Interview with Wil Branca

TAY: When were you born?
BRANCA: March 18, 1967

TAY: What was your childhood like?
Prison.

TAY: How did you first get into cartoons and animation?
BRANCA: My parents tell me that my first drawing was of Superman when I was 2. I spent a lot of time watching cartoons on TV, of course; mostly Bugs Bunny & the old Black & White Fleischers' Popeye cartoons. I would guess that it was the Fleischers' Superman that I was trying to draw, too. I drew all the time as a kid. Around the 5th grade, I started attending these Saturday morning drawing classes for kids that were held at an art school called the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon & Graphic Art in Dover, New Jersey. I lived right near the place growing up & It was from Joe that I really began to learn how to draw for real. As an adult, I went back to college at the Kubert School for animation.

TAY: You've studied many different things such as wrestling, psychology and art/animation. What made you change your mind?
BRANCA: Hmmm... I started wresting right after a good friend of mine committed suicide, my parents divorced, & I had been released from a drug treatment center. Needless to say, it was a pretty rough period in my life. Wrestling was a good way for a 16 year-old juvenile delinquent to vent aggression in a constructive way. I continued with it through college, where I initially intended to study Psychology. The grim reality of listening to other peoples' problems all day finally dawned on me, so I switched majors to Graphic Design. At the time (in the '80's) animation consisted of half-hour commercials for toy companies (He-Man, etc.) and I had no interest in that whatsoever. It wasn't until I saw "The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse" in 1987 that I began to consider animation as a career.

TAY: How did you first get into your career in animation?
BRANCA: After I went back to college at Kubert's, I got a job as an Animator for a developer of children's' "educational" interactive CD-ROMs.

TAY: When working on a cartoon, what do you prefer to do (layout, animation, storyboarding, voices etc.) and why?
BRANCA: I like animating best. Seeing the movement as you flip the pages is the most immediate form of gratification for someone with a 30 second attention span, like me.

TAY: Who would you cite as being your influences that changed your life?
BRANCA: Dr. Charles P. Drew, headmaster and founder of Kingsbrook Academy, where I went to high school.

TAY: How did you get into working at Spumco?
BRANCA: I showed up on John K.'s doorstep one day & refused to leave.

TAY: During you time at spumco so far, I'm assuming you've had to adapt to the spumco style. Do you find that hard when you doing your own animation and drawings?
BRANCA: No, if anything it's helped to improve my own stuff.

TAY: Here's a Bob Cesa question. Where do you see the flash animation technology going in next 5 or so years?
BRANCA: More of the same, basically: lots of poorly drawn, poorly animated, crappy cartoons that take too long to download, just more of it. There'll be more of the good stuff, too, of course.

TAY: From all the places you've worked at, do you have a favourite employer and why?
BRANCA: Yes, John K. because he actually makes real cartoons.

TAY: How about a disliked employer or somewhere you worked?
BRANCA: Joel Fried at Funnybone Interactive because he's Satan.

TAY: From reading your resume you seem to know a lot about some computer animation programs etc. How do you compare working with computer programs to working traditionally with a pencil?
BRANCA: Computer animation creeps me out. Computers are great for scanning, coloring, assembling, etc.; all the technical stuff, but I like to draw.

TAY: Is there a favourite project or cartoon that you have worked on?
BRANCA: Yes, Weekend Pussy Hunt.

TAY: When you aren't working on cartoons, what are you doing?
BRANCA: I recently started studying Aikido (a Japanese martial art). I read a lot, watch cartoons, lift weights, listen to Blues, Jazz, Classical, and Rock music. I enjoy stalking women. Old cars are cool, too.

TAY: From what I've seen of 'Meet the Stoners' (House of OG) it all looks rather interesting. Where do some of your characters originate?
BRANCA: Thanks! Everything pretty much comes from personal experience. I know that's a simplistic answer, but I think that's true of all artists to varying degrees. Og is basically about my Dad, though.

TAY: What other interests do you have other than cartoons?
BRANCA: Breasts, ugly people, beautiful people, stupid people, stupid looking people, smart people, uncomfortable silences, odors, the usual stuff, the unusual stuff.

TAY: What do you think of your time at Joe Kubert's school? (what you learned and how you were taught)
BRANCA: I had some really great teachers there. The work load was grueling, we typically had 8 hours of homework 5 nights a week, but it was definitely worth it.

TAY: What do you want to do with the rest of your life? What you eventually hope to do/be or have you achieved everything already?
BRANCA: I really prefer to focus on short-term goals at this point, so I'll continue to improve my skills at Spumco. In the long-term, I want to produce and direct my own cartoons.
TAY: If you could work with anyone is the whole world, who would that be
BRANCA: Well, I gave up a pretty stable gig and moved 3,000 miles to work for John K. already.

TAY: What would you like to have written on your tombstone?
BRANCA:graffiti