Trevor Dalmer
Concept Artist, Missing Link Laika Studios
Over the past 10 years, Trevor Dalmer has made quite an impact at Portland’s Laika Studios, working as a concept artist on ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings and this year’s much-anticipated Missing Link. Now, he has already taken on the role of production designer for the studio’s sixth movie. The Ontario native says he was always interested in drawing, but it wasn’t until he was in his late 20s when he decided to study animation at Sheridan College and pursue a career in animation. “I took a risk by totally changing my career path to pursue a childhood passion for art, and luckily it seemed to pay off,” says the talented 41-year-old artist.
After graduating from Sheridan, he began working at Chuck Gammage Studio in Toronto, which led to the jobs at Laika. “I have a dream job where I get to earn my living by painting and creating all day long,” he tells us. “I’m surrounded by the world’s most amazing animated artists, craftspeople and technologists. Because we build everything practICAlly in the real world, the artwork leaves the computers and takes form within our building. Every day is like coming to work in a secret wonderland that’s being safeguarded until the time comes to reveal it to the world and provide excitement and enjoyment to millions of people of all ages.”
One of his favorite memories at the studio goes back to his early days of working on ParaNorman.“The film’s production designer Nelson Lowry, who has been such a great mentor, looked at the first decent piece of artwork I had created and said, ‘Oh, good. I worried that I had
made a big mistake hiring you!’ That was a very good day!”
Dalmer says one of his favorite movies and a big influence on his work is Disney’s 1967 classic The Jungle Book. “Something about the music and character animation has always been so alluring and hypnotic to me,” he says. “Maybe it was the snake?”
The Laika veteran encourages animation hopefuls to hold their work up next to examples of professional work and observe it objectively. “I think about my own work as I was starting out and wonder how I didn’t see some of the obvious differences,” he admits. “I wish someone would have told me to be more critical of my work and to aim higher. I think it can be a disservice to over-encourage young artists and make them feel like their potential is good enough.”
When asked about his future plans, Dalmer says that’s hard to think about because he is so happy in the now. “I’m excited for the world to see Missing Link and for all of my coworkers to feel proud of their contributions. Since I also worked on the it, I’m glad that my five-year-old daughter, Ophelia, will finally get to see ‘Daddy’s movie’ as she calls it. (Sorry, director Chris Butler!)”