Jin Kim (, Korean name: Kim Sang-jin) is a South Korean animator and character designer best known for his work at Walt Disney Animation Studios from 1995–2016. He was the first Korean animator to work for Disney.
Career In 2016, Hong Sung-ho, president of Locus Studios, persuaded Kim to return to South Korea to work as executive creative director of the Korean feature animated film Red Shoes (which premiered in July 2019). According to Hong, at that time, Kim had been left with nothing new to design because Disney was then focused on developing sequels rather than entirely new films. Kim was also happy to work with an animation team in the Korean language for the first time since a three-year period in the South Korean animation industry at the beginning of his career.
In May 2018, Kim returned to Los Angeles to work on Pearl Studio/Netflix's film, Over the Moon, which was directed by fellow Disney animator Glen Keane. As of August 2019, Kim had joined a new project at Disney. He worked on both Raya and the Last Dragon and Encanto.
Personal life Kim has red-green color blindness. Due to Korean college admissions policies at the time, he was unable to get into art school and ended up majoring in economics in college. Regardless, he persisted in developing his drawing skills and was eventually able to embark on a career as an animator.
Filmography Year Title Credits Characters 1986 Dooly the Little Dinosaur (TV Series) Animator: Hando Heung-Up Co., Ltd. - 1987 - 1988 1990–1991 The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda (TV Series) Animator, 1990 Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone (TV Series) Animator - 13 Episodes Tiny Toon Adventures (TV Series) Animator - 17 Episodes Darkwing Duck (TV Series) Animator - 6 Episodes 1992 Goof Troop (TV Series) Animator - 15 Episodes The Plucky Duck Show (TV Series) Animator - 2 Episodes 1993 The Legends of Treasure Island (TV Series) Key Animator - 3 Episodes Bonkers (TV Series) Animator - 4 Episodes Spirou (TV Series) Storyboard Artist - 1995 1994 Aladdin (TV Series) Animator - 12 Episodes 1997 Hercules Animator Amphitryon and Alcmene 1999 Tarzan Additional Animator 2000 Fantasia 2000 Animator - Segments "Rhapsody in Blue", "Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro, Opus 102", "Pomp and Circumstance - Marches 1, 2, 3, and 4" and "Firebird Suite - 1919 Version" The Emperor's New Groove Animator Kuzco/Kuzco Llama 2002 Treasure Planet Animator Jim Hawkins 2004 Home on the Range Animator Buck 2005 Chicken Little Animator 2007 Meet the Robinsons Animator 2008 Glago's Guest (Short) Character Designer Bolt Character Designer 2009 The Princess and the Frog Animator Charlotte "Lottie" La Bouff 2010 Tangled Character Designer 2012 Wreck-It Ralph Visual Development Artist 2013 Frozen Visual Development Artist 2014 Big Hero 6 Character Designer Supervisor 2016 Zootopia Additional Visual Development Artist Moana Visual Development Artist 2018 Ralph Breaks the Internet Additional Visual Development Artist Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs Executive Creative Director 2019 Frozen II Additional Visual Development Artist 2020 Over the Moon Character Designer 2021 Raya and the Last Dragon Visual Development Artist Belle Character Designer Encanto Character Designer/Visual Development Artist/2D Animator
Awards and nominations YearAwardsCategoryRecipientResult 2015 42nd Annie Awards Character Design in an Animated Feature Production Big Hero 6
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