Canterbury grad draws on animation training to launch career with Pixar

Posted Feb 2, 2012 By Eddie Rwema

When Benjamin Su was chosen for a visual arts program at Canterbury High school, little did he know it would be a starting point to a successful animation career.

And when Disney's animated classic "Brave" is released this coming summer, the Canterbury community should be proud one of their own graduates contributed to this project.

"Brave" is based on an Irish fairy tale and stars Emma Thompson.

Born in Taiwan, Su and his family moved to Canada when he was 10 and briefly settled in Regina.

Coming from a tropical homeland, adjusting to the weather in Regina was tough.

"It was quite a challenging adjustment to go from tropical island to -45 degrees (Celsius) winter," said Su.

From his childhood Su's dream was to be an animator.

"I've been drawing for as long as I can remember and was greatly influenced by 'Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show' and all the Disney Feature films growing up," he said.

"I was also into comic books and made many of my own books and cartoons as a child. I have always loved creating characters with different personalities and bringing them to life on paper."

Through out high school and college, Su said he was involved with creating cartoons for the school papers and is glad people found them entertaining.

He joined Canterbury High School in the mid '90s when his family relocated to Ottawa.

Going to Canterbury High School was a life changer for him, Su said.

"Being surrounded by so many talented artists who were equally passionate about drawing was both an inspiration and encouragement," he said.

"Ottawa's also a great city, very family friendly and full of amazing treasures such as the National Art Gallery."

He recalls spending many weekends at the gallery sketching and studying masters' paintings.

Su adds that Ottawa will always hold a very special place in his heart.

"My passion for animation started here and I also met my wife in Ottawa," he said.

Su added that it was at Canterbury that he found out about Sheridan College's great animation program.

It was also at Canterbury where he was able to build a decent portfolio with the guidance of the teachers.

"My school counsellor also got me a three months co-op program at a 2-D animation studio and that experience really opened my eyes as to what I was getting into," he said.

Su landed his first full time job right after graduating from Sheridan's computer animation class back in 2003.

Then C.O.R.E Animation Studios' in Toronto was making Canada's first theatre released computer animated feature film and it was going to be a $180 million budget Disney movie.

"I was hired on near the beginning of the production and it gave me the opportunity to wear many different hats on the movie. I was able to do 3-D design and modelling on some of the main characters of the movie. I eventually moved on to doing some character animation and was promoted to be a lead crowd animator," he recalled.

His dream had always been to work for Pixar, but he knew it was difficult to get in.

"I was working in Los Angeles at Sony Animation Studios and my contract was coming to an end when I decided to apply to Pixar," he said.

"Fortunately I was hired to work on Toy Story 3 as my first project and I was part of a very special team selected to work on the climax sequence of the movie."

The first Toy Story was one of his inspirations to get into computer animation and a chance to work on the trilogy felt like his career came to a full circle.

His first movie went on to be successful and won an Oscar.

INDUSTRY BOOMING

Su wants young animators to know that the industry is booming and profitable.

"Keep a good relationship with your fellow colleagues from school. Like any job, strong opportunities often come from word of mouth," he said.

"It is a small industry and the person sitting next to you in class could be your boss one day."

He noted that success is to be able to do something you love.

"So don't give up!"