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Interview Rubén Procopio - July 2007In July 2007 the Get and Collect, WDCC Fansite had the honor to have an exclusive interview with master sculptor Rubén Procopio. Below you'll find the complete interview. |
| Q. Hi Rubén,
thank you for allowing this
interview, could you tell us
something about yourself? A. Thank you for the invitation to this interview. I hope everyone there in the Netherlands and abroad enjoy it. Ok, a little bit about myself. My family is of Italian descent. They emigrated to Argentina, I was born in Buenos Aires, then my parents came to Los Angeles in 1964 when I was 4 years old, a wonderful impressionable time to be growing up here in America. We’ve all since become proud American citizens and fulfilled the dream that my Dad and his colleagues, friends and family had of one day coming to America and working for a studio like Disney.  grew
up in and went to Catholic
schools St. Finbar and
Providence in a city called
Burbank and although I’ve
travelled I still reside here
literally several blocks away
from the Disney Studio’s lot,
and call this my home town.
Later on with scholarships I
went to Cal Arts (California
Institute of Arts) and Art
Center College of Design in
Pasadena.
My immediate family consists of my Dad who is also a sculptor, in fact you can call me a “chip off the old block,” My Dad is now retired, but worked at Disney Imagineering for over 35 years helping to create park attractions around the world. My sister Vivian also worked at Disney for 16 years until recently, in various capacities including the Animation department in what’s called the Animation Research Library (ARL), a library where they house all the original art made in the feature films from the beginning of the studio to present day. I also have a wonderful lovely girlfriend named Jeanne, who is a corporate lawyer and if you must know, also a lovely Rottweiler named Britany and a Thoroughbred horse named Rose. My pastimes include listening to old time radio, collecting art books, watching old movies from the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s, family get-togethers, and of course drawing and sculpting. |
| Q. We know your
father worked for Disney, and
we’ve heard your sister works
for Disney as well: how does it
feel to be a member of a
“Disney” family and can you tell
us something about your family
and its Disney history? A. It’s a wonderful feeling as you might imagine, growing up I’ve known nothing but Disney. As far back as I can remember, the topic and life revolved around anything to do with Disney. In the latter years when we all worked there together it seemed morning, noon and night, be it at the breakfast table or at dinner, again the topic revolved around what happened at Disney that day. So for my family and me, Disney became our home away from home. It’s the first and only main job I’ve had, so for me going to work all those years was perfectly natural.
Growing up it was very neat to hear my Dad’s stories of what project he was working on, what sculpture he did that day, what was coming in the future, and then seeing pictures as well as getting family tours every year. All this made for a fascinating and inspiring childhood. My interest in the arts developed very early and I was very fortunate to have parents who encouraged and guided me to develop my talents to get better and better. Throughout the many years there have been individual and shared experiences with my family, and as well many momentous occasions from a particular figure that my Dad may have done at the park, a gallery showing or book my sister helped put together, or when we all went to see a movie I worked on. Disney was the ideal place for creativity and for us as a family where we could create wholesome entertainment we were all very proud of, keeping the tradition Walt Disney founded. |
 Q.
