Ex-Utahns like life behind scenes

Their contributions might not be as obvious as those of the actors who voice the characters, but there wouldn't even be animated films without the artists and animators.

Or, as Richard Shiba put it, "We're just the foot soldiers who are serving in the field. We usually don't get noticed unless we do something spectacularly heroic — or do something spectacularly stupid."

Actually, Shiba prefers to remain behind the scenes, and he likened animators' work to that of cinematographers and photographers on live-action films.

"Those guys don't get noticed very often either, except by people who really know their filmmaking. I guess there are a lot of us who are working in this industry because we love it, not for the recognition," he said during a phone interview from the DreamWorks Animation SKG offices in Glendale, Calif.

Shiba is one of a handful of former Utahns who worked on "Over the Hedge," a new animated comedy based on the syndicated newspaper comic strip. The University of Utah graduate and former copy courier for the Deseret News served as a final layout supervisor (layout being the final process before the actual character animation begins).

And former Sandy resident Gary Graham, who also spoke to us from Glendale, Calif., served as one of the story artists. Graham's work was done during the storyboarding process, in which the story artists sketched out "rough" versions of the script.

"It's one of the few areas in animation today in which artists still work with pencil and ink. Nearly everything else is done by computer nowadays," explained Graham, a graduate of Utah Technical College (now known as Salt Lake Community College).

Both men said they were "drawn" to the animation field, if you will.

Shiba had been working in computer sales before being offered a job at PDI, the animation house that produced the original "Shrek" for DreamWorks.

And Graham, who worked on the television series "X-Men: Evolution," came to DreamWorks with "Over the Hedge" co-director Karey Kirkpatrick. (The two had worked together on Universal's "Curious George" animated feature.)

"This is what I've always wanted to do," Graham said, a sentiment that Shiba agreed with.

The two also said they are proud of their work on "Over the Hedge," though, interestingly, neither of them was very familiar with the source material. "But obviously, we all had to give (the comic strip) a look when we started working on the movie. It's good stuff," Shiba noted.

And unlike some earlier animated works — primarily from Disney — which incorporated the facial features of their big-name voice casts, this film's character designs are original. (The voice cast includes Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Steve Carell and William Shatner.)