Tom Bancroft, producer of Pencils vs. Pixels, talks about the new animation documentary narrated by Ming-Na Wen in this exclusive interview.
Pencils vs. Pixels is a celebration of the unique magic of 2D hand-drawn animation and an exploration of how the Disney Renaissance of the late 1980s and early 1990s led to an animation boom that was quickly upended by the computer animation revolution that followed.
Narrated by Ming-Na Wen, Pencils vs. Pixels features many of the legendary artists who brought these now-classic films to life as they guide us through the last few decades of animation and into the future that’s yet to come.
In this exclusive interview, Pencils vs. Pixels Producer Tom Bancroft reveals the inspiration behind the documentary. He also talks about bringing on Ming-Na Wen and the others who were featured in the documentary.
Tom Bancroft Talks Pencils Vs. Pixels
Mama’s Geeky: One of my favorite things about Pencils vs. Pixels is that it tells a story, without having 2D and 3D animation style bash each other.
Tom Bancroft: I’m so glad you said all that. Because it’s so good to hear. As far as the bashing I think you mean like, not putting each other down. And that is true. That was one of our goals.
Tom Bancroft: How this came about was, we have two directors on this, and one of them, the first one that started the project is Phil Earnest. Phil is a friend of mine here in Nashville, where I live now. And he called me one day and I had put him together with a friend of mine, John Pomeroy who is also in the film. John’s a legendary 2d animator. All hand drawn on paper. He’s taught so many people that are in my generation really, he’s just a step older than me. He trained a lot of people that are in the industry.
Tom Bancroft: Anyway, he was showing him a pencil test and Phil, who always wanted to get into animation, had never seen a pencil test before. Like actually flipping the pages and seeing that magic come to life for the first time. And John was telling him story, that’s not in the movie, strangely, but this is the story that started the movie:
Tom Bancroft: John said I was a painter, I love painting, I was in my 20s, going to an art school and studying painting. And representatives of Disney came and spoke and said we’re from the animation unit, and we’re looking to hire people. And we’re looking at portfolios. So he submitted his book of paintings, and they liked it. They said, You’d make an amazing background painter at Disney. So he got into the internship.
Tom Bancroft: But as part of the internship, John had to learn how to animate. They taught him the basics, and he did his first pencil test. And he said, that changed me that day. It was almost godlike, seeing my drawings come to life and move and with timing and all that stuff that goes along with it, the principles of animation. And he said, I put down the brushes, and I just said I’m going to be an animator from that day forward. And he became one of the top animators within a very short amount of time.
Tom Bancroft: Anyway, Phil calls me on the way home from John’s house, and he says, I think we should do a movie about this called Pencil Test. But he didn’t say we, he said I. I immediately said, I have to work on this with you. Let me be the producer and I’ll get all my friends together. And we’ll knock out a ton of interviews, and it just took shape from there. And that was literally almost seven years ago.
Mama’s Geeky: Who were you most excited about when they signed on?
Tom Bancroft: Oh my gosh. I’m gonna say three people. I mean, Glen Keane is the heart. I have to start there just to say because Glen Keane, I did train under him when I was at Disney. I worked on Pocahontas and animated the character of Pocahontas. He was the supervising animator that designed Pocahontas. So I was working directly underneath him on that film. He’s widely known amongst the animators, even if not the world, as the best 2d animator still living. Everybody looks up to Glen. Not only because of his art, but because of his kind heart.
Tom Bancroft: The other one is Floyd Norman. He worked there when Walt was still alive. He literally knew Walt and he was a story artist. So having him talk about that. And he didn’t become an animator, he was like the opposite of the John Pomeroy story. He studied animation at Disney and they were training him to possibly go that direction and he did it and he hated it. So most of his career has been in story, being a storyboard artist.
Tom Bancroft: And then just having Ming-Na Wen as a part of it. I’m gonna throw her in. She was an early person that signed on, and she’s a friend of mine. She’s the voice of Mulan and an amazing actress. We become friends through the years from working on Mulan. My brother and I have kept up with her for years, and she’s just such an approachable person. And she signed on immediately.
Mama’s Geeky: I love the ending shot of Ming-Na about to record, it really ties the whole documentary together. Was that always the plan?
Tom Bancroft: I appreciate you bringing that up, because that was the bookends. Her at the beginning and her at the end. That’s the part you’re talking about. That wasn’t supposed to be there. We added that in the 11th hour. Because originally, I don’t think we even asked her. I felt bad about asking. I knew it would be a whole nother degree of ask to say, can you actually be on camera, and all the makeup and the planning and the talking to her agent that would go along with that.
Tom Bancroft: So I had only thought, Oh, we’ll just have her narrate and have her be the voice of the animated character. And it was later that we thought, well, let’s ask her if she’ll do the book ends at the beginning and it really helped tie the whole thing together. So glad we did that.
Watch the full interview to learn even more about this incredible documentary.
NEXT: Pencils vs. Pixels Is An Animation Fans Dream Documentary
About Pencils vs. Pixels
Pencils vs. Pixels is a celebration of the unique magic of 2D hand-drawn animation and an exploration of how the Disney Renaissance of the late 1980s and early 1990s led to an animation boom that was quickly upended by the computer animation revolution that followed.
Narrated by Ming-Na Wen, Pencils vs. Pixels features many of the legendary artists who brought these now-classic films to life as they guide us through the last few decades of animation and into the future that’s yet to come.
Pencils vs. Pixels is directed by Bay Dariz and Phil Earnest and narrated by Ming-Na Wen. Animators featured in the documentary include Seth MacFarlane, Alex Hirsch, Peter Docter, John Musker and many more!
Pencils vs. Pixels comes to video on demand November 7th.
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. She is also a Freelance Writer. Tessa has been in the Entertainment writing business for almost ten years and is a member of several Critics Associations including the Critics Choice Association, Hollywood Critics Association, and the Greater Western New York Film Critics Association.