1960s: Joanna Romersa
Following short stints on Lady and the Tramp and Sleeping Beauty, Romersa spent nine years inking for Auril Thompson, then dove into a 33-year on-and-off career at Hanna-Barbera, moving from Animation Assistant to Director to Producer. Her final years before retirement in 2017 were spent as an Animation Director and Sheet Timer for Disney.
How did you get started in the animation industry?
I had no desire to get into the business. A friend asked me to come see her at her new job as a secretary at Disney Studio in Burbank. I was totally impressed and went home, gathered up some life drawings I had done in college, applied for a job, and was hired as an inker on Lady and the Tramp in 1954.
What did you love most about working in the industry?
Every day was different. There was always something new to learn and a challenge to meet. I had the good fortune to know and be taught by the most the talented, amazing, gifted people in the business, and many became my dearest friends.
What is your favorite project you’ve worked on in your career and why?
Difficult to choose a favorite project. Lady and the Tramp because it was the first, The 7D because it was the last, and all in between.
Tell us what the animation industry looked like in the 1960s.
Animation in the 1960s was traditional paper, paint, and camera animation. It could be limited or full or a mix of both. There was sunlight in the [Hanna-Barbera] building and laughter in the halls. There were cartoons of the real characters we worked with pinned up on walls, and jokes were played on friends on a regular basis. We worked hard and met deadlines and produced funny cartoons because it was fun!
How did the animation industry change from when you started to when you retired?
Then came computers came, changing everything from color to action, and the fact that most of the animation [began being] outsourced to countries outside the U.S. made a huge difference.
How did the Union impact the animation industry when you were a member?
I walked the picket lines—actually roller-skated—on the first strike [of 1979] but was not very active in the Union. I appreciated what they did for us but had no idea how important it was to work in a union shop. Now that I am retired, I truly appreciate my pension and would be lost without it!
1970s: Robert Alvarez
Currently an Animation Director at Cartoon Network, Alvarez is on his 54th year in animation. Since 1968, he has worked on more than 190 different shows. He still loves animation and is happy to be a part of the industry.
How did you get started in the animation industry?
In 1968, I got a phone call from a friend who was working at Fred Calvert’s studio. I went there and Fred took me into a room and sat me down to do a test—an in-between. Twenty minutes later he came back and checked my drawing. He said I could start the next day on the Banana Splits show. The first animation segments I worked on were “The Three Musketeers” and “The Arabian Knights.” My salary to start was $50 a week, but I didn’t care because I was finally in the animation business.
What is your favorite project you’ve worked on in your career and why?
My favorite is Samurai Jack. I feel that show was so well done, and the crew were so very talented. It also gave me my first Emmy.
Tell us what the animation industry looked like in the 1970s.
In the 1970s the animation industry was pretty much the same as it was in the late 1960s. There were still a lot of Golden Age animators working in television, and it was great meeting your animation heroes and hearing about the past. The people that oversaw shows were usually old veterans from the 1930s or the 1940s. Work was seasonal. Almost all of the studios that were around back then are now gone, and the big corporations did not own the studios. It was a good time to get started because you could be taught how to work in the industry doing almost anything.
How has the animation industry changed from when you started to now?
Back in 1968 everything was still done on paper. Shows were still inked and painted on cells. Productions were still all done here in Los Angeles. Today we are working in the digital age. You no longer can hold the artwork in your hands. I prefer seeing and keeping the original art.
How has the Union impacted the animation industry while you’ve been a member?
The Union has always been important to me. We all stand on the shoulders of those brave men and women who went out on strike [against Disney] in 1941. Animation artists benefit from a strong union.
1980s: Steve Hulett
From 1976 to 1986, former Local 839 Business Representative Hulett worked in the story department at Disney on movies like The Fox and the Hound, The Black Cauldron, and the Winnie the Pooh theatrical featurette. He departed (“got laid off), did some freelancing for Warner Bros., and then joined the writing staff at Filmation until the studio closed its doors in 1989.
How did you get started in the animation industry?
In October 1976, I entered the trainee program in the animation department at what was then Walt Disney Productions. The artists who’d worked at the studios since the 1930s were retiring in droves, and the company was filling the department with newbies.
What did you love most about working in the industry?
