Michael Peraza | |
---|---|
Born | Michael Arthur Peraza Jr. November 15, 1955 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
Education | California Institute of the Arts |
Known for | Animation & fine art |
Notable work | The Little Mermaid, [1] Goof Troop, DuckTales, Anastasia |
Spouse | Patty Peraza |
Awards | Friz Freleng Lifetime Achievement Award, Disneyana Fan Club Legend Award, 2018 [2] |
Website | michaelperaza |
Michael Arthur Peraza Jr. (born November 15, 1955) is a Cuban-American animator, art director, conceptual artist and historian of animation, who has worked for The Walt Disney Company, Fox Feature Animation, and Warner Bros. [3] As a Disney Master Artist, [4] he speaks at special events as a panelist with his wife and fellow Disney Master Artist, Patty Peraza, [5] about experiences in the entertainment field. He received the Friz Freleng Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Family Film Festival in 2014, [6] and the Disneyana Fan Club Legend Award in 2018. [2] Currently, he continues his work with Warner Bros and Disney Television Animation.
Peraza was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He became interested in Disney animation after watching Sleeping Beauty , Pinocchio and Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color . As a young man, he experimented with various types of mediums and styles, getting the attention of local filmmakers. His first job was working for Max Goodman in local television station WKRG, where he learned how to work behind the camera, animated special effects and use paper cutouts for characters to create station breaks. [7] After graduating high school, he continued his education at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), an art college that was established by Walt Disney.
Peraza was accepted at CalArts in 1973 before Disney had begun their Character Animation program. He later became one of the first people to join the program once it was started. [8] His peers include the animators Tim Burton, John Lasseter and John Musker. [9] Once an established student at CalArts, he studied under the guidance of Disney Legends including Jack Hannah (the Dean of the Disney program) and Ken O’Conner. As a teacher's assistant (TA), Peraza was given a full scholarship offered by the Disney Family, making it possible for him to continue his study. [5]
Directly after CalArts, Peraza accepted a full-time career in Walt Disney Feature Animation, where he worked alongside Disney's Nine Old Men, including Marc Davis, Ollie Johnston, Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball, Eric Larson, John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman and Frank Thomas. While working for Disney Features, he became known for his advanced integration of computer animation. [10] and designing multilane shots for The Fox and the Hound . [3] Afterward, he went on to contribute to animated Disney films, [3] including The Little Mermaid , [11] The Great Mouse Detective , [12] Beauty and the Beast , Mickey's Christmas Carol , Aladdin and Who Framed Roger Rabbit as well as visual development for live-action movies such as Watcher in the Woods , Tron and Return to Oz . When approached by Ken Anderson, Peraza helped start the new Disney Television Animation unit. There he started the CGI animation department while developing Disney afternoon shows, including DuckTales , Darkwing Duck and TaleSpin , as well as creating the character Max Goof, and the series Goof Troop , which were adapted for the animated films A Goofy Movie and An Extremely Goofy Movie . During the pre-production of DuckTales, Carl Barks called Peraza "the Fourth Duckman." [4] After transferring to Disney Direct to Video, Peraza worked as art director and conceptual artist for the production of sequels, including Jungle Book 2 , Tarzan 2 and Return to Never Land .
Peraza has also worked on projects for Miramax, [13] Fox Features and Don Bluth Entertainment, where he worked as art director for Anastasia . [14] The movie about the Russian princess was praised for the execution of advanced computer graphics of the time. [15] During its premiere, Disney re-released The Little Mermaid in theaters, making Peraza one of few art directors who had two films out in theaters at the same time. [16] [17]
A Goofy Movie is a 1995 American animated musical comedy-adventure film produced by Disney MovieToons and Walt Disney Television Animation. Directed by Kevin Lima, the film is based on The Disney Afternoon television series Goof Troop created by Robert Taylor and Michael Peraza Jr., and serves as a standalone follow-up to the show. Taking place three years after the events of Goof Troop, the film follows Goofy and his teenage son Max as they embark on a misguided cross-country father-son fishing trip across the United States.
The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both the visual and performing arts. It offers Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Fine Arts, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees through its six schools: Art, Critical Studies, Dance, Film/Video, Music, and Theater.
Isadore "Friz" Freleng, credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from the 1930s to the early 1960s. In total he created more than 300 cartoons.
