Mike Kim

My best friend was Mike Kim in high school. He grew up in Redlands, California and drove a Karmann Ghia. He was very popular at Redlands High School. He started animation at a very early age, and taught himself 3D perspective and movement through artists and animator's books. This was in the mid 80's without the aid of the internet. He poured over Disney animation books that taught how to do basic animation. He expounded on that with intense veracity. By the age of 16, he was getting calls from major animation studios to be involved in major animation productions like Power Puff Girls and Ren and Stimpy. Graduating from Cal Arts in Valencia, he was able to rub shoulders with the early animators of Toy Story and Cars. Having those connections at Cal Arts spring-boarded him into the world of feature-length animation. From there, he worked on Rugrats and Clone Wars. He was one of the sole animators for the 3D effects that were first employed in the reboot for Star Wars IV, A new Hope. He reported to me once during golf that he sat nervously next to George Lucas, and they viewed the film together. Not one word was said. At the end of the movie, Mike was told that he did a great job and that he (Lucas) was very pleased (not an exact quote as my memory is fading.) Mike Kim also worked on Horton Hears a Who and The Lorax. Mike related to me during golf that, The Lorax is a great film,but because Horton did not do well, he felt like The Lorax would not be well-received. It did moderately well with 50 million in domestic profits. Mike was also heavily involved in The Despicable Me series. He was a wonder person who was smart beyond his years at a very young age.