Meg Weichman, the artistic manager of SCAD’s Theatres and Festivals, introduced this year’s panel, which she described as a celebration of the “imagination, artistry and collaboration that brings extraordinary animated stories to life.”
But to make something “extraordinary” requires significant effort, which is part of what makes the process “magical,” Chong said.
Creating an animated film typically takes well over a year — and sometimes much, more more. From the first idea to its big-screen release, Bird’s “Ray Gunn” took roughly 30 years to finalize, though he wasn’t consistently working on the film throughout that period.
“Ray Gunn” is voiced by Sam Rockwell and Scarlett Johansson.
‘Ray Gunn’ ©2026 Skydance Animation
But Bird was willing to put in the work, saying that a good story “has to come from life. You can’t create the illusion of life without having one, and that’s what we are in charge of — making the illusion of life and bringing people to something new.”
“Wildwood” also required an extensive production process, especially considering it used stop-motion animation. The film used 2,800 shots, a process Knight described as a “pain.”
“Stop motion is progressive. You start on frame one and you work your way all the way through in slow motion until you have a performance,” he said. “There is something extraordinarily magical about being a part of that.”
“It really is the story that dictates the visual storytelling and drive of the characters,” he shared. “That’s how we were able to play with various styles of anime and manga that followed the character point of view in these sections of [‘Forgotten Island’].”
“Forgotten Island”
DreamWorks Animation
The panelists also challenged the common misconceptions of working as an animator, which for “Tangles” director Nelson, included actually needing to be an animator.