The friendships, the camaraderie, the challenges that had to be met to get a project up and running—those were the main things. My best friend at Disney was a talented story artist named Pete Young, who died abruptly the fall of 1985. He was 37 when he passed. I still think about him.
What is your favorite project you’ve worked on in your career and why?
My favorite would be The Great Mouse Detective. Story-wise, the feature turned out well. It was the first project under the Katzenberg-Wells-Eisner regime at Disney. It was the first project on which John Musker and Ron Clements were directors; it came in on time and on budget, and made a bit of money.
Tell us what the animation industry looked like in the 1980s.
During the time I worked on the creative side, it was a different animal entirely from what it is today. The animation industry in Los Angeles was considered a minor sideshow in the film industry: Disney did a feature every two to three years, Hanna-Barbera and a few other TV animation studios cranked out Saturday morning cartoons, and the Guild had between 1,000 to 1,600 active members.
At the end of the 1980s, active membership in TAG was down to just over 700 members. Filmation, which had been a large studio in the mid-1980s, closed its doors. Things were bleak.
How did the animation industry change from when you started to when you retired?
By the time I retired as TAG’s business rep in 2016, cartoons had gone from being a minor element in the motion picture industry to a major driver of employment and profits, with lots of animation studios in operation.
How did the Union impact the animation industry when you were a member?
It kept a floor on wages when times were bad and ensured good medical benefits and a pension during fat and thin times. It launched a 401(k) plan that gave members access to three different pension plans: the traditional Motion Picture Industry Pension, the Individual Account Plan, and the TAG 401(k) Plan.
1990s: Eugene Salandra
Salandra studied animation at New York University under John Canemaker, as well as classical figure drawing at the Art Students’ League of New York. After graduating from NYU, he spent time at MTV Animation and Jumbo Pictures, got his first union gig on Turner Feature Animation’s Cats Don’t Dance, and has since spent most of his career at Disney TVA and Disneytoon Studios.
How did you get started in the animation industry?
As a child, I was interested in drawing, performance, film, and puppetry. My mother Barbara and grandfather Eugene were creative and encouraged my interests. Lucille McKeon, an art teacher at our public school program for “gifted and talented students,” gave me a Kodak book, The World of Animation, and it sparked a lifelong love of the medium.
What do you love most about working in the industry?
Animation combines so many of the arts and is a collaborative medium. I enjoy those aspects of the work.
What is your favorite project you’ve worked on in your career and why?
Definitely Sofia the First. It was a charming series, a great crew, and a favorite of my beloved mother, Barbara, who recently passed away.
Tell us what the animation industry looked like in the 1990s.
Animation in the 1990s was enjoying a renaissance, after declining within the overall entertainment landscape in the mid-1980s. By the mid-1990s, studios were trying to round up the very best talent to ride the animation wave.
How do the animation industry changed from when you started to now?
When I started, animation was a 19th- century artform in the 20th century, in many ways. I worked pencil-on-paper until 2010. It was also a less diverse profession years ago. My mentor, the great Tissa David, had directed in Europe but arrived in New York in the mid-1950s to discover a very sexist industry. That has changed to a great extent, thank God.
How has the Union impacted the animation industry while you’ve been a member?
The union has been a great blessing. It has grown enormously since I became a member in 1995. It is more diverse, the membership is more involved, and it is a great resource to all those in the industry.
2000s: Anthony Chun
From storyboarding to directing, Chun has worked on children’s shows, action, and adult comedy. Most recently he is supervising on Solar Opposites.
How did you get started in the animation industry?
I got lucky and was hired at Sony Television Animation as a revision/cleanup artist after a short stint drawing superhero comics.
What do you love most about working in the industry?
I love collaborating with great people on great projects, and I get to make funny pictures come to life!
What is your favorite project you’ve worked on in your career and why?
I love Solar Opposites. I got to assemble a wonderful crew and work on a show that combines my love of well-written comedy, sci-fi, action, and horror with generous helpings of sex, violence, and profanity!
Tell us what the animation industry looked like in the 2000s.
The most advanced technology we were using to storyboard in the early 2000s was Post-it notes.
How has the animation industry changed from when you started to now?
We’re drawing on Cintiqs and timing our own boards to audio tracks, but it’s basically the same: lots and lots of drawings in a short amount of time!
How has the Union impacted the animation industry while you’ve been a member?