Robert Emerson Clampett Sr. was an American animator, director, producer and puppeteer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes animated series from Warner Bros. as well as the television shows Time for Beany and Beany and Cecil. He was born and raised not far from Hollywood and, early in life, showed an interest in animation and puppetry. After dropping out of high school in 1931, he joined the team at Harman-Ising Productions and began working on the studio's newest short subjects, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies.
Robert Porter McKimson Sr. was an American animator and illustrator, best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros. Cartoons and later DePatie–Freleng Enterprises. He wrote and directed many animated cartoon shorts starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Foghorn Leghorn, Hippety Hopper, Speedy Gonzales, and the Tasmanian Devil, among other characters. He also developed Bugs Bunny's design in the 1943 short Tortoise Wins by a Hare.
Glen Keane is an American animator, director, author and illustrator. As a character animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios for 38 years (1974–2012), he worked on feature films including The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Tarzan and Tangled. He received the 1992 Annie Award for character animation and the 2007 Winsor McCay Award for lifetime contribution to the field of animation. He was named a Disney Legend in 2013, a year after retiring from the studio.
Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was an American animation studio, serving as the in-house animation division of Warner Bros. during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, it was primarily responsible for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated short films. The characters featured in these cartoons, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig, are among the most famous and recognizable characters in the world. Many of the creative staff members at the studio, including directors and animators such as Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Robert McKimson, Tex Avery, Robert Clampett, Arthur Davis, and Frank Tashlin, are considered major figures in the art and history of traditional animation.
Floyd E. Norman is an American animator, writer, and cartoonist. Over the course of his career, he has worked for various animation companies, among them Walt Disney Animation Studios, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Ruby-Spears, Film Roman and Pixar.
Joseph Benson Hardaway was an American storyboard artist, animator, voice actor, gagman, writer and director for several American animation studios during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He was sometimes credited as J. B. Hardaway, Ben Hardaway, B. Hardaway and Bugs Hardaway. He fought in World War I in the 129th Field Artillery Regiment, Battery D.
Hawley B. Pratt was an American film director, animator, designer and illustrator. He is best known for his work for Warner Bros. Cartoons and as the right-hand man of director Friz Freleng as a layout artist and later as a director. Pratt also worked for Walt Disney Studios, Filmation, and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises where he co-created The Pink Panther.
Christopher James Buck is an American film director, animator, and screenwriter known for co-directing Tarzan (1999), Surf's Up (2007), Frozen (2013), which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2014, Frozen II (2019), and Wish (2023). He also worked as a supervising animator and story artist on Pocahontas (1995) and Home on the Range (2004).
Owen Earl Duvall was an American artist and animator best known for his work on Disney comic strips in the early 1930s and for a handful of animated short films he directed at Warner Bros. Cartoons.
The Disney Renaissance was a period from 1989 to 1999 during which Walt Disney Feature Animation returned to producing critically and commercially successful animated films. The ten feature films associated with this period are The Little Mermaid (1989), The Rescuers Down Under (1990), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994), Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Mulan (1998), and Tarzan (1999).
Mark Alan Henn is an American animator and film director. His work includes animated characters for Walt Disney Animation Studios films, most notably leading or titular characters and heroines. He served as the lead animator for Ariel in The Little Mermaid (1989), Belle in Beauty and the Beast (1991), Jasmine in Aladdin (1992), Young Simba in The Lion King (1994), the title character in Mulan (1998), and Tiana in The Princess and the Frog (2009). Since all these characters except Simba became Disney Princesses, he came to be known as the "princess guy" around the studio. He directed the short films John Henry (2000) and D.I.Y. Duck (2024). Henn spent a total of 43 years at Walt Disney Animation Studios, from 1980 until his retirement in 2023.
Robert Herman Givens was an American animator and character designer, responsible for the creation of Bugs Bunny. He was the leading character designer for Leon Schlesinger, creating over 25 successful characters for both Leon Schlesinger Productions and later Warner Bros. Cartoons. He also did the storyboards and layout designs. He worked for numerous animation studios during his career, including Walt Disney Animation Studios, Warner Bros. Cartoons, Hanna-Barbera, and DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, beginning his career during the late 1930s and continuing until the early 2000s. He was a collaborator with the Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes directors at Warner Bros. and Chuck Jones' production company.
Events in 1943 in animation.
Events in 1938 in animation.
Events in 1915 in animation.
Events in 1911 in animation.
Events in 1905 in animation.
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