The movie SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON is a piece of art on its own. With combined 2D and 3D animation, this movie comes from an area of animated masterpieces, of which whe might not see the likes again. SPIRIT not only shows us beautiful and diverse characters, but also shows us the greatness of the Wild West and its landscapes. You could watch this movie with only looking to the backgrounds, and it will still be worth the watch.
To create this timeless classic, a crew with differently skilled artists was put together to form an art department. Characters had to be designed, concept art had to set a mood for the movie, and storyboards had to give live to the script. On this page you can find a selection of the fine artists that worked on SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON, including some of their work.
To create this timeless classic, a crew with differently skilled artists was put together to form an art department. Characters had to be designed, concept art had to set a mood for the movie, and storyboards had to give live to the script. On this page you can find a selection of the fine artists that worked on SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON, including some of their work.
Luc Desmarchelier (Art Director)
Luc Desmarchelier is an Los Angeles based illustrator, designer, art director and production designer since 1984. He has worked for DreamWorks, Universal, and Sony (among others), working on movies such as SPIRIT, Shrek, and Hotel Transylvania.
For SPIRIT, Desmarchelier worked as art director, together with Ronald (Ron) W. Lukas. He did some amazing beatboards, character development, visual development, and set designs. Some of Desmarchelier's work has been used for official SPIRIT merchandise, such as books and the Panini sticker album. The works on the left are just a selection of the art Desmarchelier did for SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON. See Desmarchelier's Blogspot (link beneath) for many more pictures. |
Armand Baltazar (Background Artist)
Chicago born Armand Baltazar began his visual storytelling career in the animation industry as background artist, visual development artist, and art director. He has worked for studios such as DreamWorks, Disney, and Pixar. Besides SPIRIT, he worked on movies such as The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, The Princess and the Frog, and Inside Out.
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James Baxter (Senior Supervising Animator "Spirit")
Legendary animator James Baxter started in the industry in the 1980s. Since then, he did a lot of animating and supervising animating. Besides SPIRIT, he worked on movies such as The Little Mermaid (Ariel), The Rescuers Down Under (Joanna, Wilbur), Beauty and the Beast (Belle), The Lion King (Rafiki), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Quasimodo), The Prince of Egypt (Moses), The Road to El Dorado (Tulio), Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (Sinbad), Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, and more recent productions such as Klaus and Wolfwalkers.
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Richard 'Richie' Chavez (Visual Development)
Los Angelas based Richard 'Richie' Chavez has been working in the animation industry since 1983. He has worked at studios such as DreamWorks, Disney, Warner Bros, Universal, and Sony. Besides SPIRIT, he has worked on movies like Mulan, The Prince of Egypt, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, and Brother Bear.
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Richard Daskas (Background Artist)
Richard Daskas has been working in the animation industry since 1991. He worked at studios such as DreamWorks And Warner Bros Television. He has worked as background painter, visual development artist, and art director. Besides SPIRIT, he worked on movies such as Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Kung Fu Panda, Puss in Boots, and Penguins of Madagascar.
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Hani D. El-Masri (Visual Development)
Egyptian born Hani D. El-Masri moved to the USA in 1990 and worked for both Disney and DreamWorks. Besides SPIRIT, he worked on The Prince of Egypt and The Road to El Dorado. Sadly, he passed away in 2015. As seen on the left, El-Masri made incredible equipment drawings for the US Cavalry, Lakota Indians, cowboys, and frontiermen.
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Seth Engstrom (Layout Artist)
Seth Engstrom has worked in the film industry since 1997, and has a background in architecture, illustration, and fine art. Besides SPIRIT, he worked on movies such as The Road to El Dorado, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Avatar, Alice in Wonderland (2010), Tangled, Jurassic World, The Lion King (2019), and The Mandalorian.
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Nathan Fowkes (Background Artist)
As background artist, Nathan Fowkes made some of the most stunning and beautiful backgrounds for SPIRIT. He has a screen credit on 12 feature films, as well as teacher of drawing, painting, color and design. His clients include DreamWorks, Disney, Blue Sky Studios, and Paramount Animation. Besides SPIRIT, he worked on movies such as The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, How to Train Your Dragon, Rio 2, and Raya and the Last Dragon.
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Carlos Grangel (Supervising Character Designer)
Barcelona-based Carlos Grangel is working in both graphic and visual design. Besides SPIRIT, he worked on movies such as Balto, The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, and How to Train Your Dragon. As seen on the left, he made some incredible rough and inspirational sketches.
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Marty Havran (Modeling Supervisor)
Marty Havran worked on SPIRIT as modeling supervisor, overseeing the 3D-modelling that has been done for the movie. Besides SPIRIT, he worked on movies such as Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Shark Tale, Kung Fu Panda, Monsters vs. Aliens, Madagascar 3, and How to Train Your Dragon 2.
