BLUE SKY STUDIOS

Protecting Iconic Characters Under Pressure

Technical Animation Lead | Blue Sky Studios (Disney)

Scrat Tales, Original Series for Disney+

Carrying a Beloved Character Forward

Blue Sky Studios has always been a place where character comes first. From Ice Age to Rio, Horton, Epic, Ferdinand, and Peanuts, the studio built worlds audiences recognized instantly — not just by how they looked, but by how they felt.

Working at Blue Sky meant being surrounded by characters people had grown up with. Characters they trusted.

Scrat Tales marked a major moment for the studio. It was Blue Sky’s first Disney+ original series, and it asked us to bring an iconic character into a new format while holding onto the qualities audiences had loved for decades. Feature-level performance. Clear comedic timing. Emotional clarity. All delivered on a compressed schedule during a period of major technical and organizational change.

Working with iconic characters means carrying decades of audience trust into every frame.

The Creative Reality

Scrat Tales entered production during a studio-wide pipeline transition that was still actively unfolding. Core processes were incomplete, tooling was inconsistent, and critical workflows, including fur export and rendering for 3 primary furry characters, were not yet fully solved.

At the same time:

  • The production timeline was fixed

  • The series needed to meet Disney feature-quality standards

  • Teams were adapting to remote work during the pandemic

  • Traditional support structures were limited

The mandate was clear: ship six shorts in six months (without compromising the legacy of an iconic character).

Leadership in a Startup Environment

In practice, this project operated more like a startup than a traditional feature or series pipeline. Roles blurred, systems evolved daily, and cross-disciplinary communication became essential rather than optional.

I acted as connective tissue across animation, rigging, pipeline, and production. From helping teams navigate uncertainty, to prioritizing what mattered most, while reducing unnecessary back-and-forth wherever possible. This included identifying where processes could be streamlined, automated, or temporarily reimagined to keep work moving forward.

Protecting an Iconic Character

Scrat’s appeal lives in small details. The curve of his tail. The timing of an eye dart. The weight of a bounce.

Even subtle changes can alter how audiences perceive him.

While systems and tools shifted around us, maintaining consistent performance and character identity was a daily focus. My work required careful judgment. I was mindful of when speed was essential, and when slowing down was necessary to protect the heart of the character.

Collaboration at Speed

The evolving pipeline forced disciplines to collaborate in new ways. Animation, rigging, engineering, and production worked closely together, sharing information in real time and solving problems as they emerged.

What could have been chaos became momentum. Communication improved. Ownership increased. The work stayed emotionally grounded even as the systems underneath it continued to change.

Why This Work Matters

Scrat Tales reinforced something I carry into every project: Beloved characters can grow and adapt, but only if the things people recognize and love are protected along the way.

That experience shaped how I approach creative leadership today, especially when working with legacy worlds, evolving platforms, and teams building something new under pressure.

Additional selected work in games and interactive experiences available upon request.