What is your name and your current occupation?
Hi, I’m Paul Griffin and I’m currently an animation director. When I was seven, I was planning on being a firefighting astronaut who flew jets on the weekends, but animation director is pretty close. There is an element of firefighting some days, I get to fly spaceships and puppeteer aliens to pilot them, but weekends I mostly just kick back around the house.
What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
I used to work for this couple, one summer in Toronto, who ran a ceramics business out of their basement. They had a tortoise who would eat the leaves of the large marijuana plant growing in the back yard, then he would crash into the fence over and over as he stumbled around. That was entertaining. I guess the turtle was happy for the most part.  I also painted structural I-beams for a summer and had one job where we were working next to the Welland Canal and could look down the smoke stacks of ships as they were passing several hundred feet below us on the water. That’s how I developed my Kung Fu Grip©. Man, the crazy, dangerous stuff you’ll do for $9/hour…
What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
That’s a tough one. My favorite project is usually the one I’m currently working on, but have to say some of the memorable ones have been, The Fly, Magnolia, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, King Kong, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, four Superbowl commercials and the cinematics for Star Wars: Bounty Hunter (VG). Working with the gang at Dr D Studios in Sydney on Happy Feet Two last year was really a lot of fun.
How did you become interested in animation?
Growing up in Ontario Canada, before the advent of cable TV, the town we lived in had one single broadcast TV channel from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Every Saturday at 5 p.m. my family would gather around the TV and we’d watch the Bugs Bunny Road Runner Hour and it was Continue reading
