Breaking from its traditional “damsel in distress” narrative, back in 2016, Disney released Moana, a film that presented a strong, independent heroine who charted her own course. With its stunning animation and unforgettable music, Moana won the hearts of audiences worldwide and paved the way for a highly anticipated sequel. Set to release on 27 November, Moana 2 promises to bring even more magic to the screen. At VIEW Conference, AnimationXpress had the chance to catch up with the film’s head of animation, Amy Smeed, who has been a key part of Disney’s animation team for over two decades.
Smeed started her career at Walt Disney Animation Studios in 1998 as an assistant in the scene set-up department for Dinosaur. She became an animator in 2004 on Chicken Little, and since then, has risen to head of animation on major Disney films like Moana, Raya and the Last Dragon, and Strange World. Her extensive career includes animation credits on films such as Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, and Bolt, with a VES Award nomination for her work on Rapunzel in Tangled.
Here’s what she had to share about her journey and the upcoming film:
You’ve had a long and successful journey at Disney. What were some pivotal moments in your career that helped you rise through the ranks?
I think the first step was working really hard to become a character animator at the studio and dedicating myself to studying the craft. I animated for about 13 years before I had my first leadership position. The leaders I worked with started trusting me with key moments in the films, which was an exciting responsibility. Eventually, I became a studio department leader, helping oversee the craft of animation for the entire department. One of the biggest milestones was working on the first Moana—it was my first time as head of animation, and it was an incredible opportunity for me.
The success of Moana speaks for itself, and now with Moana 2 set for release this month, how does leading the animation team on a sequel differ from the first film?
With Moana 2, we’ve brought in a whole new cast of characters, including Moana’s little sister, Simea, as well as new monsters and creatures that bring fresh energy to the story. There’s also this epic storm that she has to battle, which presented some exciting new challenges for the animation team.
For me personally, what’s been really special is getting the opportunity to work with Moana again. I felt like I got to know her almost like a friend. Then, once the film wrapped, I didn’t get to see her every day anymore. So having the chance to work with her and continue her story has been really special.
Having worked on iconic films like Tangled and Frozen, how do you ensure that each character you animate has a distinct personality?
It all starts with thinking about the character’s body language. For instance, if I’m animating Elsa, she’s likely going to sit very upright and proper because she’s a queen. In contrast, if I’m working on Anna, her posture would be more relaxed and casual—maybe slouching her shoulders a bit. These are the foundational elements we explore early on—what is their body posture? What does their silhouette look like?
From there, we build on these characteristics with their performance. We also do a lot of walk cycles for each character. For example, if Anna or Moana walked across a room, how would they walk? How would they sit down? Each character has their own distinct way of moving. These early tests during pre-production help us define who the characters are, ensuring they each have their own unique personality.
What’s more creatively fulfilling for you—building a new world from scratch or expanding on a beloved story in a sequel?
Both are creatively fulfilling in different ways. With a sequel, like Moana 2, there’s a sense of familiarity and excitement in returning to characters you love. But building a new world and new characters is equally rewarding because you’re crafting something completely fresh and unique. I love both processes, as each comes with its own set of challenges and creative opportunities.
How do you manage the balance between creativity and collaboration when leading a team across different departments?
One of the things I love about being head of animation is how collaborative the role is across multiple departments. For example, our rigging team is one of the departments we work with most closely. Building a character like Moana can take roughly six months. We work with the riggers daily, creating what we call a “digital skeleton,” which allows us to control and animate the character.
During that process, we have weekly meetings, not only with the rigging team but also with the character designers, to ensure the design is holding up with all the rig controls. And it doesn’t stop there—our collaboration extends to departments like effects animation. On Moana, this was especially important because we had to animate the water as both an environment and a character. The ocean rig was like a soft puppet, so we’d animate the water’s timing and shape, and then hand that over to the effects animators who would add things like bubbles and other details.
For sequences like the massive storm, we animated tornadoes and handed them to the effects department. Sometimes they’d come back to us if they needed to adjust the speed or timing, and then we’d make the tweaks and send it back. It’s a lot of back-and-forth collaboration. Thankfully, many of us have been working together for a long time, which makes the whole process smoother when we’re in the thick of production.
What advice would you give to young animators starting their careers right now, especially as animation techniques are continuously evolving?
I think the most important thing for character animators is to focus on the performance. Technology and tools will keep evolving. When I first started, we had very few controls compared to the vast amount of tools we have now, but the actual craft of creating a character is the same.
If you’ve read The Illusion of Life, it lays out the principles that are still relevant today. So even though our tools have advanced, what really matters is the performance—how you bring a character to life. My advice for aspiring animators is to study acting, focus on making entertaining, unique choices, thinking outside the box and creating authentic, emotional performances. You can always learn the tools as they come, but mastering the art of performance—that’s the harder part.
There’s often debate in the animation industry about whether it’s better to be a generalist or a specialist. What are your thoughts on that?
I think it really depends on the person and their career goals. If you aim to be a character animator at a major studio like Disney, we generally look for specialists—people who are very focused on mastering the art of character animation. Animation, in particular, is a lifelong journey, and each scene presents an opportunity to learn something new.
It’s similar across departments. Rigging, for example, is something you could pick up the basics of fairly quickly, but mastering it—getting into the intricacies of shapes and movement—takes years. There are studios that hire generalists, where you might be involved in modeling, rigging, and animation, and that can be great for those who enjoy a broader scope of work.
So it really comes down to what excites you and where you see yourself. Personally, I’ve always been drawn to creating performances, so I wanted to specialise in that area.
Before we wrap up, let’s end on a fun note. If you had to choose, who is your favourite Disney character?
Oh, that’s like picking between your own children! But I’ll give you three. Of course, Moana is one of my favourites; she’s very special to me. Then there’s Rapunzel—I feel incredibly lucky to have worked on her character, and I love her irrepressible spirit. And finally, I’d say Anna. I just love her quirky personality—she’s so empathetic and caring. So, those are my top three!