How did you get to work for
Disney yourself?A. With my 1968 Impala! No, seriously folks, I was attending California Institute of Arts on a scholarship when Don Bluth had left the Disney Studios, taking with him many animators leaving a gap in the department. During my first semester at Cal Arts, feeling brave and bold, I submitted my portfolio and to my surprise I got accepted to the animation training program with Eric Larson. After a two month trial and two tests, working closely with Eric, I learned so much about the mechanics and process of animation to pass the test and got put onto production, which at the time was The Fox and The Hound. I worked on all the characters but mostly the Hunter. My supervisor was Walt Stanchfield who became my mentor and friend. There is nothing like learning on the job. I was very lucky, 18 years old at the time, and the atmosphere and the studio itself was like going to school. |
| Q. You worked
as an artistic
supervisor/character
designer/storyboard artist/maquette
sculptor/animator/clean-up
artist on more than 15 Disney
animated movies, which is very
impressive. You are clearly a
very versatile artist, but what
kind of work did/do you like
most and why? A. Thank you for the compliments, it’s a good question. When I was first hired, I remember having a conversation with Ed Hanson, then the director of Animation, and one of my questions to him was ‘what if I want to jump around and do different things in animation?’ I remember him saying pick one instrument for now and play it well. My thought at the time was, what if I want to play all the instruments in the band? And luckily, so I did throughout the years. The bottom line is if you had the will, the talent, the opportunity was there to jump around from one department to another. In my case, I felt as I moved around that I had sort of learned and absorbed all I could, and was soon interested in something else.  Now
to answer your question, I’d
have to say that each aspect of
my work had its challenges and I
liked each equally, but a couple
did stand out. For example,
doing rough animation I liked
the acting and creating movement
part of it. In character design
I liked the research and seeing
what would come out on the blank
piece of paper in creating a
character. As a supervisor after
many years being at the drawing
table myself, I really liked
working with the artist on a
direct level. Another highlight
was sculpting the maquettes and
helping to bring that back into
the process. The highlight of
doing the maquettes was that
many times the character’s look
was still being developed while
I was sculpting it, so sometimes
the character would be finalized
as the supervising animator
director and executive would
approve it at that final stage.
Currently, doing comic book work, which is the next closest thing to the animation process, is really rewarding and has been a lifelong passion of mine alongside, obviously, sculpting. |
| Q. Was/Is there
someone at Disney who
served/serves as an example for
you?/Who has been or is your
biggest influence at Disney? A. Yes, first and foremost my Dad, but there have been so many, let me give you a list which includes several mentioned above, for various reasons. While working there, Walt Stanchfield, Art Stevens, Eric Larson, Herb Ryman, Blaine Gibson, Walt Paragoy, Dale Oliver, Don Griffith, Wollie Rietherman, Marc Davis. I was very lucky to know all these gentlemen, and many more. Walt Stanchfield, for example, was a very beloved and amazing artist and person at the studio who passed along so many pearls of wisdom in both art and our profession. Art Stevens took me under his wing, and we had unforgettable and memorable times working storyboard sequences with him. I must mention also, although I never met the following folks, titans like Bill Tytla, Bill Peet, Eyvind Earle, and Milt Kahl. They were a huge influence on my career, especially since we had access to their work at the Animation Research Library. |
 Q.
Was/Is there someone outside
Disney who served/serves as an
example for you?/Who has been or
is your biggest influence
outside Disney?A. Again, there are so many, I would have to say first and foremost my Mom and Dad, who from a young age guided me to be where I am and able to do what I do today. I must express here that aside from animation one of my biggest influences is comic book art, so my answer will focus on individuals in that field. I was very lucky and fortunate to become good friends with my all-time favorite comic book artist, Alex Toth. To me he represents how continuity drawing and panels, to tell a story, should be done. He is one of the best, in my opinion. To this day I look at his artwork and even though I’ve seen it many many times I still get energized and inspired. There are several more in this field whom I respect and admire their work as well, like Neal Adams, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, John Romita, John Bucscema, Irv Novik, Nick Cardy, Carmine Infantino, Joe Kubert, Jim Aparo, and many more from the Silver Age of Comics. Of course there are sculptors from the past that have been a great influence, like the usual suspects, Michelangelo, Canova, Bernini, Donatello, the French animalier Barye, and obviously countless others from the Renaissance and surrounding periods. |
| Q. You've been
with the Walt Disney Classics
Collection since its inception,
but how did you become involved
with the Walt Disney Classics
Collection? A. Many years ago when the Collection was formed and directed by the then head of the WDCC, Suzanne Lee, she was very thoughtful and meticulous in getting each piece approved by the proper people, living or otherwise, who knew the characters best. At the time I was the maquette sculptor for the feature animation department, so she would bring them to me to also give it a fresh eye and get my opinion and any notes. Some notes were as little as adding a hole on the bottom of Goofy’s shoes, in the one of him playing the trombone, for example. That was then, and throughout the years even though Suzanne offered if I wanted to sculpt any of the characters, I always declined because I was so busy in the feature animation department. But fast forward many years, to about four years ago to be exact, when as we all know feature animation decided to stop doing hand-drawn animation. I became available and sculpting became a big part of the current phase of my career, and WDCC and I hooked up this time in a sculpting capacity. |
| Q. What do you
like most about sculpting? A. Each one is a challenge unto itself. To this day before I start any sculpt I get a nervous feeling knowing the pressure to not only make the sculpture, to capture the look and spirit of the character, but also to make the client, the fans and ultimately myself happy. I think my favorite part is in the rough stage, as I’m l laying down the clay and giving the character form, you begin to see it take shape and only if you experience this, you’ll know what I’m talking about. It’s an amazing feeling to see it happen before your eyes. Much of the process takes a lot of patience and before and after that moment, it can be quite a tedious process.
