Give Kids the World

"Give Kids the World" is a non-profit park in Florida for children with life-threatening illnesses. During the Spring 2005 semester, our project was to create a short animated movie for them, called "The Big Surprise". I functioned as a character modeler, animator, and technical artist for the team. In addition to modeling, rigging, and animating four of the nine characters, I have written a MEL script that creates an automated bipedal rig, which was used to rig some of the characters for the animation and has led to some of my future tools.

Recent Update: In 2006, "The Big Surprise" has won the Telly award in the student category and has been nominated for a number of other awards.

 

Watch "The Big Surprise", an animated short about the birthday party of Mayor Clayton (the mascot of "Give Kids the World" theme park), the danger threatening to rain on his parade, and how teamwork and a kind heart saved the day!

Here are the characters I worked on for this animation.
 
Rusty, a sarcastic suit of armor who learns that even the smallest creature can make a difference.
Pip the mouse, whose kindness ultimately saves the day. His turntable also showcases the automated rig I created.
Father Time, a stringent grandfather clock:
Twiggy the bird:
In addition, here are some models I have created for my Maya class.
 
My hand:
The boot I chose to wear to school on that fateful day:
More pictures will be forthcoming, so check back soon!