Mexican animator (born 1975)
Jorge R. Gutierrez
(born January 25, 1975) is a Mexican-American
animator
, writer, producer, director, painter, and voice actor. He co-created with
Sandra Equihua
the
Nickelodeon
animated series
El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera
, co-wrote and directed
The Book of Life
,
Son of Jaguar
for
Google
, and
Maya and the Three
for
Netflix Animation
.
Biography
[
edit
]
Born in 1975 in
Mexico City
and raised in
Tijuana
, Gutierrez has completed various films, cartoons, illustrations and paintings exploring his love of Mexican pop and folk culture.
Gutierrez attended the
California Institute of the Arts
(CalArts), where he received his BFA (1997) & MFA (2000) in Experimental Animation under
Jules Engel
, and was mentored by
Maureen Selwood
.
[1]
There he created the 3D short
Carmelo
, which won the 2001 Student Emmy Award in animation and was screened at Kodak's Emerging Filmmakers Program at the 2001
Cannes Film Festival
.
[2]
In 2000, Gutierrez worked under animator
Maurice Noble
, for the art direction of
Chuck Jones
'
Timberwolf
for
Warner Bros.
In 2001, he began creating
Jorge Gutierrez' El Macho
, an animated web series for
Sony Pictures
.
Gutierrez has also done character design on many animated series including
Nickelodeon
's
ChalkZone
, as well as
Kids' WB
's
¡Mucha Lucha!
,
Cartoon Network
's
Class of 3000
, and
Disney
's
The Buzz on Maggie
for which he was nominated for a 2006 Annie Award in character design. As a writer, he's worked on
Scholastic
's
Maya & Miguel
as well as Disney's
Brandy & Mr. Whiskers
and
Vampirina
.
In 2008, Gutierrez won two Annie awards (Best TV Animated Show & Best TV Character Design) and one Emmy (Best TV Character Design) working on his passion project for Nickelodeon,
El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera
, along with his co-creator and wife,
Sandra Equihua
who also won an Emmy for her character designs.
In 2010, he created some of the sketches in Cartoon Network's
Mad
including "Dear Reaper...", "Dog vs Mailman" (part 1, 2 and 3), "Video Game Cheats", "Arcade Boy" and "Dog vs Fire Hydrant".
In 2012, Gutierrez directed and co-wrote an animated adventure feature film with a
Romeo and Juliet
style love story set against a Mexican "
Day of the Dead
" backdrop.
[3]
The film, with the official title
The Book of Life
, was co-produced with
20th Century Fox Animation
and was released on October 17, 2014.
[4]
[5]
He earned his first
Golden Globe Award
nomination for
Best Animated Feature Film
in 2014. He was also nominated for three Annie awards (Best Film, Best Director & Best Character Design).
In February 2015,
Reel FX
and Gutierrez announced a multi-year, multi-picture deal which included Kung Fu Space Punch and The Book of Life 2.
[6]
[7]
In 2016 Gutierrez designed, voiced, wrote and directed the Annie and Emmy nominated
Son of Jaguar
VR short for
Google
Spotlight Stories.
In 2016, Gutierrez was awarded an Impact Award by the
National Hispanic Media Coalition
for his “Outstanding Direction in a Motion Picture”.
[8]
On August 2, 2017, it was reported that Gutierrez would write and direct
The Billion Brick Race
, a spin-off of
The Lego Movie
, for
Warner Animation Group
.
[9]
However, on February 8, 2018, it was reported that Gutierrez had permanently cancelled the project.
[10]
In October 2020, he signed an over-all-deal with
Netflix
Animation.
[11]
He directed the Immigration music video for the Emmy Award-winning series
We the People
, and wrote and directed the Annie (Best TV Animated Show & Best TV Music) and Emmy (Best Writing, Best Promo, Best Sound and Individual Achievement for Color) Award-winning
Maya and the Three
, a nine episode animated limited series for
Netflix Animation
. He had been developing a follow-up series to
Maya
set in the same universe for Netflix titled
Kung Fu Space Punch
, however, it was scrapped in 2022 along with many other planned animated series.
[12]
He was also set to direct an original animated film titled
I, Chihuahua
from a script he wrote with Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias.
[13]
However, the film was cancelled in April 2024, due to creative differences.
