All of us have been watching Walt Disney Movies for a long time. An extraordinary group of innovative filmmakers, engineers, artists and developers work in harmony to create a magic of animation that we get to see in those movies. Ever wonder that there may be a Pakistani animator, visual artist or character designer behind that marvelous animation? If not, then climb aboard and start reading.
1) Mir Zafar Ali
We all have seen that highest grossing animated film: Frozen. Do you know who was behind those incredible ice sculptures, snowflakes and palace? Yes, a Pakistani VFX specialist, Mir Zafar Ali. His work is not just limited to Frozen but he has also been involved in other Hollywood and Disney movies like, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Big Hero 6, The Cabin in the Woods, the Academy Award Winning movie: The Golden Compass, Monster House, The Incredible Hulk and many more.
Do you remember that Bengali tiger in the movie “Life of Pie”. The real tiger was only used in the scenes when Pi (the boy) and Richard (tiger) were not in the same shot. The rest of the scenes were all CG (computer generated). Do you know that the scene in which Richard swims in the Life of Pi Ocean and then the millions of hair on that tiger’s body are first wiped down and then afterwards, the fur gradually changes from dripping wet to dry, was a CG scene and the credit of visual effects again goes to Zafar.
Who is he?
The 38-year-old Zafar is a Computer Science graduate of FAST-NU, Karachi. Back in the school days he always wanted to go to an art school but in our country, Art is not thought of as a good career move. Years passed, eventually his fortes for Computer graphics lead him to Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia and there he specialized in Visual Effects. Currently he is working as a Senior VFX artist at Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Awards and Nominations
Ali has been awarded 3 Oscars: One for the movie The Golden Compass in the year 2008, Second for the movie Life of Pie in the year 2013 and the Third for the movie Frozen in the year 2014.
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2) Novaira Masood
Novaira Masood is the first Pakistani female working in this industry. Do you remember the Disney movie: Maleficent starring Angelina Jolly that came last year? To make the three little CG fairies in the movie look realistic, Novaira was part of the R&D team responsible for the facial movement of fairies. In this motion capture process, camera records movements of the actors and these movements are then transferred onto animated characters. She also worked on some hair tools to generate curly hair for the fairies.
She has also worked in the high profile movies like Thor, TRON: Legacy, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, A Christmas Carol etc.
Who is she?
Novaira got her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from FAST-NU. Though, it was during her last year that she discovered an interest in Computer Graphics. Eventually, she got enrolled in University of Minnesota and completed her Masters and specialized in Computer graphics & Animation in 2007. Her specialties are 3D computer graphics and motion capture technology.
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3) Muqeem Khan
Muqeem is the first Pakistani who started working in Walt Disney Studios in the year 1996. He was involved in the production of first fully digital animated movie, Final Fantasy: The spirits within. He is well known for adding life to a digital object. He has also worked on George of the Jungle, Deep Rising, Armageddon and Flubber.
Who is he?
The multitalented Muqeem Khan is an animator, a visual Artist, filmmaker, educator, poet, calligrapher and a musician. He got his bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design from Ohio State University in the year 1994. Later in 1996, he specialized in graphics and animation from Advanced Computing Center for Arts & Design at the same university. He taught variety of interdisciplinary courses at Virginia Commonwealth University and Northwestern University in Qatar as an Associate Professor.
Now I won’t say the-local-talent-gone-global, because he has conducted several seminars and workshops at our very own institutions like LUMS, UET, COMSATS, IQRA University and many more.
Currently, he is a PhD Researcher in Digital Intangible Heritage, Indigenous Mythologies and Emerging Technologies at the University of New South Wales, Australia.
