Pinoy animator Paul Abadilla makes waves in “Finding Dory”
(Photo: Yahoo/Cecile Baltasar)
By Cecile Baltasar
Thirteen years ago, we left her happy and content in the company of Marlin and Nemo in their anemone. But fans of the Oscar-winning Disney-Pixar film Finding Nemo knew Dory’s story was just half done.
Finally, in Finding Dory, everyone’s favorite forgetful blue Tang fish swims back to our screens to tell her story.
There’s no one better to re-introduce her to Filipinos than our kababayan Paul Abadilla, a Filipino sketch artist for Pixar Animation Studios who helped work on the environment art for Finding Dory.
Quiet and succinct, Paul Abadilla strides into the Finding Dory premier full of excited kids and their parents. “Hi, my name is Paul Abadilla,” he says without fanfare. “I was born in the Philippines — spent my childhood in Alabang and Pandacan, and I’m one of the artists for Finding Dory.”
It was literally a long journey for Paul to find his way to the Disney doors. When he was seven, he and his family moved from the Philippines to the US.
Paul went on to study at San Jose State University, completing a degree in Animation and Illustration. In 2007, he got into Walt Disney as an intern.
After two months of internship, he moved on to Pixar in 2008. Paul has been with Pixar ever since.
Like a grateful son though, Paul makes sure to look back at his roots. “I remember playing patintero and taguan outside when I was a kid,” he says. “And then going to school, I took the tricycle and the jeepney.”
Paul speaks fairly good Tagalog, and does sometimes crave for one of the best things Filipinos are known for: food. “Adobo, sisig, they’re all good,” quips Paul after his on-cam interview.
Not one to spend an hour talking just about himself, Paul would rather talk about his work. But he still does hold the Filipino value of family close to his heart. “My dad inspired me to become an artist,” he says. “And my dad, in turn, became an artist because of my uncle.”
Once he did fulfill his dream of becoming an artist, Paul honed his skills designing sets and environments for Disney, working on textures, practicing color and lighting.
For Finding Dory, Paul worked on a terrifying scene (at least for the sea creatures) where kids interacted with the fish. This isn’t the first animated film Paul has worked on for Disney-Pixar. He was also part of the art team for Monsters University, Brave, and Inside Out.
As set designer, Paul worked on the critically acclaimed short film, The Blue Umbrella. He also did the concept art for another hit short, Sanjay’s Super Team.
He has no doubt that young Filipino artists can break into the international animation scene, like he did.
His advice? “Always have a sketchpad and pencil with you. Draw every day and be observant of everything happening around you. Just draw from life and master communicating things visually.”
