation program at California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles. After graduation, she worked as the supervising animator on Amblin's Fievel Goes West and Disney’s Hercules, Treasure Planet, and A Goofy Movie; animated and storyboarded for Warner Bros., and directed a Bugs Bunny animated special. In addition, she has worked as a character designer, director, animator, and storyboard artist in five countries. Beiman currently teaches animation storyboarding at Sheridan College in the Toronto area, and she recently began writing books on the subject (notably, Prepare to Board!). The female character she most enjoyed is Miss Kitty in An American Tail: Fievel Goes West.

“[She] was my favorite female character since she was funny, had a major part to play in the storyline, and had a voice [provided by Amy Irving] that gave me plenty of material to work with,” Beiman says.

Since graduating from the School of the Visual Arts in New York City, Kaplan has been a director, producer, writer, and development and story consultant in television and features. She is currently working at Rough Draft Studios on the new prime-time Fox series Sit Down, Shut Up, scheduled to premiere in April. Her many credits include head of story on Blue Sky Studios’ Ice Age; director at Film Roman on King of the Hill; co-director of Beavis and Butthead Do America, as well as supervising director of the Beavis and Butthead MTV series; and director on the Nickelodeon series Doug. Like Beiman, Kaplan has not had many opportunities to animate female characters. She enjoyed the character Judy Funny, older sister of Doug Funny in Doug, created by Jim Jinkins. For this character, Kaplan designed clothing, created model sheets and inspirational poses, and directed episodes. “She was everything the timid Doug wasn’t, and frankly, an animator’s dream,” Kaplan says.

It is interesting that neither Beiman nor Kaplan had female role models to act as a mentor while they were in school. Both, however, are especially grateful for the support they received from revered New York animator Tissa David. Kaplan says David was so influential in part “because she was — and is — responsible for some of the most expressive, emotional, and beautiful animation ever. And though I'd love to claim her as my own personal inspiration, she fulfilled that role for many a young animator at the time, and I am sure she still does.”

Kaplan was honored to be invited to David’s home for private animation lessons. “Tissa David was very encouraging when I was job-seeking in New York City in my senior year at CalArts. She was a friendly and accommodating person who answered all my questions,” Beiman writes. Beiman adds that she also admired independent animator Faith Hubley.

During the 10 years Beiman has been teaching, she has mentored quite a few young women who are now successful in the industry. One is Brittney Lee, a former student at Rochester Institute of Technology. Lee is now a designer at Three Rings Entertainment and is mentoring young female animators as well. “That, I think, is one measure of teaching success: having your students pass the knowledge along to others,” Lee said. Lee said some of her best students in her current classes are female. Kaplan, too, has passed on her knowledge to young women entering the field.

“When I was supervising director at MTV Animation, I had the pleasure of working with two particularly impressive and expressive young women, both animators who were working as layout artists at the time: Sue Perotto and Karen Disher,” Kaplan says. Both of them had that spark of personality and life in their drawings, that special oomph and edge that appeals to me so much, especially in the context of what we were doing at MTV Animation.” Perotto has directed series for Cartoon Network and is currently at Disney. Disher is now a key story artist at Blue Sky Studios, and directed a short on the latest Ice Age DVD.

Both women have advice for emerging artists. “Times have changed. There are now more opportunities to work in animation than ever before,” Beiman says. “You are no longer restricted to features, television, or commercials.” Gaming is bigger than features and from all reports, the “good old boy network” does not exist in this field, she added. Nathaniel Hubbell, another former student from RIT who is now at Amaze Entertainment, wrote recently that all of the leads on his new project are female. Kaplan advises, “Always do your best work. Put your heart into it. Think about and respect your audience. Be a good person, someone others want to have around. And women — be confident. You can be humble, but don't be insecure. You have what it takes — don't be afraid to show it!”