Borrowed Time

Absolutely amazing short!

Borrowed Time from Borrowed Time on Vimeo.

Happy Work Anniversary to Me

This morning I started getting a bunch of "congratulation" messages from my LinkedIn account.  Maybe I had won the lottery and the Lottery people were surprising me...on...LinkedIn?

Nope it was "congratulations" messages for my work anniversary.  This month marks 10 years that I've been at ReelFX.  My actual start date was Aug 2.

Looking back its crazy how much has changed at the studio as well as how many projects I have been involved in.  I won't list them all as that would be a longish list; hop over to IMDB if you're curious. I've worked with some super talented people in the those 10 years.  Some have moved on to other studios but a few are still around which warms my tiny Grinch heart.

I guess you get a gold watch when you fully retired?  Yes?...Maybe you get a plastic one at 10 years...I will investigate this....

Yes indeed, it has been some time since I have posted anything to my blog.  To the 5 people following my blog "Hello!" and "sorry".  The last few years have been busy and chaotic with Twitter and Facebook being quick and fast ways of communicating with the online world.

But look I'm posting something!..What the wha?!!  My early New Years Resolution for 2017 is to blog more often.  I figure if I make that resolution now and I don't follow through I will have until at least February before I officially look bad for breaking my New Years Resolution.

One thing I've done since blogging last is that I did a talk for Animation Mentor called:

3 Reasons Why Every Animator Should Master the Bouncing Ball

If you are new to animation you may want to check it out!

The Book of Life Animation Reel

Here are several of the shots I animated on The Book of Life!


Ray Chase - The Book of Life animation reel from Ray Chase on Vimeo.

Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas

Shots I animated for the Christmas special....I will add the clips to the animation section but for now....YouTube!

Foombi

Man oh man have I been busy and as such my poor blog has been severely neglected. What have I been doing you ponder? Well animation wise I has been super colossal busy working on projects I can't really speak of yet under penalty of death.....ooooo mysterious. But I have also been super busy working on a app for iPhone/iPod with some buddies: Animation Trivia: Disney Edition


Over 1000 questions with 3 different levels of difficulty and two modes of game play. Over 200 True and False questions, beautiful original artwork, original music........ I get goosebumps just typing about it. We would love for everyone to check it out, give us a rating/review and tell all their friends to do the same. A lot of blood, sweat, tears, love and more blood went into creating this app and we hope everyone enjoys it.

And we'd love to hear your feedback, comments, suggestions as well: visit us at www.foombi.com
We are also on the Facebook and the Twitter, if you'd like to like us, friend us and/or stalk us. And ya know....we'd love you to do all three.

Ok, now that the infomercial is over let me mention that I saw Pirates 4 last night and thought it was a lot of fun. Not as good as Black Pearl but still fun. We saw it in 3D which I swore I would not do anymore. And let me again swear that I will not watch films in 3D ever again! The projection was dark to begin with (a buddy complained to no avail) and once the glasses were on it was like watching a black and white film. Booooooooo to you!

Open Season 3 reel

I posted some of my shots from Open Season 3 on the Animation page under DVD. OS3 is available on DVD and Blu-ray right now!!

Walt Disney World Marathon

In 1995, while vacationing in Disney World, I became aware of the Walt Disney World Marathon; the first was held in '94. I lamented how cool it would be to run a marathon through the parks of Disney World. Over the next 15 years I would occasionally mention how much I wanted to run the marathon, but never did I take any steps to make it happen. I am proud to say that last weekend I ran and finished the 2011 Walt Disney World Marathon.

The marathon started at 5:30am in front of Epcot. I had read several accounts of previous marathoners that the traffic getting into Epcot the morning of the race can be hellish and that staying on property and using Disney transportation was the way to go. And this is what I did. My parents got me a room at the Polynesian which is near Magic Kingdom and is right next door to the monorail station.

The night before the race I didn't get much sleep. I tried to go to bed early but Magic Kingdom's fireworks kept me awake and then general anxiety did the rest. I got maybe 3-4 good solid hours. Again I had read the key is to get a lot of sleep in the days leading up to the race, in case you lie awake the night before.

The run started at 5:30 am and I was up at 2:30am; so weird to be getting up that "early". After getting myself ready and going to the bathroom...a lot, I left the hotel for a short walk to the monorail and was on my way.

