2008 Woodie Awards
Expert Animator to Teach At Delta
Oliva Worked with Don Bluth, Hanna-Barbera and Disney
Ivan Moore
Issue date: 2/23/07 Section: No Limits
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Starting Monday, Feb. 26, Delta graphic art students can learn the basics of animation in a new course.
It's the first class of its kind at Delta, complete with a first-time instructor.
Oliva, a veteran animation expert, has never had a teaching job, but he does have an impressive work history.
His resume is extensive, with titles even a casual animation fan would recognize, from Don Bluth classics "All Dogs go to Heaven" and "Fern Gully," to Disney blockbusters "Lilo and Stitch," "Hunchback of Notre Dame," and "Mulan," to name a few. He has worked on over 30 animated television series, including "Scooby Doo", "The Flintstones," and "The Jetsons."
Oliva began his career as a cartoonist for his local paper. He was "discovered" as an animator at the age of 21, when a friend told him that the Hanna Barbera Studio was looking for animators. Since then, Oliva has worked in all aspects of the animation industry, from storyboards to "clean-up," but his specialty has been visual effect animation. He said he has had a successful 30-year career in animation.
Why the move to Stockton? Oliva explained that the animation industry is "transient."
"You could have a job with one studio one year, and another the next," Oliva said. His pursuit of employment led him to move to the Philippines, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Korea.
"My wife got tired of packing up all the things and moving the kids. She has family in Stockton, so every time I was between jobs, we'd move here."
Oliva said he is excited and a little nervous about his new post as a college instructor.
"It's always been a dream of mine to teach," Oliva confessed. He said that he thought his lack of a formal degree would keep him from such a job. Melanie Marshall, the head of the graphic arts program at Delta, told Oliva that it wouldn't be a problem. She had been thinking of starting animation curriculum at Delta, and felt that Oliva would be the right one for the job.
"The fun thing about cartoons is you're not limited by reality and physics," Oliva said. "But it's important to pay attention to the physics of what you're animating. If you don't, that water isn't going to read like water, and that fire isn't going to read like fire. They have certain inherent properties that make them what they are."
He plans on focusing the class on story telling and basic art theory. He feels the principles of animation can be applied to many fields in art, from painting to filmmaking. He said some knowledge of drawing would help, but he hopes that students with little or no drawing experience will try the class. He has plenty of experience to draw on, so to speak.
Oliva lists his time with Don Bluth Films as some of his favorite work, but he is particularly proud of his tenure at Disney. He said that working with Walt Disney Pictures is the pinnalce of the animation industry.
"It's the highest rung of the ladder for people in my business," Oliva said. His favorite picture with Disney was 2002's "Lilo & Stitch," about the friendship between a fugitive alien and a lonely Hawaiian girl. Oliva grew up on the beach in Southern California, so the film's surf scenes were a joy for him, and the subject matter was also close to his heart.
"Sometimes I feel like a space alien," He laughed.
For information about the class, visit the graphic art room in Shima 241 or go to www.deltacollege.org/dept/grart. For more on Michael Oliva, log on to www.olivagrafix.com.
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