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Gallery Of Character Designs By Bill Schwab - Usa
0 Comments | 1 Like | Gallery | Character | Designs | Bill Schwab | Usa

Bill Schwab Now, which put him on the ballot for the Annie Awards, the Oscars of the animation industry.
The 1991 Forest Hills Central graduate is up for an individual Annie for character design for "Prep and Landing," a holiday-TV special about elite elves in Santa's employ. And as lead animator for traditional cel-animated "The Princess and the Frog," he's part of a team nominated for a whopping eight Annies.
"'Prep and Landing' is my first (Annie) nomination," Schwab said by phone from his Los Angeles home. "It's a show that I'm so proud of. I'm happy to get recognized for something that came out so well.
"I'm equally proud of 'Prep' and 'Princess.' Both are very successful for a lot of reasons, and very different."
Schwab has worked for Walt Disney Animation Studios for the past four years. For two of those years, he sketched and shaped the "Princess" characters in the mold of classic Disney cartoons such as "Lady and the Tramp" and "Peter Pan." The film has earned $100 million at the domestic box office, and an Oscar nod for Best Animated Film. Many of Schwab's drawings can be found in the book "The Art of 'The Princess and the Frog'."
Another year was spent conceptualizing the characters for "Prep," which was seen by 12 million viewers when it debuted in December on ABC.
"I think ('Prep and Landing') will live on for a while -- it was highly rated," Schwab said.
Prior to his Disney employment, Schwab, 36, worked for Dreamworks, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Warner Bros. His design credits include the feature film "Barnyard" and TV productions "The Oblongs" and "The Fairly OddParents." But he has found a comfortable place at the Mouse House -- not surprising, considering he was a fan of "101 Dalmatians" and other Disney fare as a youngster.
"I never imagined I'd be working there," he said. "The best part of working at a major studio is, everyone is at the top of their game, everyone is working as hard as you are to make something great."
After high school, Schwab moved to Brooklyn and earned an illustration degree at the Pratt Institute. His junior year, he scored an internship at MTV, working on the second season of "Beavis and Butt-Head" and the theatrical film "Beavis and Butt-Head Do America." He credits family friend Jon McDonald, head of Kendall College of Art and Design's illustration program, as his artistic mentor.
As a designer, he works with writers and directors early in the creative process, hashing out "the look and feel" of characters, so they adhere to the filmmakers' vision and catch the eye of potential audiences.
You'll have hundreds of drawings on the wall, you narrow it down, and hopefully you'll come up with something appealing," he said.
He worked on his first project for Disney for six months before it was shelved. Now, he's on a roll -- his character designs for "Rapunzel" will be seen in movie theaters in November, and he's working on three other projects he can't publicly discuss.
Not to mention Mr. Mucus, who continues to be seen by millions in TV commercials.
"It was just one of those projects," Schwab said, laughing. "Everyone seems to know that character, for better or worse. It ended up being a huge campaign for Mucinex."

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