|
| Q. When
creating a sculpture do you use
special materials (i.e. wax,
clay, etc.), and do you prefer
to work in a specific scale?
Have the materials changed over
the years? A. I primarily work in polymer clay, widely known as Sculpey. Although I do use the pink version that is sold in the stores, and many years ago used the white color which was the only one available at the time, I do order a special batch directly from the Polyform Company who produces the clay, in a soft grey color. The grey that they have out in the market now is a bit too hard for my taste, so I find the softer one easier to work with. Usually the client gives you the size they prefer, in some cases the shrinkage is very low, in others, for example the WDCC collection, the shrinkage is very high, about 15%, so if you can imagine the pieces that much bigger, that is usually the size we sculpt them in. And the size can range, more or less twelve inches or so. |
| Q. Could you
describe a typical day/week of
work for a (WDCC) sculptor? A. The preproduction process can include a meeting with Enesco where they describe and give me visual reference on a particular character, or in some cases they will have me design the piece first and draw it out. I will then personally do my own research, look at what has been done before, and then I do a series of blueprint drawings which show the sculpt in detail from head to toe, including the armature, props, wood base etc. Then the process begins by starting to put all that together and roughing out the form. This may take anywhere from a week to two weeks more or less, depending on the size and complexity of the character. We then show the art director, Dave Pacheco, and get any necessary notes. The final stage, also taking another week to two weeks, is the clean up process where I tie down the character and finish it as clean as possible. So we are now into our fourth to sixth week, depending. The beauty of Polymer clay is that you can bake it and then it’s ready to hand off to the moldmaker. |
| Q. Your Magical
Maelstrom sculpture is a true
piece of art. It’s spectacular.
How was it for you to create
this masterpiece? Were there
difficulties creating this work
of art? (Click on the images
below to enlarge them)
A. Thank you again for the compliment, much appreciated, glad you like that piece. When I was working on it I thought it would never end with all those brooms. When they first showed me the concept drawing done by Dave, there was a suggestion of making just a handful of brooms and repeating them by sizing them down in the process. I had the bright idea, not that I regret it, mind you, why not make each broom animate from beginning to end like an animation scene? The drawback to that was, it took much more time than we figured, yet hopefully the results speak for themselves. This particular piece was quite an engineering feat as so much was involved and it should work from all angles. |
| Q. Your Ursula
maquette has been chosen to be
part of the permanent collection
of the Smithsonian Institute,
which is a huge achievement and
honor. How does this make you
feel? Your upcoming WDCC
sculpture of Ursula is also
spectacular, could you tell us
something about the creative
process of this sculpture? A. Thank you again, Dennis, it’s a very special and rewarding feeling knowing that my parents came to America as immigrants with the idea of one day working at Disney, and so it became true for my Dad and for his kids. Our becoming American citizens and now we’ve come full circle and part of America’s history is a tribute to my parents’ dreams and the possibilities in America. It was a nice opportunity they gave me to revisit Ursula after so many years. The original piece was so rewarding and like all those pieces, was the first sculpture ever done of Ursula. After all these years and accumulated new experiences it was neat to think that I could bring something new and different to her. I hope I achieved that. An interesting story behind it, obviously an octopus has eight tentacles, and so I sculpted eight. When I showed it to Dave, he reminded me that we actually had taken two of the tentacles off to simplify it during production, which I had completely forgotten. And sure enough, you don’t miss the other two!
