Nov 22, 2019

How they did it: Matt Williams on the development and animation of the character of "Klaus"

If you work as a 2d character animator in the States, you don't get offered a job on a major studio feature every day.

In fact, the decline of hand-drawn animation in the country is one reason why Sergio Pablos, a star artist of Disney's 1990s renaissance, eventually returned to his native Spain. When he started production on his new feature Klaus, he recruited his team from all over - including the U.S. Enter Matt Williames, a gifted animator based in Oregon.

Since graduating from Calarts in 2001, Williames has stuck it out in the 2d industry, where his work as a character animator and designer has taken him to most major studios in the country. His credits include Disney's The Princess and the Frog and Mary Poppins Returns, Laika's Coraline, Dreamworks's short film Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Scroll, and Warner Bros.'s forthcoming DC Super Pets.

For Klaus, which was animated at Pablos's SPA Studios in Madrid, Williames was hired to supervise Mogens, the hard-bitten ferryman who serves as a foil to protagonist Jesper. Cartoon Brew caught up with the animator to discuss how he went about bringing this curious character to life. Williames's comments are taken from longer answers sent by email.

“Klaus” is available to view on Netflix.