Cat Hicks

9/11

2011-09-06T10:13:00.001-07:00

This coming weekend it will have been 10 years since 9/11.

I was in my first period American History class during my freshman year of highschool when another teacher ran into the room and told us to turn on our TV. The towers didn't fall until my next class. My mother came to get me out of school before lunch. My sister and I sat with her in the living room and watched the TV all day.

On Twitter, I asked where everyone was when they heard the news. Here are just a few of the responses:

@nilaffle Two miles from the Pentagon, on my way to class. I remember seeing a firetruck speed by and thinking, "Where's the fire?"

@jeremiahjw playing pinball on my dad's Windows 2000 laptop wondering why my mom hadn't started my classes (I was 9 and homeschooled).

@shane_woz_ere My 20th Birthday.Lasting memory is family singing "Happy Birthday" while the radio read out Ph# for people with relatives in NY.

@snowstorm427 It was happening as I was on my bus ride to school.I think I was infifth grade?I remember the skies being eerily devoid of planes.

@trishans 2nd period chemistry class, 10th grade. Teacher had a family member in the Towers, so we got a sub real quick. Scary stuff.

@ThePixarTimes Was in US history. Junior year at Brooklyn Tech High School. Could see the black smoke from school. Will never forget that image.

@Cloooont I was at home trying to reach my mom. She was a flight attendant & we weren't sure if she was flying to NY that day. Terrified me.

@AnsilAtoms I'd just moved to the Seattle area, and my wife woke me up, and said, "You might want to get up. It's a terrible day".

@Arthur40TwoDentHere in Melbourne Australia it was around 11pm I was watching "The West Wing" on TV when they cut to the news, went to bed at 2am.

@boochicko Was asleep.Found out 1st period speech class on the news.Thought it was a movie.Spent the rest of the day wishing it were a movie.

@leeunkrich Working out at home, watching TV as 2nd plane hit. Then headed to Skywalker Ranch for Monsters, Inc. mix, though seemed pointless.

@Kylogram I was in first period of English 1 at my highschool. The rest of the day was spent watching students get pulled out by parents.

@AlecBartsch Working at Disney Northside at the time. Everyone sent home for the day.

@ItsEzra I was at home, watched it on the news, then went to my 7th grade Musical Theater class, and we all sat silently for most of it.

@LaurenScotty I had just finished an after school netball game at high school. Came out and my mum collected me as we listened live to the radio

@tylerepperson Sitting on the couch watching TV waiting for my mom to take me to school. I thought it was a movie until it was on every channel.

@namrahkram I was in first period class, can't remember which class though. 10th grade. Watched the news at school the rest of the day.

@RogueFrenchFry college, adv. freshman English. Returned to dorm, noticed a guy turn on CNN in the lobby. Saw towers fall on TV from my dorm room.

@KevinBaird Sleeping. (West coast.) Heard Peter Jennings' voice on the clock radio and knew something bad was up.

@_LittleMarsy_ on my way home from school in England aged 12, it was all over the TV at home and we had a special assembly that week at school

@JessiLimitless I was in my 7th grade classroom. Our room didn't have a tv so they moved us to the one next door #wastooyoungtoknowanything

@FirstNameDani Color theory class at Sheridan... Then ran home and watched the news, saw them collapse and cried for the rest of the day. :(

@MarcVibbert I was in second period French class in high school, sophomore year. But didn't know it had happened until my next class, Biology.

@ethanwc they're too difficult to watch. I was in second period history class, in Northern VA. Friends had parents in the pentagon.

Keyboard doodles: dogs

2011-02-09T23:20:00.000-08:00

I've been drawing a lot of dogs lately while making recordings and during dailies. Perhaps it's because I'm homesick for my puppy dogs back home... or maybe it's my subconscious returning to my thesis film? Either way, I'm a dog person.

Hope you've enjoyed my latest scribbles!

-C

What burglars cannot steal away...

2011-02-09T22:39:00.000-08:00

When I flew back to California after spending a wonderful Christmas vacation with my family, I returned to find my apartment had been terribly burglarized.