I’m incredibly grateful for the stability and advocacy the Union provides. In an industry where we move from project to project, studio to studio, it’s great to know we have a body of fellow workers standing in solidarity with each other and offering continuity of benefits and rights in a sometimes volatile profession.
2010s: Ian Jones-Quartey
After graduating from art school, Jones-Quartey worked several small jobs for commercials, short films, and random pieces of animation in NYC before becoming an Animation Director on Adult Swim’s The Venture Bros. He then moved out to L.A. and segued into storyboarding, supervising, and eventually show-running OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes at Cartoon Network. He’s also worked on Adventure Time and Steven Universe.
How did you get started in the animation industry?
In the summer after my second year at School of Visual Arts in New York, I found an animation studio directory online and cold-called every phone number starting from A. I found an internship at a small commercial studio and never looked back!
What do you love most about working in the industry?
Collaboration is my favorite part. Nothing feels better than when people get to do their best work on their favorite part of the process, and you start to see those parts come together to form a well-oiled machine.
What is your favorite project you’ve worked on in your career?
I really enjoyed my time as Co-Executive Producer on Steven Universe. The project was so character-based but lore heavy. We had a lot of fun dreaming up the most exciting places for the show to go.
Tell us a little about what the animation industry looked like in the 2010s.
In the first part of the decade, streaming hadn’t yet hit, and I recall the reliance on television ratings to determine a show’s worth. Networks were jockeying for the correct timeslots for their shows to air in. I worked on Adventure Time with Finn & Jake, and in the years since I’ve seen its influence spread throughout the industry. Now even comedy cartoons are expected to have ongoing plotlines. There was also a huge rise in independent animators making themselves known on YouTube, which was very inspiring.
How has the animation industry changed from when you started to now?
Streaming seems to have changed things a lot. It’s rare to see shows go longer than 100 episodes. Cartoons are expected to have large, engaged fanbases online. Cartoons fronted by celebrities seem to be making a huge comeback.
How has the Union impacted the animation industry while you’ve been a member?
It’s been incredibly exciting to see more studios join the Union. Compared to when I joined the industry, there’s much more knowledge about the Union among show staffs and way more excitement to participate and make it stronger.
2020s: Alex Anderson Kenney
Anderson Kenney has been in the animation industry for six years. Her work tends to be animation-centered, often with a fun problem-solving component. After working as an animator at indie studio Explosm out of Texas, she moved to DreamWorks TV, where she’s been a Digital Animator for the last two-and-a-half years. Now moving into a different CG role, she’s looking forward to the new challenges.
How did you get started in the animation industry?
When I was in high school, a friend introduced me to the recobbled cut of The Thief and the Cobbler. Seeing it, I was hit by the realization: “Oh wow, someone MADE this!” I had known I wanted to be an artist, but seeing that film sealed the deal for me, and I knew I had to be an animator.
What do you love most about working in the industry?
Seeing other people enjoying something you’ve made is one of the best feelings in the world. My most recent work was on a preschool show, and when friends and family send videos of their kids watching it, I get so excited. It makes the hard work worth it.
What is your favorite project you’ve worked on in your career?
That’s a pretty tough choice, I’ve been very lucky to work with really great teams on fun projects. I’m going to give it to Madagascar: A Little Wild because there were very few days where I came to work and wasn’t laughing.
Tell us a little about what the animation industry looks like today.
We’re in a bit of a unique spot right now. Most of us have spent the past two years working remotely. We have worked hard to provide entertainment to folks that need it, especially in the face of the pandemic. The industry these days is very global, with most productions being made through the collaborative efforts of teams spanning different states and even different countries.
How has the animation industry changed from when you started?
Even in the short time I’ve been here, we’ve been through a lot of changes. Streaming media has risen to prominence in the last few years. Perhaps as a direct result of that, we’re seeing a lot of really unique shows being made. I’m especially excited about the growth and variety we’ve seen in adult animation.
How has the Union impacted the animation industry while you’ve been a member?
The Animation Guild has had a big impact on the industry. We’ve seen the formation of the first non-U.S. animation union with our sibling Local 938 in Canada, and we just saw the expansion of our Guild outside of California through the addition of our friends at Titmouse New York. It’s an exciting time, and I can’t wait to see what’s coming next.
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