He’s
won a plethora of awards, has been called an animating prodigy, and will even
be featured in the upcoming Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
But
for Aidan Terry, creating animated short films is just part of who he is.
“I
don’t really like when people call me a genius or a prodigy. It makes me
uncomfortable. I just consider myself an artist — just a kid who can draw,” he
said.
Aidan
gets inspiration from the old time animators, like Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston
and Chuck Jones.
“[Drawing] is one of my favorite things to
do,” he said. “I’ve been drawing since I was three [years-old]. It comes
naturally and seeing my drawings come to life is pretty cool.”
In
his own words, Aidan’s most recent film, “Some Like it
Heavy,” is an animated short film about “a giddy old geezer going ga-ga over a gargantuan goddess.”
The
five-minute film includes 4,500 hand-drawn cells and a musical score inspired
by the work of Carl Stalling, a composer who wrote scores for more than 600
cartoons, including Looney Tunes.
Aidan
said the subject matter of “Some Like it Heavy” just popped into his head.
“It
started with a drawing of an old guy, then I drew a fat lady and it evolved
from there,” he said. “The message that I was trying to convey was that anyone
can be loved.”
Aidan,
a Santa Ynez resident, began drawing at an age when most children are learning
to form complete sentences and hasn’t put down his pencils since.
“He
started drawing at about three years old, and we just knew that he had a
special gift,” said Aidan’s father Mark Terry. “It’s great, we’re excited for
him and it’s his second time in the Santa Barbara Film festival. It’s a great
honor for all of us.”
Since
he began creating animated films in 2002, Aidan has been featured in more than
25 international and national film festivals, including the Kalamazoo Animation
Festival International in Michigan, the Melbourne International Children’s Film
Festival in Sydney, Australia and the Impact Festival in New York. Aidan has
also won more than 10 awards for his work, including the Student Youth Gold
Medal in the Kalamazoo Film Festival and the Best Animation in many festivals.
“He’s
a pretty amazing kid, an amazing animator and a creative genius,” said Ken Stange, who wrote the musical score for “Some Like it Heavy.” I’ve done a lot of cartoons and I can’t
compare him with anyone, his work is so unique. He has original stuff. I mean
look at those characters. It’s impressive for any age.”
“Some
Like it Heavy” will be Aidan’s second animated film to be showcased in the
Santa Barbara International Film Festival. “A Case on a Peel,” Aidan’s first
festival entry, is about a fiasco that takes place between a man and his
discarded banana peel, which results in the arrest of the banana peel.
Aidan
credits his training to John Teton, owner of Earthlight Pictures, which
operates a wide range of media production, writing, and training activities.
Aidan began taking classes from Teton in 2002 and is now in the advanced
pre-professional level.
“Teton
taught me everything,” Aidan said. “When I first started taking his classes
they were in Santa Barbara, now they are online.”
Admiration
seems to flow both ways between Aidan and Teton.
Teton
calls Aidan a “true prodigy” and said he’s never come across anyone who has
shown abilities that Aidan has at such a young age.
Aidan’s plans for the future?
“I
want to go to Cal Arts because it’s probably the most famous art college in California,
and it has an awesome animation program; I feel like the sky is the limit,” the
young man said.
“Some
Like it Heavy” will premier
at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Jan. 26 at the Marjorie
Luke Theatre, 721 East Cota St., at 10 p.m., and will
also show Jan. 29 at the Victoria Hall Theatre, 33 West Victoria St., at 9 p.m.
For more information, visit sbfilmfestival.org.