I was shocked. Most all of my things were gone. The tv my father had sent me as a housewarming gift, the guitars I learned to play the blues on when I was a young girl, the laptop that I considered my first big purchase (filled with photos from my internship and senior year of college), my video camera and memory drives stocked full of videos from high-school, my First Holy Communion rosary, my old car given to me for my 18th birthday... I didn't know what to do.

I had car insurance, but I was surprised to find out that my renter's insurance did not cover my theft. I was at a total loss. I spent a few sleepless nights and stressful days talking non-stop with police, insurance adjusters, my landlords and my parents. I had never imagined that I would have to deal with anything like this. I have experienced losses before through hurricanes, but this was different. This was not a community loss. My theft felt personal. I felt targeted and alone. I had built the last few years in California by myself with my own money from the ground up. Suddenly, everything was gone. I was terrified at the thought of having to rebuild so much from scratch. I was very upset and very angry.

I knew that I wanted to return to work right away. Not only because my Cars 2 start date was approaching, but because I wanted to see my Pixar family again. After a few days of squaring some business away, I came into work. Walking into the atrium that morning was the biggest relief I have felt in a very long time. I honestly feel more at home at work than any apartment I could ever live in here in California. It is because this studio is why I am here in the first place. Pixar is what drove me here, what keeps me here and has been my most steady constant in my post-college life.

My friends welcomed me home with loving arms and sympathy. They offered help, condolences and assistance in dealing with the aftermath of my losses. Soon I discovered that much of my studio family had gathered a fund to help me rebuild. These gifts were given to me in various ways. I was completley blown away by their generous charity, but I was not surprised. My co-workers are the greatest people I could ever hope to work with. I am honored to be included in such a wonderful community and feel blessed walking into work each and every day. I felt like a turtle that had been knocked over on its back. My friends, family, and Pixar helped to push me over and back onto my feet. The last month has been an amazing lesson on loss, responsibility, love, family, charity and self-worth. As I counted my blessings, the anger I had carried with me from the burglary began to fade away away. I realized that even though I was the victim, I am in a much better position in my life than those burglars may ever be. My true treasures are not things than can be stolen by thieves.

I am now living in a new apartment and am loving it! With the help of my friends, I am rebuilding. I have gotten far pretty fast and am proud of myself for bouncing back so quickly. However, I could have never done it without the help of others.

Thank you to everyone who has sent their thoughts, prayers and love. I love you all. :)

-Catherine

Keyboard doodles

2010-12-16T22:06:00.000-08:00

Going to kick off that New Year's "post more good AND bad artwork to my blog" resolution early by dumping a few of what I like to call "keyboard sketches".

I keep a pad of paper underneath my keyboard. Anytime I need to open up a scene, load multiple charactes, record a shot, answer my office phone, or do anything that takes some time for the computer to think, I doodle! Most of the doodles are pretty aimless and repetitive since my window to draw can be anywhere from 10 seconds to 10 minuets. I feel like if I didn't have the paper there I would loose my mind.

These are some of the pages in my doodle pad from the last 3 weeks. I couldn't include all of them because some pages included animation thumbnails and we are allowed to post anything production related.

Will post some more another time!

-C

Growth through failure.

2010-12-16T21:02:00.000-08:00

A recent string of conversations with my friend Austin has inspired me to revisit my blog and give it the proper attention that I've denied it for years. I create personal artwork all the time that never leaves my desk (or desktop) because I tend to shy away from posting it publicly. The honest truth being that I often don't consider most of what I do to be very good.. which brings me to revisit something else.

I am reminded of the values from a wonderful lesson... to fail everyday.

If there is anything that I have learned to be true it is the importance of not being afraid of failure. It's just too stressful to expect excellence from yourself all the time. I almost lost my mind in college trying to out do myself with every assignment, one after another. Then one day I let it go. I loosened up. I starting allowing myself to make mistakes. Lots of mistakes! I found that my failures were not failure at all, they were lessons that allowed me to make progress at a rate I had never achieved before. I began to welcome failure and embrace the growth that naturally came with it. Success was simply just a side effect of that growth.