The set up in the parking lot of Epcot was pretty nice and well organized. I didn't check a bag but the bag check seemed much better than the Wine and Dine. After going to the bathroom two more times it was time to head to the start which was a long slow walk out to Epcot Center Drive. Man it felt like we were walking forever. Oh and did I mention it was cold? Not freezing cold (that was the 2010 WDW Marathon..20 some degrees at start..brrrr)but in the 40's and breezy. When we finally arrived at the corrals I noticed several runners heading off to the nearby brush for a last minute..potty break. I looked around "hey...people are peeing...no one seems to care?...ok". Apparently running a marathon gives you leeway to pee in public.....so I did too. I mean hell, why not right?

There were 8 corrals and I was in the 5th..corral E. Unlike the Wine and Dine I could see the start so when the race began and there were fireworks and fire, I could see it all. There was an overpass behind us and shortly after all the hooplah in front of us there were fireworks and fire shooting off the overpass behind us as well. Everyone seemed surprised and it was pretty cool having pyrotechnics going off all over the place.

Unlike the Wine and Dine and other previous WDW marathons, they did a wave start with about 2 minutes between waves. Our corral approached the start, they gave us a 10 second count down and with music and pyrotechnics blasting we were off!



The Clif Bar 5 hour pace team was a little ways in front of me and I figured if I could keep line of sight on them I would be good. We went down Epcot Center Drive then turned to pass through the Epcot Toll Plaza then on up to the park. As we entered Future World I noticed some runners peeling off to use the park bathrooms. Standing out in the cold and having a bladder the size of a pea, I did need to go. I figured I'd be better off stopping and starting at mile 2 than at mile 20 so I zipped into the restroom for a quick pit stop. This would be my only stop the enter run.

Back into the fray I quickly caught up to the Clif Bar pace team as we entered World Showcase. It was really cool being the only ones in the park. The Christmas decor was still up and it was just nice running through there; quiet and peaceful. We exited World Showcase between Norway and China, I think, through some of the backstage area making our way back to Epcot Center Drive. Next stop: Magic Kingdom.

My least favorite thing about the Disney marathons are the banked roads. Anytime you come down off an overpass or god forbid up onto an overpass, you are running on banked pavement and man oh man there is just no flat spot. When we exited Epcot Center Drive onto World Drive, the big circle ramp down was not loved by my legs at all. My legs never really hurt mind you, but they felt really weird. Odd pressures being applied because of the slanted road.

At some point here I passed the 5 hour Clif Bar pace team. I thought "this might not be a good thing", but I couldn't exactly turn around and go find them. Onward!

As we headed up to Magic Kingdom I thought I was hallucinating because I saw Spaceship Earth in the distance. What the hell, we just left Epcot! It was actually a Epcot hot air balloon that was anchored...whew! Worried me for a second. Pretty much every half mile or so there was something to see. Characters you could get a picture with, actors from the park, parade floats, high school bands, lots and lots of on course entertainment.

We zip zagged a bit through Magic Kingdom's parking lot up through the Transportation and Ticket Center (monorail station). As we approached the TTC I was a little overwhelmed by how many people were out cheering us. It was early and cold and I didn't expect that many people to be out, but there they were. I had told my parents to hang out here if they wanted to see me and I did see them (and them, me) as we ran through the TTC and up to the park.

We entered the Magic Kingdom by Tony's Restaurant and made a right up Main Street. The right side of the street was coned off for runners while lots and lots of people lined the left. We made a right into Tomorrowland, running into Fantasyland and out through Cinderella's castle. Out of the castle it was a right into Liberty Square then through Frontierland and out the backstage (parade exit) next to Splash Mountain. They had a pirate ship float parked back there with Jack Sparrow, Barbossa, several more pirates and movie music blasting. It would have been cool to stop for a picture.

Many people were stopping for pictures throughout the run. This one guy was in a spandex Incredibles outfit. I would see him standing in line to see Chicken Little or Goofy, then he would blast past the rest of us on to the next photo op. Unfortunately for me, once I have racked up several miles I can no longer stop running and then start again. I can't even walk and then run. So no photo ops for me.

