From Warner to Disney
In 1993, Itokazu began his training at Warner Bros. "At the time, there were still few people working in CG, and no one around me with experience, and no one to teach me. But I was determined to get out of my apprenticeship, so I stayed at the company until almost midnight and studied on my own."
His efforts paid off, and six months later he was promoted to a full-time employee. Initially, he was in charge of effects for the live-action TV show "Lois & Clark," starring Superman. For the "Batman" film series, he served as technical director and lead modeler, and was responsible for the scene where Batman jumps off the hill as well as the CG of the entire buildings that make up Gotham City.
"The effects department had a staff of 20, maybe 30 people. The software was difficult to use compared to today, so it was a struggle. But when we worked on Batman, the famous effects supervisor John Dykstler sat next to me and gave me guidance. I was also blessed with the opportunity to receive personal guidance from Academy Award-winning director Brad Bird."
He worked in three departments at Warner Bros., where he stayed until 1999. However, after the digital effects department was suddenly closed, he was approached by a friend at Disney and joined Walt Disney Animation Studios as a modeler in 2000.
When asked about the differences between Warner and Disney, Itokazu replied, "When I was at Warner, the digital department had just been established, so to put it in a good way it was flexible, but to put it in a bad way it was disorganized. However, at Disney, the scope of each individual's work was clearly defined, and I was expected to complete it efficiently."
Just as during his time at Warner, Itokazu's good fortune continued even after he moved to Disney, as he received personal instruction from the master.
"First, I was in charge of creating a 3D character for Genie, the genie who appears in the Aladdin show at Tokyo DisneySea, under the direction of Eric Goldberg. Genie's face is originally different from the front and side. How to make it three-dimensional was a difficult problem, and it seems the project had stalled before I joined the company. After much trial and error, I was able to overcome the problem by offering a different idea, which made Eric very happy, and I think he appreciated my work. To tell the truth, I have always wanted to go to DisneySea, but I have never been."
For "Tangled," Itokazu worked on creating a three-dimensional character for the main character, Rapunzel, under the direct guidance of Glen Keane, a master animator who has served as supervising animator on classic Disney animations, including "The Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast," and "Pocahontas."
"It took seven years to complete. Starting from the R&D stage, I was in charge of creating the face of the main character and other characters, including the king. I struggled in particular with Rapunzel's hair, which is key to the film. After much trial and error, I finally completed it and handed the work over to the person in charge of animation, who would be in charge of the next process, based on the model I created."
Nurturing the next generation of CG artists
Itokazu's success continued with the global hit "Frozen," which won an Academy Award, and "Big Hero 6." When asked what changed before and after "Frozen," she said, "My name became much more well-known. After Frozen, when I searched for my name, a lot of articles came up. But even so, whenever people said to me, 'That's amazing you've been involved in an Academy Award-winning film,' I used to answer, 'No, it's nothing special.' But I began to think that such modesty might destroy children's dreams. Recently, I try to be honest and say that it's the result of my hard work, and that I'm proud of it."
Then, at the end of 2014, Itokazu left Disney and started a new life. One of his responsibilities is to run an online CG school, and he also became the principal of another online school called CG Booster in partnership with a Japanese company. He also teaches online classes at Nippon Engineering College and CG classes at California State University, Northridge. His days are very busy.
"Until now, I only needed to know my own field of expertise, but now that I'm in a teaching position, I need to acquire the latest knowledge across a wide range of areas, so I've started spending more time studying than I did at Disney. What's the difference between Japanese students and Northridge students? Japanese students are just so quiet. When you think they don't understand something, they actually do, but they don't ask questions. On the other hand, American students ask questions right away. On the contrary, I wish they would think a little before asking a question (laughs)."
During his time at university in Japan, he had hoped to teach art, but 30 years after graduating, this hope has come true in a different way. When asked what he would like to say to young people who want to become CG artists, he replied, "First, I want you to be aware that you are an artist. I want you to always aim to create something great, not just complete the tasks you are given." This is something he himself has been practicing for many years in Hollywood.
Finally, I asked Itokazu what his own dream is.
"These days, online instruction can be done anywhere as long as there is an internet connection. So I would like to go back to (Kume) Island and teach CG online while living a relaxed life. During the summer holidays, I would also like to gather students on the island and hold a training camp. I would like to do this right away, but since the youngest of my four children is still in junior high school, it looks like that dream will be a while away."
CG Online School website: www.cgonline.biz
CGBooster site: www.cgbooster.com
© 2016 Keiko Fukuda