My drawings as of late suffer both stylistically and content wise, as if I have been stuck in the same "sketchbook", so to say, since graduating college. I am ready to grow again! Therefore, I'm going to make good on one of my New Year's resolutions early and start posting more personal work to this blog. You'll see it all, the good, the bad, and the downright awful... because without failure there would be no success!

An abandoned illustration of a playful tiger cub?

Much more fail where that came from!

-C

Pencil to Pixel at the Oakland Airport

2010-11-01T09:11:00.000-07:00

Hey there y'all!

If any of you are traveling through the SouthWest terminal of the Oakland International Airport any time between now and Feburary of next year, be sure to check out the Pencil to Pixel animation exhibit on display! I as well as Pete Docter, Angus MacLane, Don Crum, Austin Madison and Kevin O'hara all have made a zoetrope for the exhibit.

I have not seen the exhibit myself yet, but below is a photo kindly taken by J. Marshall Pittman.

Here is a link to the Pencil to Pixel exhibit

Here is a link to the Oakland Museum of California

That's all for now!

-C

TS3 Postal Service Ad

2010-05-25T17:17:00.000-07:00

Here's another spot that the TS3 promo team did this year!

TS3 Visa Ad

2010-05-21T16:23:00.001-07:00

I did a bunch of work for this TS3/Visa joint-partner ad. This was a blast to work on!

TS3/Aflac Spot

2010-05-18T17:12:00.000-07:00

I did a small bit of work on this TS3/Aflac spot. Keep an eye peeled for it on TV!

New Animation - TS3 Website

2010-03-18T15:30:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all,

The new Toy Story 3 website is up and includes a bunch of character spots I animated a few months ago.

Click on the characters and watch them come alive. Enjoy!

Toy Story 3: Explore Characters

Toy Story 3 International Trailer

2010-02-16T13:57:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

Here's the trailer for Toy Story 3! I'm so blessed to have touched this film.

Be there or be square, June 18th!

-C

Congrats to the Up crew!

2010-01-23T08:09:00.000-08:00

Toy Story 1 & 2 on Blueray

2010-01-03T20:15:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

Toy Story 1 and 2 are now available for pre-order through Disney.com on Blueray disc. The Blueray combo pack includes the DVD of the film. If you do not have a Blueray player now, but plan on possibly getting one in the future, this is a great way to cover both bases.

The bluerays include director's commentary, studio stories, a sneak peak at Toy Story 3, and each include an all new short "Buzz's Mission Logs", which I had the pleasure of animating on.

Toy Story and Toy Story 2 will be released on Blueray on May 18th.

New Animation: Merry Christmas

2009-12-23T18:27:00.000-08:00

I hope that the 6 of you following this blog had a lovely Christmas! Haha!

Here is a Toy Story Holiday greeting I animated on.

-C

Toy Story 3 clip

2009-12-20T18:02:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays! Today Lee Unkrich debuted a clip from Toy Story 3 on ABC Family. I am having a blast helping out with this film! I'm going to miss the project when it's over.

Here is a link to the clip!

UP on DVD and Blueray today!

2009-11-09T20:08:00.001-08:00

Hey guys,

Be sure to pick up your copy of UP on DVD and Blueray today. The DVD is fantastic and is filled with tons of behind the scenes features with director Pete Docter and even a new short film, Dug's Special Mission, directed by Ronnie del Carmen. Go buy it!

Order it here on Amazon.com

Toy Story Double Feature Intermission

2009-10-19T21:47:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of working on the animated segments for the Toy Story 1 & 2 3D Theatrical Double Feature. The project was a lot of fun, and included 3D, 2D and "shadow puppet" animation.

