From discovering her love for drawing in college to refining her animation skills at Animation Mentor, Alum Kristina Sepulveda’s career path has been nothing short of inspiring. Now, with credits on major films like Inside Out 2 and Elemental, she shares her experiences, challenges, and the lessons she’s learned along the way. In this interview, Kristina offers a glimpse into the world of professional animators, providing insights into her animation path, experiences at Pixar, and invaluable advice for aspiring animators.

Start to a Career in Animation

Animation Mentor: Tell us about your animation journey. How did you get to where you are today?

Kristina: As a kid, I watched and re-watched a lot of cartoons, movies and 2D animated movies, including all the Disney classics. I never imagined that I would actually pursue animation as a job, but looking back, I can see how it all fits into where I am now. I always enjoyed drawing, but it wasn’t until I took a drawing class in college that I found that I really enjoyed it. I gravitated towards life drawing, any visual development stuff for animation, and the hand drawn key frames from 2D animated movies (Milt Kahl and Glen Keane were most influential).

It took me a little while to actually take the leap and commit myself to schooling for animation. When I did, I studied at another online school where I got a good general education in 3D with a concentration in animation. After that I got a few gigs, but felt my animation skills could improve so I decided to try Animation Mentor. I completed the Character Animation Program and got the animation internship at Pixar in the summer of 2020. I was hired immediately after that as a Fix Animator and worked there for the next three and a half years.

Working as a Pixar Fix Animator

Animation Mentor: Walk us through a day in the life of a Fix Animator at Pixar.

Kristina: A Fix Animator at Pixar may work exclusively on fixes or exclusively on crowds, or may bounce between both depending on the needs of the project. Every day is different, but usually the day starts with dailies. There may be various other meetings throughout the day or week and you would work on your shot/s in between those meetings. As a fix animator your main job is to address “fixes” which are notes that are called after the shot has been finaled and polished by the animator. These fixes can range in difficulty, so for example, you could be fixing something as small as an intersection or eye direction. Or you could fix something more complex like lip sync, or a different acting choice, or polishing a shot that another animator has already blocked out. You do get shots that are completely your own if and when there are opportunities, but mainly you focus on fixes. As a crowds animator you get shots and animate all the background or non main characters. For both jobs you go through the process of showing leads, Animation Directors and/or Directors for reviews and approvals.

Animation Mentor: What scenes or characters throughout your career have been your favorites to animate and why?

Kristina: There is a long shot in Inside Out 2 that I worked on where the mind workers are demolishing headquarters and Joy is talking to the foreman. I was responsible for most of the background characters and the foreground tug-of-war between Anger and a mind worker. The shot always makes me smile because it reminds me of the time early on in production when our small but mighty crowds team was coming up with ideas for these mind workers during this demolition moment. It brings up a lot of good memories for me. And also, when I showed the shot in dailies I got a nice compliment from a great animator whose work I really admire, so that also makes me proud.

As for characters, I really enjoyed animating Ember and Wade. I loved their characters and it was a fun challenge to get them to feel like their fire and water elements. It was also a big deal for me to get to animate the legacy emotion characters on Inside Out 2. It was surreal to see the characters from the first movie up on my computer screen waiting for me to set some keys on them and animate them. It was awesome.

Animation Mentor: What is one of the most challenging shots you’ve ever animated and what did you learn from it?

Kristina: The title shot for Inside Out 2. I only did the polish for Riley, Bree, and Grace, but was fully responsible for everyone else. The challenge was that I’ve never played hockey in my life, much less animated it, not to mention this was the shot with the title of the entire movie on it. So even though it was a little intimidating to start, I had good resources to lean into. There were a few designated “hockey experts” on the animation team as well as draw over artists that we could get notes from, and some documentation to help us understand the sport. Even though a lot of the hockey animation I did in that shot is blurred, it was still very important. The shot was a good learning experience that served me well with the many hockey shots that were to follow throughout the run of the show.

Animation Mentor: Have you seen a piece of animation recently that inspired you? What was it?

Kristina: I recently rode Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Disneyland and they show you a little short cartoon before the ride starts. I was reminded of how awesome those Mickey Mouse Shorts are. I love how graphic and cartoony they are.

Experience as an Animation Mentor Student

Animation Mentor: How did Animation Mentor help prepare you for the industry?

Kristina: Animation Mentor upped all my animation skills for sure. Polishing, lip sync, and body mechanics stand out as my most improved. They also helped with ideation and using reference, as well as receiving and addressing notes.

Advice for Animation Students

Animation Mentor: What advice do you have for current or future Animation Mentor students?

Kristina: Take breaks! Our bodies don’t like to be in any one position for long periods of time. RSI is real and common. Invest in a standup mouse to save your wrist. Rest your eyes. There’s lots of information online about proper ergonomics as well as recommended amounts and frequency of break time both for your body and eyes. 

As for actual animation advice I would say try not to compare yourself to others. Be inspired by others and let that push you closer to where you want to be. Also, listen to your mentors. When we are working on our own stuff for hours and hours we become blind to it, and someone with a lot of experience can point out stuff that you never would have seen or thought of and it will elevate your work.

Kristina Sepulveda in the credits

See what other projects Kristina has worked on on IMDB.

Want to be mentored by professional animators?

Follow your animation dreams just like Kristina Sepulveda did by learning from animators at studios like Pixar, ILM, Riot Games, Disney, and Blizzard! Get more information about Animation Mentor’s Character Animation Program or check out our Game Animation Program.