Making Imagination: An Animation Podcast
Get a behind-the-scenes look at how animated projects get made, one craft at a time! Each episode, I‘ll take you on a guided tour of some of the processes involved in bringing imagination to life. I‘ll sit down with industry professionals to learn more about their specific craft and how it relates to the process of animation. Come along for the ride!
Episodes
Tuesday Dec 24, 2024
19 | ADAPTING Animation (with Tod Polson)
Tuesday Dec 24, 2024
Tuesday Dec 24, 2024
Adapting animation well takes care, craft, and strategy. In this episode of Making Imagination, director Tod Polson talks about working on "The Secret of Kells," "The Prodigal," and "The 21"!
Saturday Aug 10, 2024
18 | FEATURE Animation (with Tony Bancroft)
Saturday Aug 10, 2024
Saturday Aug 10, 2024
The Lion King, The Rescuers Down Under, The Emperor's New Groove—Disney director Tony Bancroft (Mulan, 1998) has lent his skills to a number of feature films in the more than thirty years in which he's worked. Now an industry veteran, he gives back generously, sharing insights and stories into what it takes to make a feature film!
Wednesday Jul 17, 2024
17 | LAYOUT in Animation (with Aleksandra Kleczkowska)
Wednesday Jul 17, 2024
Wednesday Jul 17, 2024
Once you've storyboarded an animated episode for a series, now what do you do? Layout artist Aleksandra Kleczkowska answers that question, discussing the technical and artistic challenges of layout art in animation!
Tuesday Mar 05, 2024
16 | VOICING Animation (with Paul Rugg)
Tuesday Mar 05, 2024
Tuesday Mar 05, 2024
Animation in the United States begins with acting—voice acting! In this episode, go behind the scenes with industry veteran Paul Rugg (Animaniacs, The Adventures of Puss in Boots, Teen Titans Go!) to discover what he learned working with names like Spielberg, Warner Bros. Disney and DreamWorks!
Wednesday Apr 05, 2023
15 | INDIE Animation (with Nora Twomey)
Wednesday Apr 05, 2023
Wednesday Apr 05, 2023
In the beginning, they worked just to keep the lights on. Now (five Academy Award nominations later), they're inspiring animators across the globe by reimagining the limits of what hand-drawn animation can achieve. In this episode of Making Imagination, Cartoon Saloon co-founder and Oscar nominee, Nora Twomey, discusses independent filmmaking from her studio in Ireland.
Saturday Apr 01, 2023
14 | CHARACTER DESIGN in Animation (with Randy Bishop)
Saturday Apr 01, 2023
Saturday Apr 01, 2023
Netflix, Disney, DreamWorks—character designer Randy Bishop has designed characters for them all. But what does that process look like and what does a character designer need to know? Explore this interview to learn here!
Sunday Jan 08, 2023
13 | PRODUCING Animation (with Academy Award-winner Carl Reed)
Sunday Jan 08, 2023
Sunday Jan 08, 2023
What's a producer do? What kinds of producers are there? How do you pitch to a producer? In this episode of Making Imagination, executive producer and co-founder of Lion Forge Animation, Carl Reed, discusses the role and what it's like.
Saturday Aug 27, 2022
12 | WRITING Animation (with DreamWorks’ Todd Garfield)
Saturday Aug 27, 2022
Saturday Aug 27, 2022
The choices we make can alter the courses of our careers. DreamWorks writer, Todd Garfield (Voltron Force, Home: For the Holidays, Turbo Fast), faced an ultimatum at the start of his career—to work on Genndy Tartakovsky's "Samurai Jack" or to staff another animated series based in comedy? He went with "Jack" but considered turning it down! Hear that story and more in this latest episode of Making Imagination, where you'll learn more of the craft of writing for TV animation.
Meet the Host
I'm a two-time Mid-America Emmy-winning storyteller who, after spending seven years in TV and digital entertainment, branched out to establish my own studio, Murrell Imagination, LLC. I got my fortunate start in 2011 as an intern at World Events Productions working on Nicktoons’ Voltron Force and then,later, worked as a character designer and story artist for a Dreamworks TV miniseries created and produced by Coolfire Studios in St. Louis. I've worked on non-scripted projects aired on Discovery, Syfy, Fox/ABC/NBC, BET, and others; and, my experience in children’s programming includes filming, editing, and directing animation for various projects and clients including Build-A-Bear. I currently live in Ferguson, MO, with my awesome wife and rascally kids.