Peanuts Movie Peanuts Movie

Following last week’s news that Disney is shutting down Connecticut-based Blue Sky Studios, a lot of amazing reels are being put out by Blue Sky employees who are now searching for their next job. We decided to share — with permission — just a small sample of the talent, across a variety of departments and levels.

It’s worth noting that there are talented people in many roles that don’t require a showreel, such as pipeline technical directors (TDs) and software engineers, or production managers. Meanwhile, artists who work in departments like story and visual development are able to share portfolio sites, many of which are password-protected due to sensitive materials.

The diverse roles in animation production are often generalized to “animator” by those outside the industry. The variety of specialties and skillsets in the videos below are a reminder that animating is only one part of the process. And remember: each of the artists behind these reels is just one member of a team of talented individuals.

Blue Sky employees are welcome to post their reels or portfolio sites in the comments section below.

Antelmo Villarreal, Senior Procedural Environments TD

Erin J. Elliott, Crowds Artist

Jacob Mann, Lighting Lead

Mike Safianoff, Animator

Allison Botkin, Fur TD

Angela Arzumanyan, Junior Modeler

Ilan Gabai, Lead FX TD

Eric Prah, Animator and Director

Lian (Will) Liu, Materials TD

Garrett Shikuma, Senior Animator