Jin Kim (Korean: κΉμμ§, 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.
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
| 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
| Year | Awards | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 42nd Annie Awards[5] | Character Design in an Animated Feature Production | Big Hero 6 | Nominated |
References
- 1 2 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.
- 1 2 3 4 Ko, Dong-hwan (25 August 2019). "'Frozen' creator pessimistic about Korean animation's future". The Korea Times. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- 1 2 3 Lee, Hyo-won (15 May 2011). "Dreams come true, Disney style". The Korea Times. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
- 1 2 3 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.
- β "42nd Annual Annie Award Nominees". Retrieved December 1, 2014.