Meet Josie Trinidad, a Filipina animator who works at one of the biggest and most popular animation companies in the world—Disney Animation Studios.
Living every animator’s dream, Trinidad is behind some of our favorite Disney animated films such as the 2016’s Oscar-winning feature “Zootopia”, “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Tangled,” and “The Princess and the Frog. Now, she is the head of story of the newest Disney film “Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck It Ralph 2.”
But before she was at the top of the famous animation studio, Trinidad said she first discovered her love for art and animation when she was eight years old.
“My best friend and I were watching Disney’s “Robin Hood” on VHS—if you remember what that is—and when we paused it, it started to play frame by frame,” she told GMA News.
“So that was when I really knew that this was a career that you could have. That was when I knew I wanted to work for Disney,” she added.
Her Filipino parents were doubtful about her dream at first, but it became possible through a family friend.
“My dad went to school at UST, and he and one of his best friends from university both immigrated to Canada,” she shared.
After a few years, the son of his father’s best friend was accepted into California Institute of the Arts to study character animation. This paved a way for Trinidad to pursue her lifelong dream.
“We became his surrogate family (in California). That was when I learned that there was a school for character animation and you could do this.”
In 2004, she applied at the Disney Animation Studios as a story apprentice. “I was one of eight—and the only woman—in this program,” she shared.
After a six-month training program, she was tasked to work on ”The Princess and the Frog”.
“I still had a mentor there, still kind of helping and guiding me. It was exciting and terrifying! I worked really hard, and I remained true to myself, and thankfully, they decided to keep me. I’ve been working at Disney ever since!”
Josie has been with Disney Animation for 14 years. For Trinidad, she would love to see a Filipina Disney princess warrior sometime “in the future.”
Photo courtesy of Disney Animation Studios
