W. Jacob Gardner is Character Animator at DreamWorks Animation.
About[]
Jacob has been working at Dreamworks Animation for over 5 years now. He worked on films such as "Shrek Forever After", Megamind, Puss in Boots, and "Rise of the Guardians". Jacob is also co-founder of the animation website "Speaking Of Animation"; where he gets to talk about all the things he know and interview people who knows far more than him.
Jacob found the love for animation at an early age. It was when he saw Aladdin (around 7 or 8 years old at the time ) and he just knew that he wanted to make drawings come to life. Jacob was fascinated by the crazy energy of the Genie, and something so endearing about the believability of Aladdin, which made him want to begin his journey into the animation industry.
The first professional work Jacob ever did was as a cycles animator on the feature "Monsters Vs. Aliens" at DreamWorks Animation. That means he had to make a lot of loops of background characters walking, running, screaming, sitting that the crowds department would populate into the backgrounds of shots to fill out the world that was created.
Since Joining to DreamWorks and working on many of their features, Jacob also joined the ranks of iAnimate.net as a full time feature animation instructor. [1]
Rise of the Guardians[]
- What are some of your favorite Projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
- "My favorite so far has been Rise of the Guardians. I really believed in the story and connected with the character I animated on - Jack Frost. I also enjoyed that it wasn’t the same old sassy humor and buddy comedy you see everywhere. They took a chance and made something a bit darker and mature."[2]
Filmography[]
Animation department[]
- 2013 The Croods (additional animator)
- 2012 Rise of the Guardians (animator)
- 2011 Puss in Boots (animator)
- 2010 Megamind (animator)
- 2010 Shrek Forever After (animator)
- 2009 B.O.B.'s Big Break (Video short) (animator)
- 2009 Monsters vs. Aliens (animator: cycles)