Leaving Magic Kingdom is was on to Animal Kingdom. I had read that this was the "worst" part of the run; there's not much to look at for about 4 miles and that this leg of the run feels long. Honestly it was not too bad, although somewhere between 15-16 miles I started thinking about how much further I had to go. Bad idea. If you think about it too much you will mentally psych yourself out; which started to happen a little.

Coming through the backstage area of Animal Kingdom we past a wonderfully smelly garbage plant and/or sewage plant. Mmmm boy that's what I want to smell right about now! Yuck! Seems like we entered Animal Kingdom around Kilimanjaro Safaris and headed left towards Everest. A cast member was out in front of Everest telling runners that the ride was open if anyone wanted to ride. Several peeled off to ride the coaster, but if I had sat down at that point I would have never gotten up. By now the parks were starting to open and guests were appearing in the park. Yay more spectators!

Leaving Animal Kingdom the course became very similar to the Wine and Dine as we got out onto Osceola Parkway heading towards the ESPN Wide World of Sports. Getting closer to mile marker 20, I was starting to feel it. I didn't hurt and I didn't feel wiped out, but goddamn we've been running a long time. The 5 hour Clif Bar pace team passed me and I wondered if I should speed up. I have NEVER run more than 21 miles and I was a little worried that if I tried to push, I might flame out at mile 24. I decided that it wasn't important to "hit the gas" and to just focus on finishing.

Passing mile marker 21, I entered unknown waters. This was now the farthest I had ever gone. Only 5 more miles. No problem.....right? I knew I had slowed down my pace, hence the pace team pacing me, but in general I felt ok, just getting tired. We entered the Studios behind the Tower of Terror and ran through the backstage area, emerging on New York Street. We reached the beginning of New York street and made a left onto Commissary Lane, then it was down Hollywood Blvd to the front of the park. Lot's of hooplah and people cheering; it was pretty awesome.

The run back to Epcot was just like the Wine and Dine. I had passed mile marker 23 at the Studios and it felt like hours before I reached mile 24. Where is it!! For the love of god where are you mile 24! We entered Epcot between Canada and the United Kingdom and made a right. Oh fantastic...nice big incline to get over to France. In my mind I surmised that this was the last hill, which made me very, very happy.

As we left World Showcase I heard someone say "hey we were just here 5 hours ago". Yeah I guess we were..lol. On to Future World and the end was getting near. I had passed mile 25 somewhere in the countries so mile 26 was getting close. I heard a runner say "it's only a half mile now!", which made me very, very happy. We could start to hear cheering and the DJ and I think everyone was getting pumped. I rounded a turned and after a moment I could see the beginnings of the crowd.

I started to get a little emotional at this point. It was all rather overwhelming. I had thought for so long that I would never be able to do this. As I've gotten older NOT running this marathon had become something of a regret. Even 6 months ago it didn't seem like a possibility. Now I was about to finish it, running the whole way just like I wanted.

I pulled myself together, figuring that I would not be able to run if I was blubbering like a baby and how embarrassing would that be to flame out .5 miles from the finish.

I ran as hard as I could that last half mile. I crossed the finish line with a chip time of 5:10:53. As soon as I stopped running.. my thighs felt like there were about to explode. OMG they hurt! I received my medal and slowly walked to the food tent to get some snackies, then on to meet my parents.

Later in the day, thinking back on the run, it almost seemed like a dream. Holy crap did I really do that? My aching legs reminded me "YES! Yes you did...we hurt!"

As with the Wine and Dine, the volunteers were fantastic. A big thank you to all of them and to my parents for coming out so early in the cold. This is only my 3rd run (did the Dallas White Rock Half in December) but I think it's definitely my favorite. They have this thing called the Goofy Race. If you run the Half on Saturday (Donald medal) and the Full on Sunday (Mickey medal) then you get a third medal...a Goofy! That's 39.3 miles in two days. You'd have to be freakin Goofy to try it and next year, I think I just might be :)

Shrek 4 commercial

This is a McDonald's commercial I worked on for Shrek Forever After. I animated Shrek and Donkey only.

Looney Reel

My shots from the theatrical Looney Tunes shorts can be found on the Animation page under Film. This a larger version than the YouTube version below. It was an honor and a privilege to work with these classic characters.

