Evidence GA2-240202501-AA1-EV03. Chronicle.

                     "From hand-drawn animation to digital wizardry 

                                   and back to its origins once again."

Bobby Podesta (Photo by Deborah Coleman)

By: Herminia Alexandra Franco Parra

ANIMACION 3D. (2977294)

March 6, 2025.

 

We often hear the phrase 'Back to basics,' but for Bobby Podesta, this concept is a tangible reality in his artistic life.

Bobby was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1975.  He is the eldest of three brothers and was raised by a single mother. Without the means to go to the movies often, he grew up watching television.

He was always a very responsible teenager, deeply committed to his family. At  the age of 13, he was already working as a paperboy for “The Sacramento Union” in his neighborhood from 1988 to 1989. During this time, he had the opportunity to watch “The Little Mermaid”, although he didn’t see it in the theater but rather on VHS. This marked the starting point of his  great passion for the art of animation.

Determined to pursue art for a living, Bobby wrote a letter

on paper to the Walt Disney Company, asking how he could be an animator. In response, he got a letter back, thanking him for his inquiry and providing a list of schools that had animation programs. One of them was CalArts (Californian Institute of the Arts), where he would later earn his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film.

It's amazing to imagine his tenacity and determination. Before finishing high school, Bobby created a comic strip for the weekly teen section of The Sacramento Bee (a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California) that ran from 1991 to 1993."

The magnificence of his work, his dedication, and his immense talent were recognized even before he completed his university studies, as his senior piece earned him a Student Emmy Award. This award opened wide the doors for him at Pixar Animation Studios in 1997, when he was only 22 years old.

 Bobby has been an animator and story artist on many of the studio’s feature films including “A Bug’s Life”,“Toy Story 2”, “Monsters, Inc.”, and Academy Award® winning features “Finding Nemo”, and “The Incredibles”. On the Golden Globe® winning feature “Cars”. Bobby held the role of Directing Animator, and continued on as the Supervising Animator for Academy Award® winning feature “Toy Story 3”.

Before completing 15 years of work at Pixar, he decided in November 2011 to take a brief leave and dedicate himself to what he called 'exploring new worlds'. During this time, he served as the Chief Creative Officer of a Silicon Valley start-up and worked on developing feature films with Japanese and Hollywood animation studios. In 2013, he returned to Pixar to animate on “Inside Out,” “The Good Dinosaur,” “Finding Dory,” “Toy Story 4” and “Onward.” He was a supervising animator on “Cars 3” and Pixar’s Academy Award® winning film “Soul” in 2020.

Bobby has dedicated most of his life to recreating stories for children. However, after working on "Soul", a film more oriented towards an adult audience, he decided to venture into the graphic novel genre for readers between 12 and 18 years old. This decision marked a return to his origins, showcasing his greatness in hand-drawn animation.

Bobby Podesta, an icon in the animated film industry, is not only an animator, illustrator, story artist, character development, supervising, and director, but he is also committed to training new animators. He not only teaches classes but has also created a website where visitors can see and learn how to create a magnificent animated story step by step. If you are an animation student like me, I invite you to read his graphic novel "North for the Winter", which will hit bookstores on September 2, 2025, and visit his website www.bobbypodesta.com to get a glimpse of the wonderful world that awaits you.

BOBBY PODESTA CHRONICLE 

Herminia Alexandra Franco Parra 

2977294, ANIMACIÓN 3D