Today we’d like to introduce you to Danny Arriaga.
Hi Danny, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I first began my career in animation in May of 2001 at Pixar Animation Studios as a Production Assistant on Monsters Inc. eventually working my way into the art department at Disney and Pixar, where I worked on films such as Incredibles, Ratatouille, Wall-e, Up, and Toy Story 3 where I was the Character Art Director. In 2008, I then went on to work at Disney Animation on Wreck-it-Ralph and Prep and Landing: Naughty vs. Nice as the Production Designer. Back to Pixar in 2011, I then worked on Inside Out and was the Art Director of Characters on Coco and won an Annie for Character Design and an Art Directors Guild award for Art Direction. I’m currently back at Disney Animation since March of 2021 as an Art Director of Characters on Disney’s next feature project.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road. When I had my first daughter at the age of 18 with my beautiful wife, Esther, now of 26 years, I was told that I was a mess up. That I was never going to be anything now that I had a kid and that I was only going to be working for minimum wage paying jobs. Even some of our own family members considered us failures. All that only made me work harder. To prove I wasn’t going to give up no matter what. So I would wake up at 5am four days a week to catch a train to go to art school, Academy of Art College in San Francisco, from 9am-4am. Then head back home to quickly change into my work clothes and work from 6pm-11pm at a local grocery store in multiple positions. On the days I didn’t have school, I had to do homework and work full-time at the grocery store. I had to be full-time in order to receive health benefits for my family.
Little did I know that was only the beginning of my struggles to get to where I’m at today. To get into Pixar right out of college was not easy. I had to be clever and work harder than I ever thought I could. I found a way in by searching Pixar’s website almost every day looking for any entry-level position that would be posted. I promised myself that even if I got in as a kitchen staff I wouldn’t give up on my dream of being an artist for Pixar/Disney and I would be the best kitchen employee that they had. Eventually, I saw a position for a temporary job open up. It was a simulation and effects PA on Monsters Inc. I had no idea what that meant at the time, but I applied anyway because it was posted as entry-level. It was my third or fourth time applying for a position at Pixar. I figured it couldn’t hurt. Might as well give it a try. Well, that relentless mentality paid off. I finally got a call back from Pixar saying that they wanted to interview me because they liked how persistent and positive I seemed. The kind of person they were looking to fill that job. Long story short, I got the job and the rest is history.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m currently a Character Art Director for Disney Feature Animation on Disney’s next project after “Wish.” My job is to design and create authentic and appealing characters for Disney films. As a Character Art Director, you’re required to see all the character designs through from concept to articulation/rigging where the characters are given all the moving points necessary to be delivered to the animation department where they bring them to life with the magic of animation. Some of the characters I’m most proud of for working on are Lots-O-Hugging Bear from Toy Story 3 and Miguel from Coco among many others.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Must read books for anyone looking to get into animation or who are just curious about animation in general are “The Illusion of Life” by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. “Drawn To Life” books by Walt Stanchfield. A recent book I just read is “The Power of Positive Leadership” by Jon Gordon, which really is more of a book on how to be a better person in general. Sure, it’s mostly about leadership, but really the advice in this book is all about positive energy and how it can change your life no matter who you are.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.darriaga.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rrr_yaga
Image Credits
All artwork is my personal art and owned by me, Danny Arriaga.
