Sheridan alumni behind magic of Golden Globe winner Zootopia

Zootopia, featuring the work of nearly a dozen Sheridan alumni, has won the Golden Globe for best animated motion picture. The award was presented on Sunday, January 8th in Beverley Hills, California.

“Congratulations to our alumni who worked on Zootopia. Your work truly inspires our animation students,” says Mary Preece, President and Vice Chancellor of Sheridan. A number of graduates also worked on competing films in the category, including Moana and Kubo and the Two Strings.  Sheridan graduates have a long history of success at the Golden Globes.  Alumni have contributed to every film that has won in the best animated motion picture category since the award’s inception in 2006.  Dean DeBlois, a 1990 graduate, won in 2015 for writing and directing How to Train Your Dragon 2.

Angela Stukator, Associate Dean of Animation and Game Design at Sheridan, attributes the animation alumni’s success to the program’s deep roots in classical animation, its “phenomenal” faculty who bring their own industry experience to the classroom, and close ties with industry that help keep curriculum current. “Rather than just training students to work as craftspeople, we encourage them to be aspirational storytellers, directors and producers,” she explains.

Sheridan has been a leader in animation education since the early 1970’s.  The Honours Bachelor of Animation program launched in 2003, building on the rich history of the classical animation program, and incorporating 3D and stop motion into the core curriculum.  Students in the program are drawn from all over the world, and after graduation go on to work for Pixar, DreamWorks, Cookie Jar, Cuppa Coffee, DHX, Nelvana, Corus, Electronic Arts, and other giants of animation and gaming.