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James Baxter

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Animator

The Resume

    (May 24, 1967- )
    Born in Bristol, England, United Kingdom
    Character animator for Walt Disney Animation Studios (1987-97) and DreamWorks Animation (1996–2006, 2008-18)
    Worked on the films 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988),' 'Rescuers Down Under (1990),' 'Beauty and the Beast (1991),' 'The Lion King (1994),' 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996),' 'The Prince of Egypt (1998),' 'The Road to El Dorado (2000),' 'Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002),' 'Shrek 2 (2004),' 'Madagascar (2005),' 'Curious George (2006),' 'Enchanted (2007),' 'Kung Fu Panda (2008),' 'Monsters vs. Aliens (2009),' and 'How to Train Your Dragon (2010)'

Why he might be annoying:

    He tends to get sole credit for animating Belle in 'Beauty and the Beast,' even though the job was shared with fellow animator Mark Henn.
    He provided the animation for the title character of 'Sinbad: Legend of the High Seas' - a film which bombed so badly that it basically doomed DreamWorks' 2-D animation division.
    He worked on the Adventure Time episode literally titled 'James Baxter the Horse' (which he both voiced and animated).
    The episode's story focused on the lead characters trying to emulate a horse who can cheer everyone up by neighing his name (James Baxter) and balancing on a beach ball.
    He left DreamWorks Animation twice (first to become the head of his own studio, James Baxter Animation, which closed in 2008, and the second time in 2017 to work for Netflix).

Why he might not be annoying:

    His trademark characters are known for being ridiculously fluid and smooth, even within works with an already high frame rate.
    He provided the hand animation of Belle and the Beast for the famous sweeping shot ballroom dance sequence against the backdrop of CGI (the earliest use of such technology).
    He was the Supervising Animator for Rafiki in 'Lion King,' Quasimodo in 'Hunchback,' and Moses in 'Prince of Egypt.'
    His work on the Adventure Time episode introduced him to a whole new generation of fans and animation enthusiasts.
    He wrote and did voicework for a second such episode, 'Horse and Ball, which focused on his character's origins.
    He, along with fellow animators Stephen Hillenburg (months before his death), Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby won the Winsor McCay Award at the 2018 Annie Awards.
    He studied the art of French impressionist Edgar Degas, a painter known for his portraits of ballerinas, to incorporate the 'graceful, swan-like movements' into Belle's character animation.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 8 Votes: 12.50% Annoying