The credits for the Double Feature intermission are as follows:

Directed by: Mark Walsh
Produced by: Galyn Susman
Edited by: Steve Bloom
Production Management: Sara Maher, Brice Parker
Production Coordination: Stephanie Hamilton
Supervising TD: Brian Green
Lighting: Mitch Kopelman
Designer: Marty Baumann
Motion Graphics: Susan Bradley, Catherine Kelly, Claire Munzer, Jon Vargo
Story: Adrian Molina
Animation: Chris Chua, Daniel Gonzales, Cat Hicks, Bruce Kuei, Holger Leihe
Sound Design: Barney Jones
Assistant Editor: Tim Fox
Sound Mixing: Tom Meyers, Skywalker Sound
Design Consultant: Andy Dreyfus
Producer's Assistant: Morgan Karadi

New animation: Potato Head "Wooo!"

2009-10-04T21:35:00.001-07:00

I animated this tv spot with Mr. Potato Head a while back. I cannot find a YouTube video to post of it but here it is on Facebook. I hope you enjoy it!

WOOO

More new animation

2009-09-28T07:25:00.000-07:00

I animated the shot in this teaser where all of the toys are walking in a line through the arch way. Woody was animated by Daniel Gonzales. Mmmm walk cycles!

New Animation

2009-09-24T18:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a commercial I animated for the Toy Story 3D Double Feature. It's in theaters for 2 weeks only starting October 2nd. Don't miss it!

Siggraph 2009

2009-08-03T22:22:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to mention that I WILL be attending Siggraph this year. I have been granted the time off and will be arriving in New Orleans on Wednesday the 5th.

If you are attending, be sure to check out my film "Wild Dogs" at the Computer Animation Festival! There are many wonderful films screening this year from co-workers and friends of mine.

Thanks so much!
-Cat

My first Toy Story promo shot

2009-07-28T19:01:00.001-07:00

There is an invisible moving going on here at Pixar right now. Invisible in the sense that the films have already been made, but the promotional material for them is rolling out now. I'm currently having a blast animating the characters that I loved and grew up with as a kid.

Here is the new trailer for the Toy Story 1 & 2 3 theatrical re-release. I got to help work on this trailer the first week I arrived back at the studio!

Be sure to catch Toy Story 1 and 2 on the big screen AGAIN in 3D starting October 2nd. This double feature will run for 2 weeks ONLY so don't miss it!

More Frequent Blog Updates

2009-07-03T18:45:00.001-07:00

Hello all!

It seems that out of most folks I know, I update my blog the least. So I've decided that I am going to start sharing more of my personal journal entries through this blog. Keep an eye peeled for entries filled with thoughts and observations on story, behavior, movement, character, design and entertainment in general.

Since Michael Jackson's death last week, I've been watching many of his music videos and stage performances. I thought I would share this clip. The contrast of his movements and their timing here are pretty amazing. The smooth and slower transitions mix perfectly with his sharp hits and dramatic body shape changes. The added texture of his hand and finger gestures are also very appealing. Watch how loose he is in one moment an how ridged and secure his poses are in the next. Very cool stuff.

Wild Dogs Parody Poster

2009-04-17T22:04:00.000-07:00

At Ringling, all of the computer animation major seniors create fun parody posters for their thesis short films. This year's poster theme was Oscar winners. I decided to do last year's Best Picture winner, No Country For Old Men. That and There Will Be Blood were my favorite films of 2008, I'd say. Sadly I only had about 40 minuets to work on this, but here's what I cooked up.

I also was pleased to find out last week that Wild Dogs was selected for the annual Best of Ringling show! It's both a huge honor and a personal accomplishment. I have accomplished my goal of being accepted into the BOR show 4 years in a row.

Two weeks until schools out forever!

Pack the chew toys, we're heading to the Big Easy!

2009-04-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

This week I was shocked to receive the news that my senior short film, Wild Dogs, has been selected for the 2009 SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival!

I'm honored to have my film selected this year and am very excited to have my film screening for this event. This will be my first time attending the international ACM SIGGRAPH conference. Ringling College of Art and Design placed eight films in the festival this year. Totally awesome! This year's conference is being held in New Orleans on August 3-7. The wild dogs and I hope to see you there!

