Animator Biography: PAUL DRIESSEN

It seems that Wednesdays have turned into Animator Biography days. Too bad there's no cool alliteration for it like, "Theme Song Thursdays", hey? Oh well.

The more I researched Paul Driessen for today's post, the more fascinated I was by his work. First of all, he's not a trained animator. He went to school (the Art Academy in Utrecht) for graphic design and illustration. He worked in Holland animating TV commercials. Director George Dunning discovered Paul when he was searching out animators for his movie Yellow Submarine. This movie was based on the Beatle's song and required very (for lack of a better term) trippy animation. Paul was perfect for the job. I've included a clip from the movie in this post. I wanted to put up some of his solo work but unfortunately couldn't find it in the right format to display here. Although this is a very good glimpse at his style. His lines are always wiggly and moving. He has a way of morphing one shape into another (which you can see in the beards and hair growing on the Beatles). His animation seems very childish at first, as far as character design. But if you actually watch it, you'll be amazed at the fluidity of movement and the realism of the characters. I encourage you to go to his page on the NFB website and check out more of his work.

But for now... some Beatles...