Animation Mentor:
What was your first animation job?

Pepe Valencia:
My very first job in this field was in 1991, at Broadway Video in New York. After an internship with them as part of my Master in Animation at Pratt, Rafael Castelblanco, in charge of the 3D Department, made me an offer to join the team. It was a great experience and I'm really thankful to him for opening the door in this career for me. In those days there weren’t many animated characters other than flying logos, moving objects, and animating cameras.

In 1996, I worked on “Space Jam”, one of the shots I did was of a CG Michael Jordan bouncing a ball in front of all the Warner Bros. characters. I couldn't believe how much a simple bouncing ball can reveal so many animation secrets.

Finally, I consider my first real Character Animation experience to be "Stuart Little" in 1998.

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Animation Mentor:
If you could do one thing differently on your journey to becoming an animator, what would it be?

Pepe Valencia:
I'm really happy with my journey, I can't regret anything. However, one thing that I would’ve loved to have done is be more in touch with 2D Traditional Animation, because I believe it makes a strong foundation.

Also, I learned that if you want to become an animator you should always navigate towards that direction, focus on that goal, because it's really easy to get side-tracked or lost in the journey and end up doing something else that you may not enjoy, or be passionate about.

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Animation Mentor:
Who would you consider your mentor to be in animation?

Pepe Valencia:
Henry Anderson. After the audition I did for Stuart Little, he enjoyed it very much, specially the poses.  In 1998, he offered me a position in the Animation Department, here at Imageworks. He shared a lot of knowledge, tips, and advice, I learned a lot. However, it was definitely a challenge, he is not an easy Animation Director to please, that's what I liked the most, the challenge!

In an indirect way, there are a lot of mentors from Frank and Ollie, to Chaplin, Marcel Marceau, Dario Fo, and many other teachers you find in life.

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Animation Mentor:
Who is your favorite character that you've animated and why?

Pepe Valencia:
Stuart Little, probably because it was my first real experience with a character. He was a great character, emotional, cute, a sweetheart. I loved his timing, his sensitiveness, and his way of acting smooth and childish.

It was a character based on emotions and not very much on visual gags. He had a different pace, more towards being realistic than cartoonish, I loved it. At the end of the production I felt totally connected with the character, I was Stuart! That was a magical feeling to have, being able to create character so close to you. I also enjoyed it a lot because I remember the setup had only 300 controls between body and facial animation, not the 5000 controls many characters have today. Having too many controls, animators can sometimes end up paying more attention to the setup and the technical aspects rather than focus on the performance itself.

Also, I can’t forget the shading in Peter Pan, a 2D looking animated character in a 3D Environment, a really crazy character.

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Animation Mentor:
How has the Animation Mentor experience been for you so far?

Pepe Valencia:
Unbelievable, so powerful, I really enjoy it. In my first Live Q&A, we were connected with people form all around the globe: Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Serbia, Korea, Australia and the States, all at once! I was shocked!
I love the people, the community and its spirits, and I'm amazed with the amount of work that Bobby, Shawn, Carlos and their team have put together, creating this new amazing online community of animators. I see a lot of passion in the students to get the most out of themselves, and that is a very good feeling to have. I would also recommend and encourage each student to one day teach what you know, what you learned, and share your own knowledge. As Confucius once said: “To Master you need To Teach”.