[14]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Gutierrez did not speak until the age of five. As an adult, he was diagnosed with
autism
following his son's diagnosis.
[15]
[16]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Film
[
edit
]
Year
|
Title
|
Director
|
Screenwriter
|
Actor
|
Role
|
Notes
|
2000
|
Carmelo
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Carmelo's Father
|
Short film, won Student Emmy
|
2001
|
Lint People
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
?
|
Short film
Storyboard artist
|
2001
|
El Macho
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
El Macho
|
Web series
Also character designer
|
2014
|
The Book of Life
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Skeleton Carmelo
|
Feature film
Also character designer and additional music composer
|
2015
|
Guardians of Oz
|
No
|
Yes
|
No
|
?
|
Feature film
Also executive producer and character designer
|
2017
|
Son of Jaguar
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Son of Jaguar
|
VR Short film
Also character designer and art director
|
2023
|
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
|
No
|
No
|
Yes
|
Additional Voices
|
Feature film
|
2024
|
The Casagrandes Movie
|
No
|
No
|
Yes
|
Felipe the Street Vendor
|
Original animated film for Netflix
|
?
|
I, Chihuahua
[13]
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
?
|
Original animated film for Netflix
Canceled
|
?
|
Kung-Fu Space Punch
[17]
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
?
|
Original animated film for Netflix
Canceled
[18]
|
Television
[
edit
]
Year
|
Title
|
Role
|
Notes
|
2003
|
ChalkZone
|
?
|
Guest art director for "Pumpkin Love/Chip of Fools/Irresistible/Please Let Me In"
|
2004
|
¡Mucha Lucha!
|
?
|
Character designer for Season 2 and 3
|
2004-2007
|
Maya & Miguel
|
?
|
Freelance writer for multiple episodes
|
2005
|
The Buzz on Maggie
|
?
|
Character model design supervisor
|
2006
|
Brandy & Mr. Whiskers
|
?
|
Writer for "Big Girls Don't Body Slam"
|
2007
|
Class of 3000
|
?
|
Guest music video art director for "Love is in the Hair...Net"
|
2007-2008
|
El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera
|
Gordo Gordo
|
Creator, writer, character designer, executive producer, production designer
|
2010
|
Carmen Got Expelled
|
Butcher
|
TV short; Also creator, writer, character designer, and director
|
2010-2013
|
Mad
|
?
|
Animator, graphic designer
|
2015-2016
|
The Adventures of Puss in Boots
|
?
|
Executive consultant
|
2018
|
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
|
Ghostbear (voice)
|
4 episodes
|
2019
|
Victor and Valentino
|
Sal (voice)
|
Recurring role
|
2019
|
The Loud House
|
Lucha Libre Commentator (voice)
|
Episode: "Lucha Fever with the Casagrandes"
|
2021
|
Maya and the Three
|
King Teca (voice)
|
Also creator, writer, director, and executive producer
|
2021
|
Animaniacs
|
Diego Rivera
(voice)
|
Segment: "The Warners Are Present"
|
2021
|
The Casagrandes
|
Lucha Libre Commentator / Pigeon Referee (voices)
|
Episode: "Saving Face"
|
Bibliography
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
@mexopolis (January 12, 2023).
"my dad saved my first year CalArts review"
(
Tweet
) – via
Twitter
.
- ^
"Loved Book of Life? Then you need to see this short film by its director"
.
www.vox.com
. 27 October 2014
. Retrieved
2022-12-04
.
- ^
"GUILLERMO DEL TORO JOINS WITH REEL FX TO PRODUCE EPIC ANIMATED ADVENTURE DAY OF THE DEAD"
.
Reel FX
. February 21, 2012. Archived from
the original
on April 8, 2014
. Retrieved
February 21,
2012
.
- ^
McClintock, Pamela (December 12, 2012).
"Fox Animation Teaming With Guillermo del Toro on 'Book of Life' (Exclusive)"
.
The Hollywood Reporter
. Retrieved
December 13,
2012
.
- ^
"Fox Sets New Dates for Book of Life, Gone Girl and Frankenstein"
.
ComingSoon.net
. October 15, 2013. Archived from
the original
on October 15, 2013
. Retrieved
October 15,
2013
.
