Animation and Production

Pamela Mathues graduated with honors from the Columbus College of Art and Design with a major in illustration and minor in fine art. She worked for Walt Disney Feature Animation for more than 10 years, contributing to such films as The Lion King, Pocahontas, Mulan, Lilo & Stitch, and Brother Bear. She also worked on the 2D game The Act for Cecropia (now React Studios).

After that production, she moved west and became a Grand Canyon river guide and an award-winning photographer. She then moved with her husband to Washington to teach at DigiPen.

Film Credits

• Brother Bear (2003)
• Lilo & Stitch (2002)
• Mulan (1998)
• Pocahontas (1995)
• The Lion King (1994)

After watching various animated Disney films as a child, Richard Morgan was hooked on animation as an art form. In high school, he met two of his heroes, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, authors of The Illusion of Life, considered to be the bible of animation. They encouraged him to push for a sense of storytelling in his artwork.

In pursuit of his dream to be an artist, Morgan attended Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. During the weekends and summers, he worked with Walt Disney Creative Entertainment, the theatrical and live performance division of Walt Disney Imagineering. In his spare time, he would do extensive study — in figure drawing class, the local zoo, or even at the mall — to sketch people and animals from life. In doing so, Morgan soon had a portfolio that would earn him a much sought-after internship with Walt Disney Feature Animation. After graduating, he earned a full-time position animating on feature films including The Lion King, Pocahontas, Hercules, Mulan, John Henry, Tarzan, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Lilo & Stitch, Brother Bear, and others.

After more than a decade with Disney, he moved across the country to start his own company, Aspen Sienna Art Studio. Morgan and his wife opened a gallery and he painted plein-air/studio landscapes for five years in beautiful Montana. Before long, however, he realized he missed the energy and excitement of the animation industry (not to mention the warmer weather of Florida).

Teaching seemed like a good fit for him and he became an instructor of Design and Film Theory courses at his alma mater. He continued to paint and show in galleries throughout Northern Florida. Morgan eventually found his way to DigiPen Institute of Technology in Singapore. He taught there for three years before transferring to DigiPen’s Redmond campus as a senior lecturer.

Morgan enjoys the creative process and giving back to the next generation of artists and game and film developers. He currently teaches animation courses including Basic/Advanced Animation, Digital Painting, and 2D Film.

Film Credits

• Brother Bear (2003)
• Lilo & Stitch (2002)
• John Henry (2000)
• Tarzan (1999)
• Mulan (1998)
• Hercules (1997)
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
• Pocahontas (1995)
• The Lion King (1994)

YZ Tan started his career in 3D animation when he joined Southern Star’s satellite studio in Singapore to develop 3D-animated TV series. While working on these series, his interest in body mechanics bloomed, leading him to the games industry. He briefly joined Koei Entertainment Singapore before going to work for LucasArts at the end of 2006. Tan spent a year at LucasArts in San Francisco working on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, where he contributed to the 3D animation and previsualization using the studio’s proprietary game engine. He later returned to Singapore to join the new games team in Lucasfilm Animation Singapore, continuing to work on the game and other titles on various platforms.

Taking a break from production, Tan joined DigiPen’s Singapore campus in 2010 as a lecturer for the BFA program’s animation courses for junior and senior projects. What was intended to be a two-year break from production triggered a calling for a career change as he experienced a strong feeling of fulfillment as an educator. Tan has taught CG animation classes and project classes across all levels for the past nine years. While in Singapore, he supervised most of the individual and team 3D film projects and, more recently, the students’ 2D game projects, as well. In 2019, Tan joined DigiPen’s Redmond faculty as a senior lecturer.

Selected Game Credits

• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (PS3/Xbox 360)
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (PS3/Xbox 360)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Jedi Alliance (NDS)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes (NDS)
• The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (iOS)
• Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge – Special Edition (iOS)

Dan Daly graduated from Whitman College in 1987 with a major in English and minor in political science. He went on to attend night school for three years at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, where he studied traditional figure drawing. He also he attended a figure drawing workshop with Burne Hogarth at the Scottsdale Artists’ School.

In 1990, Daly submitted his portfolio to Walt Disney Feature Animation, and was chosen for a 16-week intensive internship at Disney’s Florida studio. After successfully completing the program, he returned to California and spent a year working as both a special effects inbetweener and character inbetweener for Kroyer Studios on the feature film FernGully: The Last Rainforest, and as a character inbetweener for Don Bluth Studios on the feature film Thumbelina.

Daly was then hired permanently by Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida. He spent 12 years at Disney, working his way up to the position of Key Assistant Animator, where he was responsible for leading crews of three to ten artists, as well as mentoring entry-level artists. Daly’s credits at Disney include Trail Mix-Up, The Lion King, Pocahontas, Mulan, John Henry, Lilo & Stitch, and Brother Bear. While at Disney, Daly continued to attend figure drawing and painting sessions and workshops, as well as seminars on most aspects of filmmaking, including Bruce Block’s lectures on visual structure in filmmaking.

After Disney’s Florida studio closed, Daly began showing and selling some of his plein-air paintings at the Germanton Gallery in Germanton, North Carolina, and also completed several portrait commissions before moving to Wisconsin to become Supervising Animator at a small start-up studio. While animating during the day, he attended regular evening portrait painting sessions at the studio of Dan Gerhartz, a prominent oil painter. After two years in Wisconsin, Daly moved to Washington to begin his teaching career at DigiPen.

Daly is passionate about drawing and animation and enjoys sharing this passion with his students. His greatest pleasure in teaching is when he sees this passion take hold in a student.

Film Credits

• Brother Bear (2003)
• Lilo & Stitch (2002)
• John Henry (2000)
• Mulan (1998)
• Pocahontas (1995)
• The Lion King (1994)
• Trail Mix-Up (1993)
• FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992)

Randall Ng has a Bachelor of Science degree in Graphic Design/Illustration from San Jose State University. He started his education in traditional art, then gradually focused on digital art and animation. He has worked for companies such as Atari Games Corporation, 343 Industries, Microsoft, WB Games, and Amazon Game Studios. Prior to joining DigiPen, he had also worked as a 3D instructor, director of graphic design, and martial arts instructor in the Bay Area.

Ng has been a veteran video game artist/animator for over 20 years. His video collaboration with YouTube sensation DR. SMOOV, TRANSFORMERS: Generation One, won first place at the BotCon 2009 film festival and was also included as a bonus feature on the Shout! Factory Complete DVD series release of the original Transformers cartoon. Years later, he worked on the remastered Blu-ray release of The Transformers: The Movie. He has appeared at several conventions around the country and hosted many panels expanding on his career as an artist, father, costume builder, and filmmaker.

Ng focuses on presentation and core skills and believes that without the basics, one cannot master more complex functions or art/animation techniques. He currently teaches Introduction to 3D Animation, where he emphasizes that the principles of 2D animation are extremely relevant in the 3D world, only in a different medium.

Selected Game Credits

• Halo 4 (343 Industries)
• Halo 5 Guardians (343 Industries)
• Halo: The Master Chief Collection (343 Industries)
• Justice League Heroes (Snowblind Studios)
• Lord of the Rings: War in the North (WB Games)
• Lord of the Rings: Guardians of Middle-earth (WB Games)
• Mace: The Dark Age (Atari Games Corporation)