Matt Braly
Creator, Amphibia Disney Channel
When Matt Braly was a young boy, he loved to doodle Mortal Kombat, Transformers and Pokemon characters on paper, but it wasn’t until Pixar animator Bobby Podesta visited his high school in Sacramento that he realized he could pursue a career in animation. “I became completely obsessed,” says the talented 30 year old. “I immediately signed up for life drawing classes at the local community college and set my sights on getting into CalArts.”
After college, a storyboard apprenticeship at DreamWorks put him on the right career path, which eventually led to the storyboard artist position on Gravity Falls. “It was a very competitive selection process that involved submitting a storyboard test using characters from Kung Fu Panda,” Braly recalls. “When they told me I got the job, I remembered dancing around my grandmother’s house to Hall & Oates’ ‘You Make My Dreams.’”
His much-anticipated new Disney Channel show Amphibia centers on a self-centered teenage girl named Anne who befriends a helpful frog named Sprig after she finds herself in a marshland populated by frog people. Braly says he was inspired by the work of two of his animation idols, Nick Park and Hayao Miyazaki.“When brainstorming ideas for my own project, I knew I wanted to accomplish something similar to the Pacifica Northwest character in Gravity Falls. I wanted to create a story/character that was about change and growth. I also mined by own life and experiences to create a character and world as genuine as possible. For example, Anne’s Thai heritage is directly inspired by my own background.”
He also believes that while running a show can be grueling, it can also be the best job in the world. “Seeing Anne and Sprig come to life has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.” He adds, “It’s important not to compare yourself to others too much. We all grow at incredibly different rates. I remember getting really discouraged in school when I would see how much better everyone’s work was and often felt like I was lagging behind. If I could do it all over again, I would try to loosen up a bit more and just have fun. You’d be surprised how often that produces the best work!”