- ^
"Untitled Kung Fu Space Western Is Reel"
.
Big Cartoon Blog
. BCDB. 19 February 2015. Archived from
the original
on February 19, 2015.
- ^
Hopewell, John (April 24, 2017).
"
'Despicable Me 3,' Pixar's 'Coco,' 'The Big Bad Fox' to Bow at France's 2017 Annecy Animation Festival"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
April 30,
2017
.
- ^
Roterman, Natalie (2015-02-12).
"Gina Rodriguez, Carlos Ponce, Elizabeth Pena To Be Honored At NHMC Awards"
.
Latin Times
. Retrieved
2021-08-05
.
- ^
Hood, Cooper (August 2, 2017).
"Book of Life Director Developing LEGO's Billion Brick Race"
.
Screen Rant
. Retrieved
February 9,
2018
.
- ^
McLean, Tom (February 8, 2018).
"Jorge Gutierrez Departs as Director of 'LEGO Movie' Spinoff"
.
Animation World Network
. Retrieved
February 9,
2018
.
- ^
Thorne, Will (2020-10-14).
"
'The Book of Life' Director Jorge Gutierrez Inks Overall Deal With Netflix"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
2020-10-16
.
- ^
Jorge Gutierrez [@mexopolis] (May 27, 2022).
"my beloved kung space western is not moving forward at Netflix Animation :("
(
Tweet
) – via
Twitter
.
- ^
a
b
"Jorge Gutierrez To Direct Netflix Animated Film "I, Chihuahua" Starring Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias"
(Press release). Netflix Media Center. March 23, 2022
. Retrieved
March 23,
2022
.
- ^
"*since everyone is asking, my beloved "I Chihuahua" is, as of now, officially dead at FAN (Feature Animation Netflix) over "creative differences". I adore the film with all my heart and absolutely plan to get it made somewhere else. Netflix is being really cool about letting me take it outside so I could not be more excited and hopeful for the future"
.
- ^
"Jorge R. Gutierrez on Twitter: "It's #WorldAutismAwarenessDay ! I'm the autistic father (I was diagnosed 3 years ago) of a wonderful son who also happens to have autism. It has made us who we are and I could not be more proud of him."
"
.
- ^
Bennett, Neil (12 February 2019).
"Jorge Gutierrez on the Power Being Autistic Brings to his Creativity"
.
Digital Arts Online
. Retrieved
13 June
2021
.
- ^
"Annecy: Reel FX, Jorge R. Gutierrez Announce 'The Book of Life 2,' Unveil 'Kung Fu Space Punch' (EXCLUSIVE)"
.
Variety
. June 15, 2017
. Retrieved
June 15,
2017
.
- ^
Gutierrez, Jorge [@mexopolis] (May 26, 2022).
"my beloved kung space western is not moving forward at Netflix Animation"
(
Tweet
) – via
Twitter
.
- ^
Gutierrez, Jorge (Oct 17, 2014).
The Art of The Book of Life
. Dark Horse Books.
ISBN
978-1616555337
.
- ^
Eliot, Hannah (July 24, 2018).
Dia de los Muertos
. Little Simon.
ISBN
978-1534415157
.
- ^
Gutierrez, Jorge (November 8, 2018).
Border Bang
. Harry N. Abrams.
ISBN
978-2374950419
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
- Carlos Grangel
(2002)
- Ricky Nierva (2003)
- Tony Fucile (2004)
- Nick Park
(2005)
- Nico Marlet
(2006)
- Carter Goodrich (2007)
- Nico Marlet
(2008)
- Shane Prigmore (2009)
- Nico Marlet
(2010)
- Crash McCreery (2011)
- Heidi Smith (2012)
- Carter Goodrich, Takao Noguchi and Shane Prigmore (2013)
- Paul Sullivan,
Sandra Equihua
and
Jorge R. Gutierrez
(2014)
- Albert Lozano (2015)
- Cory Loftis (2016)
- Daniel Arriaga, Daniela Strijleva, Greg Dykstra, Alonso Martinez and Zaruhi Galstyan (2017)
- Shiyoon Kim
(2018)
- Torsten Schrank (2019)
- Federico Pirovano (2020)
- Lindsey Olivares (2021)
- Taylor Krahenbuhl (2022)
|