Animator has dream job working on Hollywood movies

A Hollywood film animator from Cheddar has told BBC Somerset that as a teenager she was inspired to choose her career by the movie Toy Story.

Jude Brownbill is the animation supervisor of Pixar's latest children's film, Elio, which went on general release in UK cinemas on 20 June.

Ms Brownbill told BBC Somerset presenter Simon Parkin that she watched Toy Story at the age of 13: "It was just a brilliant movie and a great way of animating.

"It wasn't until I was 16 and thinking what sort of job I wanted to do. This idea of being a 3D animator was put to me, and I connected it back to Toy Story. And, I thought 'I could do that job'."

After growing up in Cheddar, Jude Brownbill now lives in California, working for Pixar.

The animation studio is responsible for creating films like Cars, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo and Encanto.

Ms Brownbill has likened her job to being an actor, "because we're taking the words and the staging and the emotions we need to convey, and we're making the characters move and come to life".

She said: "Knowing that movies can do that to you - the storytelling, taking people on an emotional journey - and that's another reason why I wanted to be an animator."

Ms Brownbill studied 3D computer animation in the UK, before moving to the US, and working with Pixar on films including Soul, Cars 2 and 3, Inside Out, Turning Red, Incredibles 2, The Good Dinosaur and Brave.

She was the animation supervisor on Elio, the latest release from Disney Pixar.

Elio is the story of a young boy desperate to make new friends, who is beamed up by aliens, taken deep into space and given the title of "leader of Earth".

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