I knew of Pete Sohn long before I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him. His parents own an art store in White Plains NY (which I visited often when I worked at Blue Sky Studios) and they have some of his drawings by the counter. The proud parents they are, they pretty much told me all about Pete and his, then already, illustrious career. Only later working with him at Pixar did I discover Pete is one of the funniest man alive, really. He does nothing, I still laugh. You might not know of this but you’ve probably laughed at Pete’s voice too, he’s Emile, Remy’s brother in Ratatouille. The crazy thing is that he is just as talented as he’s funny. He’s an animator, a storyboard artist, a comic book artist and a voice talent! Amazing … and there are extremely exciting things coming down the pike from Pete. Can’t tell you more but you’ll see oh you’ll see.
“I remember seeing “My Neighbor Totoro” with my brother on an old VHS tape that we rented from the local video store when we were in elementary school. We connected completely to those two sisters and their adventures in the countryside even though we grew up in a city. My brother and I would jump around squeezing our hands together and tried to pull plants out of the ground with our minds. Finding dust bunnies under the couch or behind the T.V. we immediately ran around like school girls pretending that they were alive. The power of Myazaki’s film is that he knows exactly what it’s like to see the world through a child’s eyes and the tiny little mysteries that children focus on. Those tiny little mysteries that as an adult I can take for granted. I still watch “My Neighbor Totoro” today and it’s the closest thing to time travel; bringing me back to my childhood and playing with my brother and all those things that meant the world to me.
The Totoro project is very inspiring because it’s bringing together many artists that love the magic of that film and Myazaki’s work. And hopefully together we can squeeze our hands together and pull that forest out of the ground with Satsuki, Mei, and Totoro.” — Pete Sohn
indeed, Pete’s father owns an art store Thomson’s Art Supply right near Blue Sky Studios. I was one of their devoted customers too! His dad makes a beauutiful frames. Too bad Blue Sky is leaving NY for Connecticut. There’s no Thomson’s in Connecticut!
Pete Sohn is a superstar artist at Pixar. I hope I have a chance to work with him someday!
I’ve been a huge admirer of pete sohn’s work since i saw his comic in afterworks…there was an honesty and simplicity in the line and storytelling, not to mention the beautiful beautiful draftsmanship….and then ric & kate followed up with countless stories of pete.
I am eagerly looking forward to what pete sohn does next!! i’ll hold my breath and try not to geek out anymore.