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Our series “How I became a …” digs into the stories of accomplished and influential people, finding out how they got to where they are in their careers.
Editor’s note: This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
We’ve all been lost in the world of animated pictures for years, from Monsters Inc. toA Bug’s Life and Finding Nemo to Toy Story. Whether it be the flip of Marlin’s fin or the sway of Sully’s fur, the work done on the back end of our favorite movies comes from people behind computers, people such as animator Kureha Yokoo.
USA TODAY caught up with Yokoo, who’s latest animation work can be seen in Pixar’sThe Incredibles 2, out June 15, to talk about everything from safaris and dailies to the frustration of the creative process and computer screens.
Question: What is your coffee order?
Kureha Yokoo: I just drink black coffee, and I’m not picky. I love all coffee.
Q: What is the coolest thing you’ve ever done?
Yokoo: My first solo flight after getting my pilot’s license. Usually the instructor will just get out of the airplane and go “OK, it’s all you now,” and suddenly the right seat is empty and you go do your thing.
I just went on a horseback riding safari, and I got to gallop alongside zebras and giraffes.  Both of those are kind of a tie.
Q: Who is your biggest mentor?
Yokoo: My colleagues are my mentors here, no question. When I got to Pixar, I really had no idea how to animate, and it was the people around me who taught me how to do my job. I am indebted to them.
Q: What does a typical day look like for you?
Yokoo: When we’re in production, we usually have dailies in the morning. That's where people show their work to the director and the leads and fellow animators. Anybody can make comments, you get notes on your work, then you go back to your desk and stare at your computer for a long time interspersed with some hilarious conversations with people. Sometimes we’ll have a walk-through when the director will come through the department, where he’ll look through any changes you’ve made and any notes that you’ve had on your work that you’ve addressed.

Q: What does that process look like?
Yokoo: Typically when you get some shots in a sequence, the director will kick it off and he’ll tell you, “Here’s what’s happening in the sequence, here’s what may have happened before and after, that sequence,” he might talk about the mindset of those characters and, if there’s anything specific he wants to see in there, he’ll tell you. Oftentimes a director won’t, and they’ll say, “Come up with something!”
All of the dialogue is prerecorded, so when we first get the shots there’s some camera setup, there’s characters in the shots and there’s dialogue, but that’s about it. You’re sort of the actor, and you can come up with acting that goes with the dialogue. You could nail it in one shot or you could take many passes at it, which is the wonderful and the frustrating thing about it. That's the real joy about any creative process.
Q: What’s your favorite project that you’ve worked on?
Yokoo: Brad (Bird) is one of my favorite directors. I’ve worked on the firstIncredibles and I worked on Ratatouille, and he’s a joy to work for. After all these years I still get incredibly nervous showing him my work, because I want to please him and give him what he’s looking for. He’s also an extremely collaborative director, and he wants to know your opinion. You could be at dailies, and if you disagree he wants to hear your input. I think that’s a special part of working with him. Despite how charismatic and opinionated he is, he still wants to have a dialogue about the process.
There’s always something in all the films I work on. Working on Up was wonderful because I have a special penchant for animals and for dogs, and I worked on a lot of the dog in that film. On this past Incredibles (2) movie, there’s a whole motorcycle sequence with Helen riding motorcycles, so my supervisor Alan Barillaro pulled me into some of those sequences early and had me be involved in some of the design and the preproduction process. Brad’s so interested in all the movement of the bike, how you ride them, all the different styles of motorcycle riding, and we did all this research on bike designs and hopefully came up with something that people will enjoy and will think is cool.
Q: What does your career path look like, from college to now?
Yokoo: I went to Brown University, and I think my entire life has been about me not being able to make a decision and have some twist of fate make that decision for me. I went, and they don’t have any requirements for the first two years, and I took whatever classes interested me. So I took sociology classes and public policy and architecture and, at the end of the year, I had to declare a major.
I was not disciplined enough to say I wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer, so I counted up what I had as far as credits, and it turned out that the thing I had enough credits for was some unusual interdisciplinary major called urban studies. It was kind of cool because it could be urban planning, it could be public education, it could be building. It could be all kinds of different things, and you could choose what interested you. I also ended up double-majoring in fine art because I’d had some drawing classes that I had taken.
At the end of school, it just happened that Toy Story came out in Christmas of 1995 and someone told me that we should go see it, but I said, “It’s just a cartoon!” My friend said that it was supposed to be really good. We went to go see it, and I was just blown away. I hadn’t seen anything like that, and there was just something about the craft of that film where you could tell that everybody who worked on it just had such a great time, and it was such a mind-meld for them where they had just created this amazing thing.
I thought, “I’ve got to find a way to get there.” And whether I’m just cleaning toilets or something, I wanted to be at Pixar. In the summer of 1996, I started taking classes at the Academy of Art because I had heard some of the Pixar animators were taking classes there. I managed to get into the first class and then was hired out of that class to do background bugs in A Bug’s Life.
I barely knew anything about animation, and it was trial by fire. I got thrown in and they said, “Here, just start animating some ants in the background.” And at that point I had not animated anything with hands or fingers or a mouth or eyes. I figured it out, and people were really wonderful teachers.
Director Pete Docter shows off some of the emotions that didn't make it into Pixar's 'Inside Out.'Pixar
Q: What are your go-to songs or podcasts for a busy day?
Yokoo: I tend not to listen to anything when I’m working. I’m one of those people; I can’t listen to music and do something else. I have to focus. But, I drive an hour and a half every day, both directions, so that’s when I listen. I’m a classic – I love This American Life and Radiolab, and all the storytelling in these new podcasts now. Music-wise I like Bon Iver, The Cinematic Orchestra and The National. I’m really random, though – sometimes I listen to jazz, or a horse-training podcast – I’m really all over the place.
Q: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned throughout your career?
Yokoo: I would say that there’s no real clear path, because people ask me, “I want to do that. How do I do it?” And when I talk to people who work here, everyone came a slightly different way. There’s some element of obsession. There’s obviously the energy you bring to it and the excitement for learning something, but also there’s a little bit of serendipity in there, too. I would say that if you can stay curious about everything, keep your mind open and always learn new skills: that’s when I learn the most about myself. You can always find things that are relevant to your work, if there are things that you care about and are excited to learn about.
Q: What advice would you give someone who wants to follow in your footsteps as an animator?
Yokoo: It’s OK not to know how to get there. It’s OK to try things and then realize, “This isn’t the direction I wanted to go.” I also feel like these days everyone wants to feel like they’re doing what they’re passionate about, but I want to remind people that you don’t have to love it all the time. You can be passionate about something and also hate it sometimes, too. I feel it’s important to say that, because people start to stress. It’s almost like they get paralyzed because they’re not doing the thing they’re passionate about. No one talks about when the creative process is extremely difficult and you want to jump out a window because you’re so frustrated. But part of being passionate about the job is hating it sometimes, and that’s OK.
I have a mother who never thought I would find a job because she thought I was so strange, and I’m making faces in the mirror, and I think it’s OK to be unconventional! You’ll find a place to be, and I’m really glad I found a place to be.
An exclusive deleted scene from Pixar/Disney's "Monsters University" — available Tuesday via digital download and on Blu-ray Oct. 29 — featuring Mike Wazowski (voiced by Billy Crystal) and Sulley (John Goodman) in drama class. Walt Disney Home Entertainment