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Ruben Hickman (Background Artist)
Ruben Hickman paid his art school by designing hundreds of skateboards during the early 1990s, until graduating in 1995. He then was recruited by Walt Disney Feature Animation, where he worked for a year before moving to DreamWorks, where he worked for 16 years. Besides SPIRIT, he worked on movies such as The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Shrek 2, Madagascar, Megamind, and Penguins of Madagascar.
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Yoriko Ito (Background Artist)
Japanese born Yoriko Ito moved to the USA to attend an art academy in San Fransisco, where she graduated in Illustration. She started out illustrating children's books, but later began working for DreamWorks. She started out as an background artist, adding production illustrator and visual development to her experiences later on. Besides SPIRIT, Ito worked on The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, and Madagascar (1, 2 & 3).
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Bill Kaufmann (Visual Development)
USA based Bill Kaufmann has more than 30 years experience in the animation industry, working for both Disney and DreamWorks as a visual development artist. Besides SPIRIT, he has worked on movies such as Beauty and the Beast, The Prince of Egypt, The Iron Giant, Shrek, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, and Kung Fu Panda.
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Christophe Lautrette (Sequence Designer)
Production and character designer Christophe Lautrette has over 20 years of experience as an artist, and worked for studios such as DreamWorks, Disney, and Paramount. Besides SPIRIT, he worked on movies such as The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, and Kung Fu Panda.
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Ed Li (Visual Development)
Los Angeles based Ed Li worked at both DreamWorks and Disney as background artist and visual development artist. Besides SPIRIT, Li worked on movies such as The Road to El Dorado, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Brother Bear 2, and The Princess and the Frog.
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Kenard Pak (Workbook Layout Artist)
San Fransisco-based Kenard Pak is an illustrator, art director, and author. He has worked in animation for over 20 years. Besides SPIRIT, he worked on movies such as The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Madagascar 2, and Madagascar 3.
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Pres Romanillos (Character Designer)
Philippines born Priscillano 'Pres' Antonio Romanillos was an animator who worked on studios such as Disney and DreamWorks. Besides SPIRIT, he worked on movies such as The Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mulan, The Road to El Dorado, and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas. For SPIRIT, he was the supervisor of the animation of Little Creek. Sadly, he passed away in 2010.
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Paul Shardlow (Visual Development)
Paul Shardlow has been working in the animation industry for over 40 years. He has experience as background artist, layout artist, storyboard artist, character designer, visual development artist, art director, and production design. He has worked as a visual development artist at DreamWorks for 10 years. Besides SPIRIT, he has worked on movies such as Watership Down, Balto, The Prince of Egypt, Shrek, and Madagascar.
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Len Simon (Additional Animator)
Len Simon is a professional animator since the late 1980s. He has animating experience in movies, TV, games, animated shorts, and commercials. Besides SPIRIT, he worked on movies such as Thumbelina, Anastasia, The Prince of Egypt, Bartok the Magnificent, and Klaus.
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Tom Sito (Additional Story Artist)
Tom Sito began as a professional animator in 1975, working in both the TV and film industry. He has worked for several studios, such as Disney, DreamWorks, and Warner Bros. Besides SPIRIT, he worked in both art and animation department for movies such as The Secret of NIMH, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Prince of Egypt, and Fantasia 2000.
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Richard Smitheman (Character Key)
Richard Smitheman has worked in the film industry for over 20 years, starting at some of London's top animation studios, and moving to Los Angeles later to persue his career. He worked for over 30 different studios, including DreamWorks, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros Animation. Besides SPIRIT, he worked on movies such as Thumbelina, The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, and Klaus.
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Henrik Tamm (Layout Artist)
Swedish illustrator, writer and artist Henrik Tamm moved to Los Angeles at age 19, and graduated art school in 1995. He has worked as a conceptual designer since. Besides SPIRIT, Tamm worked on movies such as Anastasia, Bartok the Magnificent, The Road to El Dorado, and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas.
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Zhaoping Wei (Visual Development)
Zhaoping Wei started in the animation industry in the 1990s, working on TV shows. He later on moved to the film industry. He has experience as art director, (lead) sequence designer, visual development artist, key artist, animation consultant, and art professor. Besides SPIRIT, he worked on movies such as The Prince of Egypt, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon.
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Alexander Williams (Supervising Animator "Cavalry")
Alexander Williams has over 25 years of experience as animator and cartoonist. For SPIRIT, he was the supervising animator of the US Cavalry. The character turnarounds on the left are based on character designs by Carlos Grangel. Besides SPIRIT, Williams worked on movies such as The Lion King (Scar), Pocahontas (Governor Ratcliffe), The Iron Giant, The Road to El Dorado (Tulio), and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (Sinbad).
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