17. Animating Through Technological Advancements with Chuck Duke

In this episode of Return to Nature, Melissa interviews Chuck Duke, a seasoned stop-motion and CGI animator with over 40 years experience. At age 22 Chuck found himself working claymation for Will Vinton Studios sculpting and animating the California Raisins. Between 1985 and 1995 Chuck animated on several Emmy winning Television Productions for Will Vinton. He left Vinton Studio to work on his first feature film, Henry Selick's James and the Giant Peach. In 1997, Chuck began working at George Lucas's ILM,  animating on films such as Small Soldiers and Star Wars Phantom Menace. Since then, he has animated on notable stop-motion films such as Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox and  Isle of Dogs, Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie, and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. 

Chuck Shares:

• The Ray Harryhausen film that sparked his interest in learning how stop-motion was done
• How he made his early stop-motion films as a teenager
• His dad’s support for his interest in the arts and animation
• The lack of schooling available for stop-motion and animation in general during his college experience and how he garnered an informal education
• His first job in stop-motion for Will Vinton Studios and how he got it
• How technological progress has changed everything from getting an education to breaking into the industry.
• An overview of how stop-motion technology and software has changed since he started 
• The capabilities of the industry standard Dragonframe stop-motion software
• How he got hired on Henry Selick’s James and the Giant Peach
• Why the Mars Attacks! animation switched from stop-motion to CGI
• Why he and other stop-motion animators transitioned to doing 3D animation
• The differences between the various stop-motion directors he’s worked with
• His experience animating at The Sisters Bloom