|
| Q. Do you have
a favorite Disney Classic or
Classics (Walt era and post-Walt
era)? And what is so special
about this/these classic(s)? A. If you’re referring to the movies, the most memorable movie and as well, working experience, was Beauty and the Beast. Not only because it’s a beautiful story, but we managed to tell that story so well in animation. Everything about that movie and during that production seemed to have a sun over it and was exciting times. I really enjoyed working on that show. As far as during Walt’s era, I think my favorite film is Dumbo, because of its simplicity in execution, style, art direction and animation. To me it’s just a beautiful well rounded simple touching movie. |
|
Q. Do you have (a) special
Disney character(s) you have
created a maquette of for
Disney? And why is this
character special?
|
| Q. Do you have
(a) special Disney character(s)
you would like to create for the
Walt Disney Classics Collection?
And why? A. Yes, there are several. The first one that comes to mind is a tribute to Guy Williams and his role as Zorro. I’m hoping that becomes a reality one day, for the show’s fans and because it was be a great personal satisfaction as I am a big fan of the character myself. Others include the villain The Horned King from The Black Cauldron (which I was one of the animators of that character in the movie), the big golden eagle Marahute from The Rescuers Down Under, Rhatigan I’d like to revisit also, and Fidget, his bat sidekick. Rufus the cat from The Original Rescuers movie, the whale that sang at the Met, and I’m sure there’s many other obscure ones that haven’t been done. |
 Q.
Of course, we realize that you
are not at liberty to disclose
any information on future WDCC
releases, but can you tell us if
we will see more work from you
in the Collection?
A. Most definitely, as we work almost a year in advance before the collectors and the public sees the pieces, there are many I have done already for release this year and next year. I continue to get a steady flow of assignments from Enesco, and I really enjoy working on this series. |
| Q. Finally, you
have your own studio, Masked
Avenger Studios. Could you tell
us something about the choice of
the name, history and the work
that is being done at the
studio? A. When I left Disney, I decided to form my own studio and I thought in this day and age it would be a great idea to create a website. I had a good friend who is an amazing designer, Chris Roberts at RocketDerby.com, design my website, business cards, etc. When he came over to interview me for the project, he asked what name I would like and we discussed it for a while, and I shared my affinity for the masked heroes of yesteryear like the Lone Ranger, Zorro, Green Hornet, the Phantom, heroes that without any superpower did good for the people, and ones that made an impression on me as a kid growing up. Chris turned to me and said, why don’t you call it Masked Avenger? I thought it was a great idea and to both of our surprise, the domain name was available, so now I’m known as the Masked Avenger, which doesn’t mean I run around all day with a mask and a cape, or go out at night and save citizens in danger! But, it’s a fitting name because not only do I work for Disney, but also for other companies in the comic book world and animation. My clients include Warner Bros., Cartoon Network, New Line Cinema, Dark Horse Comics, Moonstone Books, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, King Features, Classic Media, etc. The beauty of this is that I get a chance to work at all the different studios and am known as Ruben Procopio of Masked Avenger Studios, not just "a Disney animator".
|
| Q. Thank you
for taking the time to answer
these questions: I really
appreciate your efforts. A. Last but not least, thank you so much for asking and for all the great questions, it’s been a privilege to share with you and the collectors in Europe. I hope to come and visit you and meet one on one with everyone one day in your beautiful country! |
| Are
you interested in the work Rubén
Procopio has created? Have a
look at his web site for more
information:
www.maskedavenger.comm
Gallery
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