Spider-Man and Lightyear animator on achieving her childhood dream at Pixar, Disney and Sony Pictures, and how she brings characters to life on screen

Animator Kim Hye-sook has worked on films like Pixar’s Lightyear, Pororo the Little Penguin, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Disney’s Sofia the First

She reveals where her passion for animation comes from, where she gets her inspiration, how she brings her characters to life and why she wants to ‘do better’

Reading Time:3 minutes

Pixar Animation Studios senior animator Kim Hye-sook has been working at Pixar since 2021. She reveals why she can now call herself “a happy person”. Photo: courtesy of Kim Hye-sook

Published: 5:15pm, 7 Jan 2023

By Lee Gyu-lee

Kim Hye-sook, who grew up in the small town of Hongseong – about 150 kilometres (93 miles) southeast of the South Korean capital, Seoul – once saw herself as just an ordinary girl who loved to draw.

But when her middle-school teacher, after seeing her drawings, told her about the animation industry, she began to dream of making a career out of her drawings.

Twenty-five years on, Kim has realised this dream. In 2021, she came to work for Pixar Animation Studios as a senior animator on the 2022 film Lightyear. The film follows Toy Story space ranger Buzz Lightyear and his new, rag-tag crew, who find themselves stranded on a strange planet.

A still from Disney and Pixar’s Lightyear. Photo: Pixar

“When I moved [from Korea], I started to have more thoughts about empathy and understanding,” Kim says. “The language and culture, the confusion and struggles that come from a new environment can lead people to empathise with each other, and to comfort one another.

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