As part of his training, he had to animate a scene. It was like no other thrill I had ever had in all my life, and threw away the paint brushes and decided I was going to become an animator. I learned quite a lot in a short amount of time. John was interested in animated human characters. He volunteered to work on Penny and the directors gave him a chance.
Human characters are quite difficult to animate.
If the character is slightly off the mark, it fails miserably, especially with the Disney standards so high. I went to the parks and playgrounds to study how little girls act and move. Working with Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, he taught the art of animation to the young talent. He also worked on the Disney animation review board, which selected animation portfolios from the applicants to the studio. He was a major part of the training program on this film, helping new animators to understand advanced principles of the industry.