Keep an eye on my blog for updates about Wild Dogs. I'll be wrapping this baby up here sometime in the next two weeks. The film will debut online sometime this summer.

Animation Tests: Dog Characters

2008-10-21T23:04:00.001-07:00

Howdy y'all!! Long time no post!

So I'm back from Pixar, back in school and back in action! I'm currently at Ringling wrapping up my senior year as a Computer Animation major. I've started production on my first short film! I've spent the last several weeks modeling, rigging and preparing my characters and shots for my personal favorite part of the production pipeline, you guessed it, ANIMATION. Time to light the fires and kick the tires.

Have a taste! Meet my dog characters, Runt and Big Dog!

Hope everyone is doing swell!

7 Days 'till Emeryville

2008-05-29T22:12:00.000-07:00

Gee golly wiz! The blood sweat and tears have paid off!

One week from today I'll be flying out to join the folks at Pixar Animation Studios for an internship in Character Animation! I am both humbled and absolutely thrilled to have been selected for this! To work with the masters at Pixar has been a personal goal I have aspired to from the moment I feel head over heals in love with character animation.

Respecting the wishes of Pixar, I will not be updating my blog during my employment. If any friends out there plan on being in the Bay Area at all this summer give me a ring and lets try to catch lunch. !

Have a great summer everyone!

Push Pull Exaggerated Animation

2008-01-14T17:28:00.000-08:00

Click the image to view animation. 37MB.

This is the exaggerated version of this animation. Feedback and criticism welcomed!

-C

Mood Swings

2007-11-23T10:05:00.000-08:00

Here is a piece from one of my classes. This is concept art from a short story I wrote about a character suffering from a personality disorder.

And here is some of the progress work from this image.

Push Pull Natural

2007-11-20T18:19:00.001-08:00

Here is my Push/Pull Natural project for fall semester! Click the image to watch.

Drama Project

2007-11-01T22:32:00.001-07:00

Here is some work from my latest art project. This is an illustration from one of my many thesis ideas. There are some perspective issues that I'd like to fix later but the deadline is today. Yikes!

In/Out Animation

2007-10-24T16:44:00.001-07:00

This is my In/Out animation for fall semester!

Please comment with any motion critiques you may have. I will be reanimating the first 5 beats of this piece this Christmas. I already have a lot of ideas thumbnailed out but any additional suggestions as to what other acting choices could use to break up that even pacing would be great. Thanks!

Fall Semester Character

2007-09-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

Forgot to post this silly guy. This is Danny and he is my character for our fall semester projects. In this render there are some weighting issues that I have since worked out. Also, his displacement and bump maps are not visible here. He has buttons and shoelaces and pockets and what have you. I wish I had time to render out some nicer color stills but alas, I don't! You'll see him in his full glory in the animations.

More Drawings

2007-09-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

Animatic

2007-09-19T22:19:00.000-07:00

Here's a few pieces of a recent animatic I did in my concept class. (That's animatic, not animation.) It's based on a story we wrote about a man and a donation bucket. All of these drawings are in order, however they did not necessarily play back to back in the final piece. I took out some poses here and there and am just showing some fun key drawings.

Character Designs

2007-09-15T23:16:00.001-07:00

Sit/Stand Animation

2007-04-30T22:14:00.000-07:00

Here is a compressed version of my most recent animation. Yippie!!

Sit Stand Character Development pt. 2

2007-02-26T18:12:00.000-08:00

Re-visited this wacky design! Still a work in progress, at least texture wise. Last image is the original unapproved design.

Sketch Commissions

2007-01-03T09:42:00.000-08:00

Here are a few examples of the sketch commissions I took over Christmas break. Big thanks to all those who commissioned me!

Some Traditional Animation

2006-12-22T14:23:00.000-08:00

Here's some work that I did for traditional animation this past semester.

Flour Sack Animation

2006-05-18T18:34:00.000-07:00

So here is my flour sack animation from my traditional animation class. It's been a great Freshman year. This piece was actually accepted into Best of Ringling this year! I'm so thrilled and thankful!

Time to buy more paper.