About Me

I am just another rootin tootin Texan born just north of Dallas. I grew up loving Mickey Mouse, and Disney movies. I took my first art class my junior year in high school. It was then that I realized I no longer wanted to be an engineer. I joined the art program at UNT in 1993 and after 2 years of fine arts training, I ran out of money. Unfortunately, I got sucked into the job market for several years and lost sight of my dreams of being an artist. That dream was rekindled on a trip to Disney World in 2002. I joined the computer animation program at The Art Institute of Dallas immediately upon returning from that trip. I attended classes there for 3 quarters. Once again, I ran out of funds to complete my degree, but fortunately met Ray Chase, animator for DNA Productions, who took me under his wing. He and coworker Paul Allen, helped me on my trek to becoming an animator. Thanks to their mentorship, my supportive wife, and many sleep-deprived months, I was able to join the ranks of animators at DNA Productions.

At the close of production on The Ant Bully, the amazing team of animators at DNA were dispersed across the country. I was fortunate enough to join the efforts of 3D Site in creating a cutting edge theme park attraction, The Laugh Floor Comedy Club, for Walt Disney World. 3D Site is located near Los Angeles, California. So, I packed up my family and we headed west. We took advantage of our Southern California residency and purchased a Disneyland annual pass. When not working for 3D Site, I kept myself plenty busy with freelance work for Reel FX, as well as my former church. Any other spare time was spent at Disneyland.

As every project has to end, so did The Laugh Floor. I did some freelance for Reel FX for a month, and then joined the Midway Studios team back in Austin, Texas. So, once again, the Tonymation family packed up and tracked halfway across the country. I worked on one shipped title, Area 51 - Blacksite, and then moved to a project that has since been shelved, Criminal. The studio went through a layoff, and work was slow, so when Reel FX called with a three-week contract opportunity, I figured it would be a great way to spend the downtime. Unfortunately Midway could not facilitate a leave of absence, so I ended up putting in notice.

My work at Reel FX was lots of fun and included projects like commercial work for Kung Fu Panda, and Madagascar 2. I also worked on the film, Open Season 2, and the short for the Kung Fu Panda dvd release, Secrets of the Furious Five. I really enjoyed working on each of these and along side the talented animators at Reel FX. Unfortunately, they did not have any more contract work after about 5 months. Fortunately, Blue Sky Studios offered me a temporary animator position at this time.

We had to delay our trip to New York a couple of weeks in order to give birth to our baby girl, Kyra. But no sooner had she joined the Tonymation family, did Kyra take her first road trip. I started with Blue Sky in September of 2008, to work on Ice Age 3 Dawn of the Dinosaurs. We enjoyed our stay in White Plains, and were able to take a three day trip into the city to do the tourist bit. There was still so much for us to see in the Big Apple, but it will have to wait until our next visit up north.

After our stay in New York, we made the return drive to Texas in hopes of finding work once again. I was fortunate enough to be hired on at Reel FX Creative Studios, right back where it all started in Dallas, Texas. And that's where you will find me today, riding my trusty steed down the streets of downtown Dallas with my cowboy hat and six shooters. Now where's that darn saloon.