Warning: there are light spoilers for “Toy Story 5” in this interview.
Peachtree City native David Torres first saw 1995’s “Toy Story” during his freshman year at Ringling College of Art and Design. Twenty-four years later, he served as an animator on “Toy Story 4,” and now has completed work on “Toy Story 5,” which hits theaters on June 19.
Torres began working for Pixar in 2015, but also worked on films like the “How to Train Your Dragon” franchise, “Robots,” “The Polar Express,” and more. Ahead of the release of “Toy Story 5,” I spoke with Torres about his career and where his love for animation comes from. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Where did your love for animation come from? Did you always want to work in this field?
David Torres: I’ve been animating since I was about 13, 14, years old. I’m 50 now, so I’ve been doing it for a long time. I was always in love with Disney films, growing up as a kid. I think the one that got me was when I went to see “Aladdin” in the theater … I went and saw that, and I was like, “Oh my god – I want to do this.”
I was an artist my entire life. I started painting and drawing at a young age and did art all the time, and then decided I want to do this. I actually wrote a letter to Disney around that age. I was like, “What do I need to do to be an animator?” I didn’t think they would actually ever write back, but they did. They wrote a whole letter back, and they sent me a sample portfolio of how they hire, and the schools, and all the stuff that you should go to. That was my beginning, and I ended up going to Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Fla. That was early on in the industry. There was no computer animation at the time – it was only 2D. I just happened to be in college, my freshman year, when “Toy Story” came out. Actually, the guys here at Pixar came to campus, and we got to see it about two weeks prior to anyone else … It was fantastic, and I remember thinking, “Oh my god. I’m in the right place at the right time. This is it.”
Talk to me about what you did after school. I know you worked for DreamWorks for some time, but how did that opportunity come about?
Torres: My junior year I got an internship with Disney Imagineering, so I was actually working in theme park rides, and I animated animatronics. That was my very first job in my junior year. Right after college – I graduated on a Friday. By that Monday, I was up in Portland, Oregon, at a place called Will Vinton Studios, which is now Laika Studios. I did the M&M commercials for a while. Between that and going back to Disney Imagineering, I did a couple projects. From there I went into a short stint in video games in Texas, but then landed my first feature film at Blue Sky Studios in New York. I worked on “Ice Age.” I was in New York for about eight years before I went to DreamWorks, and then I was at DreamWorks for about six and a half years. I’ve been [at Pixar] for 11 years.
Jumping into Pixar, I wondered if you could talk about being an animator and what that actually looks like on a project on a day to day basis. What are you working on within the movies themselves, how collaborative is the effort?
Torres: My job is to bring the life and performance into the characters. Anything that’s moving on screen is my responsibility. One of the things that people confuse is that the dialogue, the actors – they come first. So, in “Toy Story,” I did a lot of Buzz Lightyear – that was my forte. I would get Tim Allen’s recordings, I would be assigned a sequence, which is a series of shots – usually about 30 seconds, is what we as animators deal with at a time.
We get briefed by the director. The director will be like, “Oh, I’m expecting this kind of emotion, I’m looking for this kind of thing. I want to make sure that we’re going to land comically here. I want to make this feel heroic.” He briefs you on what he’s thinking about. I sit back at my desk, I listen to the audio of anything that the actor brought. I’m listening to every little detail of breath, pauses for thought, and I capture all of that. Then, as an animator, I will go and do an acting pass of myself, where I will record myself [for] video reference. I’ll be able to just get into the character, and then I am responsible for block animating those shots. Then I work with the director and my fellow animators to craft the performance that will end up finally on the screen. I’ll do a pass, which is called blocking, and then I’ll show it to the director. The director will give me feedback, and we’ll go back and forth with iteration. Usually I do 30 seconds at about 6-8 weeks.
We go back and forth until we nail down the performance of that whole moment. My job also is that I need to work with my team, with everybody on the [movie], because that’s the illusion. The illusion is that this is a real character that has one real thought throughout the whole performance, but it’s animated by 60 animators. So we have to work together to make sure things are consistent, that we’re making logical decisions for that character throughout the film. I always say, even though I work independently, it’s very much a team sport.
You said 30 seconds takes about 6-8 weeks – so how long did “Toy Story 5” take, or how long does an average project take to animate?
Torres: Each film is different. Each film has its constraints and technical hurdles to overcome. “Toy Story” being a fifth is great, because a lot of us know it. I worked on number four, and I worked on number five here, and I did some other “Toy Story” stuff. So we kind of understand the characters. We’re not discovering a character, but we are evolving the character. We have to evolve them, not only for our personal sakes of improving our performance and acting choices, but also to make them a more appealing character for everybody else. Everyone wants to see how Buzz and Woody and these guys have grown. We’re growing with them. The good news is the characters are really established, and we have a lot of reference points. So there’s not much discovery as much as an original film has.
I was on [“Toy Story 5”] for just shy of two years. Animation took about 18 months. And it’s a ramp. You start with a very small team, and you might do one sequence or two. We’re slowly getting the pipeline working, making sure that everything is working throughout the entire process. So you start really small, and then as sequences get more and more improved, because each sequence is still in story, you’re constantly developing as you’re making the film. We change things, we’re watching screenings, we get notes, we get that feedback. We’re trying to evolve, to make the story as best as we can. You start small, and then by the time we get to the last three to six months, you have your full team working on many sequences at once, many shots at once. So everyone’s chewing up the footage and trying to get as much of that done.
But other films take longer. Some films were quick. It depends on how many times we have to adjust the story.
Did you have a favorite sequence in “Toy Story 5?” You mentioned you worked with Buzz Lightyear, and there’s a lot of Buzz in this movie.
Torres: I really enjoyed the moment of Buzz and Woody underneath the bed when Buzz is asking Woody to be his best man. I did that moment, and that whole bit was one of my favorites to actually animate. I also did the scene of Buzz and Jesse kissing. Another great moment. So any time Buzz was on screen, I was having fun.
That’s interesting – I feel like you talk to people and they say, oh I really liked this action-oriented set piece. But those are two very deep character moments.
Torres: That’s true. As an animator, we gravitate toward certain things. I gravitate towards drama and performance. There are people that love action, there are some people that really love comedy. I like comedy, but my forte is drama and performance.
Over the course of your career, has there been a movie that you’ve had the best time on? Do you have a favorite?
Torres: There are moments throughout the career that are kind of your earmark moments. There’s always your first film, so “Ice Age” comes with a lot of memories and a lot of growth.
Pixar, for me, was a dream. From that day that I saw “Toy Story” on that screen, I wanted to work at this studio more than anything. I didn’t get it right away. It took me a good part of, like, 15 years to get here. But working on “Toy Story 4” was a huge thing for me, just because I love these characters, and I really wanted to work on it. When I got to animate Buzz, I was like, “Oh my god.” … That film was huge for me.
“How to Train Your Dragon,” was a big film for me, because that was the first film I got to supervise. I was a supervising animator for Hiccup on that movie. So, to me, that was a big milestone in my career.
There have just been so many films here at Pixar. Every film holds something to me. “Coco” holds a special place in my heart. “The Incredibles 2” – there are so many films. “Inside Out 2” was my first time being a directing animator at Pixar, so that was a big deal.
I was born in 1994 – not to age myself – but “Toy Story” is something that I’ve completely grown up with, and I feel that way about every Pixar film. And for you, it must feel full circle – seeing it in college, and coming back to it after all these years.
Torres: “Toy Story,” when I saw it, was the catalyst for where I am today. Of course, I’m not done yet [laughs]. Hope not!
