Animation Mentor:
What inspired you to become an animator?

Jim Brown:
I'd say Hunger inspired me to become an animator! Animation was not a realistic career until I was out of college. And since drawing goofy pictures and watching movies were not employable skills, I was hungry a lot.  Then there came a time when I realized being an animator was a reality and jumped in with both feet. The funny thing was, the more I studied animation the more I realized I had been doing it my whole life: Drawing flip books, studying motion, paying attention to how people express emotion. I couldn't imagine a more rewarding career where everything you do in life can be used in your everyday work. It's an incredible art form that never ceases to amaze me.

Jim Brown:
If you would have asked me this question a few years ago I might have said something along the lines of going to a proper animation school. But now that I can see back along the journey thus far I wouldn't change a thing. I've had a great time, met some awesome people and learned a lot about life and animation along the way.

Jim Brown:
My first animation job was a free lance job animating characters for an infomercial. The infomercial was selling a contraption that allowed you to attach your bike to a set of pontoons and peddle along a body of water. The characters were these caricatured river animals that I was hired to design, model, voice, and animate. Looking back it was a lot of fun, but if I were to see that commercial now I'd probably be too embarrassed to watch.

Jim Brown:
Along my path of life I've met some amazing animators and artists. I've worked with some very talented people, like the artists at Tippett who are dripping with talent. Although when I was working in a small company in Santa Monica I was lucky enough to work with Jim George. Jim was an animator at Disney for many years, worked with Don Bluth, Richard Williams and directed Rover Dangerfield. Jim's stories of hard work, sleeping in his van, and years of animating in a secluded cabin were pure inspiration. He would set up figure drawing at his house for the few of us that wanted to draw. He would go over every frame of our work to push us farther. He was the first person to really make me look at animation as animation and not Computer Animation or Hand Drawn Animation. He is a big part of who I am as an animator today.

Jim Brown:
I'd have to say the Narissa Beast from Enchanted. She was such a fun character to animate. Very different from the characters I've done in the past. Combining the elegance and insanity of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard with the powerful grace of a thirty foot dragon was a challenge that was intimidating yet rewarding. Not to mention Susan Sarandon has a great voice. Who wouldn't want to watch Bull Durham for reference?

Jim Brown:
The Animation Mentor experience has been outstanding. The student's and mentor's enthusiasm for the art of animation is like an injection of adrenaline straight to your creativity gland.

Jim Brown:
My favorite Animation Mentor tool is the eCritique tool. Live Q & A is pretty amazing because it's great to meet the students face to face. Yet, drawing over students’ work, framing through a trouble spot, or just describing an action while the students shot is playing makes being a mentor 300 times more enjoyable. One drawn line on the frame saves me from saying 10,000 words. You can get your point across in half the time.