On Stranger Tides -teaser

Rabid Rider Clip

Here's a clip from our next Looney Tunes short! It will play in front of Yogi Bear.

Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon

This past weekend I ran my first ever half marathon. The event took place at 10pm Saturday night at Walt Disney World.

Saturday afternoon, my brother and I went to the Expo to pick up my race packet. Then it was off to the All Star Movies Resort to check in. After figuring out where we would meet at the Epcot after party, my brother went home and I got ready for the run.

Because of road closures for the race, runners needed to be at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex (the start of the race) by 8:30pm. Since I was a little nervous about missing the bus and hence missing the race, I got there at 7:30pm, an entire 2 and half hours before the run was to begin. What to do what to do. Well, there really wasn't much to do other than sit on the ground and watch all the pre-race festivities which included a DJ trying to get runners to dance. Ok if you want to wear yourself out you go right ahead and dance your little hearts out.

Along one side of the field where we all gathered, was an army of porter potties. Seriously, if they were to have come to life they could have easily massacred everyone...there was A LOT of them. As 9pm drew near, I knew that we would start lining up soon so I headed over to use the bathroom. Each potty had a line ten people deep. Yay!

Since I had not run a race in 12 years I had no proof of time, so I was scheduled to be in the last corral, Corral D. Once in the corral, I noticed some runners weaving their way to the front of Corral D which was a good idea seeing as how we were sorta far back. I followed their lead and ended up almost at the front of D, back of C. Excellent Smithers.

It's now 9:30pm and I'm starting to get a little anxious. People who know me, know of my pea size bladder and even though I had just gone to the bathroom no less than 10 minutes ago, I now questioned if I needed to go again. I told myself "it's ok...it's no problem....it will be dark...if I have to go, I will just go and no one will be the wiser". Even though I had no intention of peeing myself as I ran, I thought this might fool my bladder. It didn't seem to be working so I played Angry Birds on my iPod to take my mind off it.

The wheelchair participants got a 2 minute head start and then it was our turn. With a blast of fireworks (that I couldn't see) the race began! Annnnnd heeere weeee stood....and stood...for at least 5 minutes. Then we began walking to the start. It must have been about a 1/4 mile walk. Finally the starting archway was in sight and the excitement was building. Crossing the start I began to run and nearly ran into a wall of walkers. Seriously? You're not even going to try to run the first mile?! Got around them and then more slow pokes. I started to get frustrated and did something I thought was brilliant. I left the road and went up on the grass. FREEDOM! A few other runners followed my lead and we were blowing by people. It was actually rather exhilarating because I felt like the Flash or something. Maybe these people were starting slowly, I don't know but I was whooshing past them.

The plan seemed to be fool proof until I stepped into a small divet and felt my left leg drop a bit and my foot point down. Ouchie. Boy I hope THAT doesn't come back to bite me in the ass. I decided I needed to get back on the road and did so quickly.

Aside from an 8K nearly 12 years ago, I have no experience running in a group of people. It is just, a little "different". I found myself constantly looking for a window to jump ahead of people. Slowing a bit to weave around this one or judging whether there was enough room between runners for me to squeeze through. It was kind of fun actually, but required a lot of concentration. I was very aware of my fellow runners though. I didn't want to clip anyone or cut anyone off and aside from some light shoulder grazing I didn't bump or push anyone.

Along the trip down Osceola Parkway, floats from Magic Kingdom's Spectro Magic were set up with photo ops with characters like Chip and Dale; heard Goofy came out later...blast I missed him!! When I stop running my body says "oh we must be done" and starts powering down. So while many runners were enjoying the fun and stopping for pictures, there was just no way I could.

The first several inclines where no problem and allowed me to get ahead of a few runner clusters. Training around my house where its hilly certainly came in handy. I wisely brought my own water bottle with Gatorade as the first water stop was insane with people slowing if not stopping all over the place. The crowded course would continue for several more miles.

My bladder began insisting it needed to be emptied. I told it to shut the hell up. It responded by giving me mild lower abdomen discomfort...for the whole damn run. Bladder..I hate you.

