Allison Rutland

Canadian animator and illustrator

Allison Rutland is a Canadian animator and illustrator, who has worked at major film studios such as Moving Picture Company, Framestore, and Pixar Studios. Rutland won the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in 2016.

Early life

Rutland was raised in Milton, Ontario.[1] She attended E.C. Drury High School.[1]

She attended McMaster University's Fine Arts Program, receiving her bachelor's degree in 2002.[2][3][4] She then attended Sheridan College's Computer Animation program, graduating in 2003.[1][2][5][6]

Career

Rutland's animation career started with animating for film studios in Toronto, Canada, working primarily on commercials and TV shows.[7] After her work on the film Everyone's Hero, she was accepted into film studios in London, England.[2][3][7][8] She worked in London for two years on visual effects for studios that produced movies such as The Tale of Despereaux, Where the Wild Things Are, and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.[3][6]

Rutland began working for Pixar Studios in 2009.[1][3][6] She works as both a character animator and directing animator for the film studio,[6] and has worked on a number of films such as Finding Dory, Toy Story 3, Brave, Monsters University, Inside Out, and Coco.[7][9][10]

Rutland notes across the animation studies in her career of a gender imbalance of women animators: she was the only woman in her Toronto employment, and one of twenty women employed by Pixar in 2009.[6] She emphasis that although her encounter with gender imbalance "has not dramatically colored her experience, she would like to see more women in leadership roles in the field."[11]

She also teaches online at the Academy of Art University.[6]

Influences

Rutland cites comic books Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield, and Archie as initial artistic influences in her early life, as well as the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.[6][7]

Allison described on fellow colleagues as major supports in her animation career such as Holly Nichols and Morgan Ginsberg, which she said helped her transition from TV to feature film work, and that they were "invaluable to kicking off my career on a global scale."[12]

Awards and achievements

Rutland was the recipient of the Annie Award in 2016 for her work on Character Animation for Inside Out.[5][13][14][15] She was nominated alongside colleague John Chun Chiu Lee for the Annie Award in 2017 for her work on Coco, with the award going to the former.[6][16][17]

In 2017, Rutland was inducted in the Milton Walk of Fame.[1][18]

Filmography

Other works

  • Sammy the Snail, Book, illustrator[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Champion, Julie Slack Milton Canadian. "Milton native honoured with animation industry award". Inside Halton. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
  2. ^ a b c Slack, Julie (June 28, 2012). "Canadian Champion (Milton, ON), 28 Jun 2012, p. 41". news.milton.halinet.on.ca. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  3. ^ a b c d "allison rutland | thesil.ca". Retrieved 2023-04-21.
  4. ^ "What do Inside Out, Toy Story 3, Brave, and other animations have in common?". Retrieved 2023-05-05.
  5. ^ a b "Sheridan graduates honoured with animation industry awards". Sheridan College. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Aggerholm, Barbara (2022-08-17). "Grand Magazine". Retrieved 2023-04-21.
  7. ^ a b c d "How We Create A Career: Animator". She’s Poised. 2015-03-04. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  8. ^ "Canadian Champion (Milton, ON), 28 Jun 2012, p. 41". news.milton.halinet.on.ca. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
  9. ^ "Canadian Champion (Milton, ON), 22 Jan 2013, p. 6". news.milton.halinet.on.ca. January 22, 2013. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  10. ^ "Finding Dory animators catch real life inspiration". Sheridan College. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  11. ^ "How We Create A Career: Animator". She’s Poised. 2015-03-04. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
  12. ^ "An Interview with Annie Award-Winning Pixar Animator Allison Rutland". SyncSketch Blog. 2022-02-15. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  13. ^ "Is Pixar's award-winning 'Inside Out' heading for Oscar stardom?". thestar.com. 2016-02-08. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
  14. ^ "'Inside Out' wins outstanding animated feature at the Annie Awards". Los Angeles Times. 2016-02-07. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
  15. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (2015-12-01). "Annie Awards Noms: 'Inside Out', 'Anomalisa', 'Shaun The Sheep', 'Good Dinosaur' & 'Peanuts ' Up For Best Feature". Deadline. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  16. ^ Giardina, Carolyn (2018-02-03). "Annie Awards: 'Coco' Tops Animation Celebration". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
  17. ^ Flores, Terry (2017-12-04). "'Coco' Tops 2018 Annie Awards Nominations With 13". Variety. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  18. ^ "Canadian Champion (Milton, ON), 16 Feb 2017, p. 12". news.milton.halinet.on.ca. Retrieved 2023-04-21.

External links

  • Allison Rutland at IMDb
  • Official Website
  • SyncSketch interview with Rutland