1. arts
14 Spring/Summer 2008
T
hrough an inconspicuous set of doors, just inside the entrance
of Sheridan College’s Sheldon Levy Centre, there’s a world of
creativity where copy becomes dialogue, drawings transform
into characters and television stars are born.
Inside the 4,000-square-foot studio, sixty talented young animators
are busy developing storyboards, painting characters, and adding special
effects to The Backyardigans, a popular 3D CGI animation program
appearing on Treehouse TV.
Pipeline Studios, a partner of Nelvana International, a leading
producer and distributor of children’s
programs and products, opened its
doors in January 2007. Mac Holyoke,
Pipeline’s executive producer and a
25-year employee of Nelvana, says the
idea to create a studio in Oakville was
purcolating for a couple of years before the opportunity to lease space
at Sheridan College came about. “I always wondered why there wasn’t a
studio here,” says Holyoke. With one of the best animation schools in the
world, it seemed logical and would have saved him the two hour commute
to Toronto every day.
Currently in its third season, each episode of The Backyardigans details
the backyard adventures of five pre-school friends: Pablo, a penguin;
Austin, a kangaroo; Tyrone, a moose; Tasha, a hippo and Uniqua, her own
unique species. Created by Janice Burgess, each episode features colourful
settings, new songs and eye-catching dancing, winning a Parent Choice
award two years in a row.
With the decision to create a local studio, a number of animators
from Nelvana’s Toronto office agreed to make the commute to Oakville,
Sheridan graduates were hired and artists from as far away as Ottawa,
Calgary, Vancouver and Halifax were brought into the mix. Since Pipleine
began producing The Backyardigans, production that was previously split
up between various studios across the country or around the world is
being done at Pipeline and Holyoke says creative directors at Nickolodeon
couldn’tbehappier.“Animationisnowfeasibletobeproduceddomestically,
using more Canadian animators, and more
Halton residents,” he adds.
How do they do it? Much like a
factory assembly line, the studio has fine
tuned the production process, developing a
“pipeline”, linking artists, resources, assets
and production tools, explains Juan Lopez, co-founder and Executive
Director. “We have proven we can produce top results in-house, with a
smaller number of talented artists.” Sheridan College is world renowed
for its animation program - 55 percent of Nelvana’s staff are Sheridan
graduates – says Luis Lopez, Director of Studio Operations at Nelvana.
Students need to learn the basics, strengthen their artistic abilities and
develop strong technical skills to compete in the industry. “Sheridan
goes beyond that and prepares students for real production work,” notes
Lopez. “You find students that are able to join a team and hit the ground
running.”
World Famous
Animation in our own
by Deborah Everest-Hill • Photography by Peter McCusker
Pipeline Studios:
Backyard
“we have proven we can produce
top results in house with a smaller
number of talented artists”
continued on page 15

2. 15 Spring/Summer 2008
In Lopez’s opinion, Pipeline’s access to skilled talent, use of cutting-edge
technology (Autodesk 3D and Toonboom Harmony 2D Digital, two of the
leading animation software companies in the world) and its proximity to
Nelvana’s Toronto office positions it as a world class production studio. In
the past year Pipleine Studios has doubled its employees from 28 to 60 and
recently interviewed 120 individuals for the production of Grossology, a 2D
animated series featuring brother-sister team Ty and Abby Archer. Now in
its second season, appearing on YTV and the Discovery Channel, Grossology
features science facts, bad guys and humour.
While animation is designed to entertain children, Holyoke says
considerable research goes into the planning of animated projects to ensure
the content is suitable for the intended audience. Within the field of animation
there are eight or nine specialties including story board, animation, art
direction, matte painting and technical artistry. Back at Nickolodeon in
California there are directors, choreographers and even dancers who model
dance steps that will be replicated by their 3D counterparts. Evidence also
suggests that animation does a lot more than mesmerize and entertain kids
for 30 minutes. Visual communication, cognition, observation, concentration
and problem-solving are skills generally believed to be enhanced as a result of
viewing programs like The Backyardigans.
As a 25-year veteran of the Canadian animation industry, Holyoke has
had an opportunity to witness changing technology and the comings and
goings of many children’s programs. While he says studios still produce 60
to 75 episodes each year, the process is not as time-consuming and labour
intensive. “Creativity is still a prominent factor but computers now do the
grunt work.” When he began his career working on Inspector Gadget, the
program was designed and directed at Nelvana but the animation, which
involved inking and painting the many animated drawings, was done in a
large studio in Asia.
In addition to producing The Backyardigans and Grossology, Pipeline
provides 2D and 3D animation services for feature films, the entertainment
industry and makes time for the development of in-house projects whenever
possible. Headin West and Moo Thai Lamb Chob are two projects currently in
the works. “We have an open-door policy with our staff,” adds Lopez.
“We encourage staff to offer input and share ideas.”
media
Photography by Peter C. McCusker
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Left: Juan Lopez, co-founder and Executive Director with the Backyardigans. Above: Mac
Holyoke, Executive Producer at Pipeline Studios shows off Pipeline talent and technology with
illustrator James O’Connor .
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continued from page 14