Animal Kingdom was the first park we ran through. I really love this park at night but found that since I was still in a packed crowd and eyeing opportunities, I couldn't really enjoy the surroundings as much as I hoped. There were several tight spots where we all nearly came to a full stop. Various cast members and volunteers lined the course cheering us on. Elements from the Animal Kingdom parade were visible along the course as well.

Leaving Animal Kingdom it is was back down Osceola Pkwy. The Spectro floats were still out, as well as some musical entertainment. Around mile 8 my left ankle started to hurt. What the hell is wrong with my ankle? This never happens to me. I honestly had no idea why it was hurting (duh) but was thrilled that the crowd seemed more open.

Making our way down onto World Drive, a green army man from Toy Story yelled at us to "Take that hill!" and sure enough we were coming up on a dimly lite incline. My ankle did not seem to like this at all. The fact that the road banked as we went up and then down to World Drive, did nothing to help. My bladder suggested that perhaps the ankle would feel better if we stopped ....and oh hey we could use the potty. I pretended I didn't hear that and kept on trucking.

My plan had been that once I hit the Studios I would kick it hard for the last 4 miles. But my ankle would have none of it. Other folks must have had the same plan as several runners started to pass me. We entered the Studios behind the Tower of Terror. Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl greeted us, with music from the film blasting; pretty cool. We ran in front of the Rock N Roller coaster and then in front of the Tower. As we hung a hard right to double back through the queue of Fantasmic a volunteer yelled "Hill coming up on your right!". And it was a nice steep incline. My ankle screamed, I whimpered and my bladder laughed.

We ran all over the Studios and even though my ankle was feeling worse and worse this was my favorite part of the run. The course took us past Toy Story Mania where Woody was out front waving at us. Then we went through part of the back lot tour and ended up on the floor of the Lights, Motor, Action! Stunt Show where I got to see myself on the jumbo-tron. Hello me!

From there it was up New York Street where the Osborn Family Christmas Lights were on with Christmas music playing, which was a cool surprise. As we rounded the corner and headed past Star Tours the Imperial March could be heard and Vader himself was out front for photos and force choking.

Before I forget, let me say that the Cast Members and volunteers working the course were great. Lots of cheering, high fives and fist bumps were offered for those runners that could muster the energy. I think I hand slapped a whole line of volunteers at one point which was kinda cool and gave me an adrenaline boost. Big thanks peoples!

Leaving the Studios we were on the last mile and each step was killing my left ankle. Part of me briefly wondered if I should walk, but I refused to give in. The last half mile to Epcot took us past the Yacht and Beach Club resorts were A LOT of people were lined up to cheer us on. That gave me a charge and I ran as fast as I could to the finish; pain and all. As soon as I crossed the finish and started to walk, I began falling on my leg side..almost as if I had....TWISTED MY ANKLE! It all made sense. My bone headed move before mile 1 caught up with me. Stupid stupid stupid. It could have been way worse, I could have stepped in a big hole, done a face plant and I would have been out. Before mile 1. Idiot.

I wanted to finish in 2 hours or less and looking back, I shouldn't have been so focused on the time, especially for my first half marathon. I ended up finishing 2:16:24 and placed 1945 out of 7275 finishers. I met my brother at the Epcot after party and spent some time beating myself up about my time and my rookie mistake. He pointed out "dude you ran 13 miles...I couldn't run 2" which gave me some perspective. One year ago I could barely run two miles and now I've completed a half marathon, which, regardless of my time, feels pretty damn good. All and all it was a lot of fun and I can't wait to do it again!

Fur of Flying

Here is a clip from Coyote and Road Runner: Fur of Flying...I did the last shot! You can see the entire short in front of Legends of the Guardians opening Sept 24!

Ice Creams

So funny...so true...

Sunny D Commercial

This is a Sunny D commercial I worked on last year. I did all the animation of the Sunny D bottle and the soccer ball.

Pirates 4 teaser from Comic Con

Coyote Falls

Here's a clip from the upcoming WB short, Coyote Falls. Cartoon Brew has more on the short HERE.

Wile E. Coyote

The New York Times has an article on new Looney Tunes. The CG shorts we have been working on at ReelFx got a mention, along with the first released image from the first short!

Featured Mentor

I'm this month's "featured mentor" in the Animation Mentor newsletter...read my words HERE!