Jin Kim (animator)

Jin Kim
EmployerWalt Disney Animation Studios
Korean name
Hangul
김상진
Revised RomanizationGim Sangjin
McCune–ReischauerKim Sangjin

Jin Kim (Korean김상진, Korean name: Kim Sang-jin) is a South Korean animator and character designer best known for his work at Walt Disney Animation Studios from 1995–2016.[1][2] He was the first Korean animator to work for Disney.[citation needed]

Kim has red-green color blindness.[3] Due to Korean college admissions policies at the time, he was unable to get into art school and ended up majoring in economics in college.[3] Regardless, he persisted in developing his drawing skills and was eventually able to embark on a career as an animator.[3]

In 2016, Hong Sung-ho, president of Locus Studios, persuaded Kim to return to South Korea to work as executive creative director of the Korean feature animated film Red Shoes (which premiered in July 2019).[1][4] According to Hong, at that time, Kim had been left with nothing new to design because Disney was then focused on developing sequels rather than entirely new films.[4] Kim was also happy to work with an animation team in the Korean language[4] for the first time since a three-year period in the South Korean animation industry at the beginning of his career.[2]

In May 2018, Kim returned to Los Angeles to work on Pearl Studio/Netflix's film, Over the Moon, which was directed by fellow Disney animator Glen Keane.[2] As of August 2019, Kim had joined a new project at Disney.[2] He worked on both Raya and the Last Dragon and Encanto.

Filmography

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Year Title Credits Characters
1986 Dooly the Little Dinosaur (TV Series) Animator: Hando Heung-Up Co., Ltd. - 1987 - 1988
1990–1991 The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda (TV Series) Animator, 1990
Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone (TV Series) Animator - 13 Episodes
Tiny Toon Adventures (TV Series) Animator - 17 Episodes
Darkwing Duck (TV Series) Animator - 6 Episodes
1992 Goof Troop (TV Series) Animator - 15 Episodes
The Plucky Duck Show (TV Series) Animator - 2 Episodes
1993 The Legends of Treasure Island (TV Series) Key Animator - 3 Episodes
Bonkers (TV Series) Animator - 4 Episodes
Spirou (TV Series) Storyboard Artist - 1995
1994 Aladdin (TV Series) Animator - 12 Episodes
1997 Hercules Animator Amphitryon and Alcmene
1999 Tarzan Additional Animator
2000 Fantasia 2000 Animator - Segments "Rhapsody in Blue", "Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro, Opus 102", "Pomp and Circumstance - Marches 1, 2, 3, and 4" and "Firebird Suite - 1919 Version"
The Emperor's New Groove Animator Kuzco/Kuzco Llama
2002 Treasure Planet Animator Jim Hawkins
2004 Home on the Range Animator Buck
2005 Chicken Little Animator
2007 Meet the Robinsons Animator
2008 Glago's Guest (Short) Character Designer
Bolt Character Designer
2009 The Princess and the Frog Animator Charlotte "Lottie" La Bouff
2010 Tangled Character Designer
2012 Wreck-It Ralph Visual Development Artist
2013 Frozen Visual Development Artist
2014 Big Hero 6 Character Designer Supervisor
2016 Zootopia Additional Visual Development Artist
Moana Visual Development Artist
2018 Ralph Breaks the Internet Additional Visual Development Artist
Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs Executive Creative Director
2019 Frozen II Additional Visual Development Artist
2020 Over the Moon Character Designer
2021 Raya and the Last Dragon Visual Development Artist
Belle Character Designer
Encanto Character Designer/Visual Development Artist/2D Animator

Awards and nominations

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Year Awards Category Recipient Result
2015 42nd Annie Awards[5] Character Design in an Animated Feature Production Big Hero 6 Nominated

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Kim, Boram (12 July 2019). "Ex-Disney animator fulfills long-held wish by working on Korean animation film". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d Ko, Dong-hwan (25 August 2019). "'Frozen' creator pessimistic about Korean animation's future". The Korea Times. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Lee, Hyo-won (15 May 2011). "Dreams come true, Disney style". The Korea Times. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  4. ^ a b c Lee, Jae-Lim (18 July 2019). "Local animation studio debuts with 'Red Shoes': Director Hong Sung-ho adds his own twist to a beloved fairy tale". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  5. ^ "42nd Annual Annie Award Nominees". Retrieved December 1, 2014.
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