Carrie Hobson and Michael Yates, the creators behind the first long-form animated series at Pixar Animation Studios,, Win or Lose, have been named on this year’s list of 10 animators to watch as issued by Variety.
What’s Happening:
- Recently, Variety named this year’s edition of the top 10 animators to watch, with several talented folks from the various arms of The Walt Disney Company being included.
- The complete list of those named are as follows:
- Jane Wu (Blue Eye Samurai)
- Abigail Nesbitt (Pupstruction),
- Jeron Braxton (Slime),
- Woodrow White (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem),
- Olufikayo Ziki Adeola (Iwájú),
- Rachel Larsen (The Tiny Chef Show),
- Owen Dennis (Infinity Train),
- Carrie Hobson & Michael Yates (Win or Lose),
- Daniel Fernandez Casas (Migration)
- Marie Lechevallier (Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget).
- When it comes to Hobson & Yates, who are the minds behind the first long-form television series from Pixar Animation Studios, Win Or Lose, they have a plea for those who sit down to watch the show when it debuts, using Variety to tell everyone to “turn off that dang motion smoothing!”
- The new series gives the breakout duo the opportunity to work on an episodic venture, a rarity at Pixar Animation Studios, with the other series (like Dug Days or Cars On The Road) being short-form, with Hobson saying that “It’s a different format than Pixar’s ever done — and that’s what’s exciting,”
- The pair also shared that the inspiration for the new series came from an interesting place – a story meeting during production on Toy Story 4, where the pair were comparing notes afterward, noticing how differently they’d interpreted the same event. Yates explained, “One of the things we wanted to explore in the show was, without telling you how to feel, just letting you experience that from a different point of view. That was something that was really intriguing.”
- One fan they have in their corner? Academy Award winning director of Finding Nemo and WALL-E, Andrew Stanton, whom the pair credited for inspiration and his ongoing support.
- The series follows the events leading up to the Pickles softball championship, with each episode offering a different point of view. It follows not only students like Rochelle and the umpire Frank (Will Forte), but also the parents. Those in attendance at the recent Annecy Festival were treated to an episode, titled “Vanessa: The Cool Mom.” Having already been told that Rochelle sometimes has to help keep her mom organized, it gave insight into a hectic life of a single mother, trying to balance a career, a biting toddler, and a middle schooler facing life’s biggest turning point.
- The list also includes the minds behind projects like Iwaju and Pupstruction and you can read more about their inspiration and career hurdles in the full post from Variety.
- Win or Lose arrives in December on Disney+.
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