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Adrien Liv is an accomplished animator at DreamWorks Animation, renowned for his talent and creativity in bringing characters to life. His credits include work on the Despicable Me franchise, Angry Birds, Storks, Paddington 2, Space Jam: A New Legacy, Mary Poppins Returns, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Trolls Band Together, and the recently acclaimed The Wild Robot.
We interviewed him about his work on this latest project.
3DVF: Hello Adrien, you worked on The Wild Robot from DreamWorks Animation. What did you do on this movie?
Adrien Liv: Hey 3DVF, thanks for having me! I spent a year working on The Wild Robot at DreamWorks Animation, where I got to animate just over two minutes of the film. I had the chance to work with almost all the main characters, like Roz, Brightbill, Fink, Thorn, Pintail, and the enemy robots. It was a great experience that let me play around with different animation styles, from action-packed scenes to more laid-back moments.
3DVF: We interviewed Chris Sanders at VIEW Conference, and he explained us that his goal was to achieve a naturalistic animation style: since the animals have stylized designs, the idea was to balance this out with believable animation. How did you approach such a challenge? Did you use a lot of real-life references? Was it difficult to balance things out and not to create to something too cartoonish?
One of the key ideas behind the film was to create a story-driven narrative where the animation really helps tell the story, especially when it comes to the relationship between Roz and Brightbill.
We also had a fun contrast between the rigid animation of the robots and the more fluid, nuanced movement of the animals. For the robots, I recorded reference footage of myself acting out scenes, then simplified those movements by stripping away any human-like qualities to give them a “cold” performance. This gave me a lot of room to experiment with how robots move, like having one turn its head 180 degrees without shifting its body.
In contrast, animating the animals involved a lot of research into their mechanics. I had to make sure the performances were believable and rooted in real animal behavior. With that solid foundation, I was able to exaggerate poses and timing to make them more engaging and visually appealing.
One challenge I faced was coming up with original ideas that fit each character’s intentions. For instance, there was a scene where Fink was warming up by the fire. The storyboard showed him extending his front paws to get closer to the heat, but I felt that was too “human-like.” So, I opted to have him lie down closer to the fire, which conveyed the same intention without making him too anthropomorphic.
3DVF: The Wild Robot is very stylized when it comes to the rendering. Did this affect the way animators work? Any specific thing to take into account compared to other shows?
DreamWorks is really pushing to innovate its visual style with a stronger artistic direction, especially in recent projects like Puss in Boots: The Last Wish [Editor’s note: watch our interview with director Joel Crawford and producer Mark Swift] and The Bad Guys before that. The aim is to create a final look that looks like a painting.
In the early tests, we were figuring out if the character design, animation style, and rendering could all work well together. It’s super important that these three elements are in sync to maintain graphic consistency. For example, if a character is designed in a cartoonish style but uses motion capture, it can end up looking like people in costumes.
The animation style also needs to match the bold graphics, which is why we sometimes embrace exaggeration in the animation.
3DVF: You worked on the shots revealing Thorn, a massive bear. Roz is face to face with the bear, and Thorn is then chasing Thorn through the woods.
Can you walk us through this sequence? What were you aiming for, and what was the most challenging part of this sequence from an animation standpoint?
These were my first shots on the film, kind of like a welcome gift, and they were pretty important for the story. **[Spoiler Alert]** Roz lands on a wild island filled with all kinds of animals. In this sequence, she explores the island and encounters the wildlife, showcasing the harsh realities of the animal world. She crosses paths with Thorn the bear, who tries to attack her, leading to an intense chase.
One of the first challenges I faced was making the bear feel menacing as it came out of its cave. I started with a walking cycle for the bear, but it felt too “chill.” To give it more weight, I slowed it down, but that just made it look like it was moving in slow motion. Eventually, I figured out a better approach by keeping the original walk rhythm while adding a slight pause after each step to show the bear’s weight shifting and make all the muscles jiggle, really emphasizing its size.
I also had a blast working with the cameras to enhance the animation and create more dynamic shots. For example, when the bear roars, the original camera angle felt flat, so I switched to a low-angle shot to highlight the bear’s dominance and presence.
Another challenge was figuring out how to make the two characters cover a lot of ground and change direction quickly while still looking realistic. I got creative by hiding their footsteps to suggest they were moving fast without actually showing them. Plus, I had Roz push against a tree to change direction, which added a nice touch of believability to her movement.
Overall, this experience has been super creative and rewarding, as all the departments—animation, cinematography, lighting, visual effects, and sound design—worked together to create an amazing theatrical experience.
Below: post shared by Adrien Liv on X/Twitter showing some of his animation work.
3DVF: You also worked on some shots from the migration, with characters such as Longneck and Brightbill. Can you tell us about this part?
The migration sequence is, in my opinion, one of the most important parts of the film, showing Brightbill’s separation from Roz as he takes off with his flock. In this key moment, Longneck, the flock’s leader, takes Brightbill under his wing to guide him.
One of my favorite shots to animate was where Longneck walks alongside Brightbill and invites him to join the team. Animating characters while they’re walking and acting poses some cool technical and artistic challenges. There’s always a risk that viewers might pick up on a repetitive cycle if they see the two characters walking side by side, and that could pull them out of the story.
To break that rhythm, I had Brightbill pause mid-stride to respond to Longneck’s dialogue before speeding up to catch up with him and smoothly transition into a run.
Another challenge was switching between different walking styles. Normally, this is done manually because it can get pretty complicated. Thankfully, my understanding of the rig allowed me to tweak the rhythm of the cycles more easily. I organized the walking and running cycles into curves in the rig, so I could adjust them as needed. For example, to go from a walk to a run, I’d dial down the walking curve from 100 to 0 while dialing up the running curve.
Once the concept was solid, I baked the character’s controllers and did a clean-up pass to fix any foot slipping.
It was also a lot of fun to portray Longneck as a clumsier character, which added some lightness to the film. (SPOILER ALERT) From a storytelling angle, introducing Longneck and building his bond with Brightbill was crucial since it made his eventual death hit even harder.
3DVF: Last, but not least, you worked on a few sequences of a key part of the movie: BB learning to fly. How did you approach these shots, What emotions where you trying to convey, and how difficult was it to animate those shots?
One of the standout moments is the training sequence, accompanied by a song that perfectly captures Brightbill’s journey toward flight and migration. The music starts with my shots of Roz sprinting full speed to launch Brightbill into the air.
I also worked on the scenes where Brightbill learns to master his flying skills. The tricky part was having him catch worms while flying. One of the goals was to show his progress; at first, he looks a bit wobbly with Roz supporting him by holding the bowl of worms, and it all leads up to the final shot where Roz is almost stationary.
I spent a good amount of time analyzing reference footage of birds in flight, and I also played around with different composition ideas to create an iconic image. By suggesting various versions, I was able to enhance the previs and come up with a silhouette that really pops.
In the end, this shot became one of the most memorable and iconic images of the film!
3DVF: Overall, what are you the most proud of on this show?
One of the sequences I’m most proud of is when Roz awakens from her long slumber. She comes face to face with Fink, who is cold in the winter, and a conversation ensues that reveals Roz’s feelings.
In this sequence, there are no chase scenes; instead, we have a calm and serene exchange of dialogue. I take pride in the fact that I was able to incorporate many ideas that were missing from the previs. This is what drives me as an animator—finding unique idiosyncrasies to avoid clichés and provide the audience with a distinctive experience. It also presents a personal challenge that keeps me motivated and engaged in my work.
