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Mullins is part of the Pixar team I’m referring to when I talk to parents who address me with fears of their creative children starving as artists and I tell them as an example, that animators at Pixar are as creative as you can get and they certainly are not starving. These parents respect and can relate to Pixar’s success on a personal level and thus, it brings their creativity-killing rant to an instant halt. Thank you for this, Pixar.
Computer animation is a phrase that sounds simple and confusing at the same time. If moving sketches are the simple version of what animation is, computer animation might just mean the computer is doing all the work. WRONG. It’s more like the difference between digging a hole with your bare hands or by using a shovel. It’s still you digging that hole! So, while those computers and the software that Pixar has developed in house certainly make the digging a lot easier, the animator still has to very much be an artist and cannot simply rely on good computer skills.
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Dave Mullins now has decades of developing his craft as an animator with Disney and since 2000 with Pixar where as a part of their talented artistic team, he’s worked on the hits Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc, The Incredibles, Ratatouille and Cars. His IMDb (Internet Movie Database) page lists him as Directing Animator for UP and Supervising Animator for Cars 2. There’s just not a bad one in the bunch.
Sitting down with the husband and father of two, my goal is focused more on the path Mullins chose to get him to where he is today, than exactly on what he does today. In doing so, my hope is one of guidance for those youthful creative minds of tomorrow and for their parents and teachers who hopefully are supporting their passion.
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