James Baxter (animator)

**James Baxter** (born 19 May 1967) is a British character animator. He was first known for his work on several Walt Disney Animation Studios films, including various characters in *Who Framed Roger Rabbit*, Belle in *Beauty and the Beast*, Rafiki in *The Lion King*, and Quasimodo in *The Hunchback of Notre Dame*.

After *The Hunchback of Notre Dame*, Baxter moved over to DreamWorks Animation, where he worked on films such as *The Prince of Egypt*, *The Road to El Dorado*, *Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron*, *Shrek 2* and *Madagascar*. Additionally, Baxter worked as a supervising animator for Yumi Yoshimura in the 2003 Cartoon Network animated film *Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi*. Early in 2005, Baxter left DreamWorks and set out on his own as an independent animator. He became the head of his own studio, James Baxter Animation, in Pasadena, California, where he has directed the animation for the 2007 film *Enchanted* and the opening credits to DreamWorks' *Kung Fu Panda*, for which he received an Annie Award. After the release of *Kung Fu Panda* in 2008, Baxter had decided to let his studio, James Baxter Animation, remain open for one more year. In July 2008, Baxter took a two-month hiatus from DreamWorks to work on another Cartoon Network feature project. After the release of *Codename: Kids Next Door: The Movie* in 2009, Baxter closed his studio and returned to DreamWorks as a supervising animator. While at DreamWorks, Baxter worked on films such as *Monsters vs. Aliens*, *How to Train Your Dragon* and *The Croods*. In 2017, Baxter left DreamWorks once again and went to work for Netflix.

In May 2013, Baxter was a guest animator for an episode of the fifth season of *Adventure Time* entitled "James Baxter the Horse". The episode's story focused on the lead characters trying to emulate a horse who can cheer everyone up by neighing his name (James Baxter) and balancing on a beach ball. Both the horse's animation and voice were provided by Baxter. The episode's title card features a drawing of the horse drawing a horse on a beach ball, while sitting at an animation table. A second episode focusing on the character's origins, "Horse and Ball", aired during the show's eighth season, with Baxter once again animating and voicing the character.

In 2018, Baxter, along with fellow animators Stephen Hillenburg (months before his death), Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby won the Winsor McCay Award at the 2018 Annie Awards.

## References

1. **^** Ward, Pendleton (6 May 2013). "Tonight. Featuring the work of guest animator… James Baxter". Pendleton Ward's Cartoon Tumblr. Frederator Studios. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
2. **^** ASIFA Hollywood, Annie Awards 2018 - The Winsor McCay Award - James Baxter, archived from the original on 22 December 2021, retrieved 30 January 2019
3. **^** Rodriguez, Nicole (21 January 2019). "James Baxter!". @Shnikkles (in Dutch). Retrieved 22 January 2019.
4. **^** Thurm, Eric (28 January 2019). "A really, truly epic hourlong Steven Universe nearly spells the end of everything". CBR. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
5. **^** Milligan, Mercedes (22 March 2019). "Netflix Plans Oscar-Qualifying Release for Original Feature 'Klaus'". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
6. **^** "TV Films 3", Annecy Festival Online, 15 June 2020, retrieved 15 June 2020

## External links

* James Baxter reveals the secrets of enchanting character animation
* James Baxter's visit to CalArt's Character Animation Program (Spring '06)
* James Baxter at IMDb
* James Baxter's channel on YouTube