Were The Wild Things Are (2009)

I was responsible for surfacing and grooming the digital Carol for Where The Wild Things Are during my stay at Animal Logic.  It was a dream come true, not only working on my favorite monsters from my childhood, but spending the day surrounded by reference photos from Jim Henson's Creature Workshop!
The Project jumped from VFX studio to VFX studio over it's production, and the assets where carried along.  Dave Abbott (Now at WETA) worked on Carol whilst he was at Rising Sun pictures, the project later went to Blur Studios, and then eventually wound it's way back to land once again on Dave's lap at his new position at Animal Logic.  He was amazed that his work had survived jumping several studios.  Dave had his hands full with Gardians of Gahoole, and was happy to hand Carol over to me when realized just how enthusiastic I was about the project.  Childhood dream come true!
The largest part of the project was nailing Carol's eyes.  We did a LOT of iterations to get them just right, tweaking how much lens distortion, how much reflection, wetness... every little detail until Spike was satisfied.  I was more than happy to oblige, knowing that they where the windows to the soul of the most important CG character in the film.
It was hard to say goodbye to him, but I will always be proud to be part of the worldwide team of artists, fabricators, sculptors, puppeteers and animators who brought him to life.