Gini Cruz Santos (born 1966)Philippine Daily Inquirer, August 18, 2003, It's 'Gini' Cruz Santos, Accessed June 12, 2014, "...Her complete name is Virginia 'Gini' Cruz Santos..." is a Filipina animator at Pixar based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She worked on numerous Pixar animated films including Toy Story 2,Nov 17, 2004, Levent Ozler, Dexigner, Gini Cruz Santos: An Incredible Pinay Animator, Accessed June 11, 2014, "...Virginia "Gini" Cruz Santos ... "Toy Story 2," "A Bug's Life," "Finding Nemo" and "The Incredibles" to life. ..." Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, A Bug's Life, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Toy Story 3, Up, Lifted, and Brave. She was nominated in 2004 for an Annie award for her detailed lifelike animation on Finding Nemo,Rick DeMott, January 9, 2004, ANIMATIONWorld via Animation World Network, , Accessed June 12, 2014, "...INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES Character Animation ... Gini Santos... FINDING NEMO..."Oct 23, 2009, Sean Howell, Yahoo! News, Profile of Gini Santos - Pixar Animator Brings Asian Flare and Female Perspective , Accessed June 12, 2014, "...she integrates the fish movement, human movement, and facial expressions..." and was nominated by the Visual Effects Society for an award for this project as well.Visual Effects Society, 2004, 2nd Annual VES Awards , (VES= Visual Effects Society), Accessed June 12, 2014, "...Outstanding Character Animation in an Animated Motion Picture... Finding Nemo 'Inside the Whale' ... Gini Santos..."
Early life and education Santos was born in Pasay in the Philippines. She moved to Guam after age three but returned to study in the Philippines. She studied Fine Arts at the University of Santo Tomas with a major in advertising. She earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Computer Arts from the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
Career Santos worked as an art director at an advertising agency. In 1996, she was hired by Pixar after submitting her short feature reel entitled The Eclipse without submitting her resume;Kristine A. Caguiat, July 5, 2011, Juice, The All Stars of Philippine Animation: Gini Cruz Santos , Accessed June 12, 2014, "...Gini Santos ... solely responsible for the lovable Dory character in Finding Nemo..." her reel focused on human relationships. Her animation of Dory, voiced by Ellen DeGeneres, on the film Finding Nemo was praised for integrating "fish movement, human movement, and facial expressions to make them look and feel like real characters". She was the supervising animator on the Pixar short film entitled Lifted., Accessed June 12, 2014, "...Gini Santos was the supervising animator on the latest Pixar short film, Lifted...."Barbara Robertson, Volume: 30 Issue: 2 (Feb 2007), Computer Graphics magazine, Acorns and Aliens: Despite their focus on feature films, Pixar and Blue Sky Studios once again create Oscar-worthy short animations, Accessed June 12, 2014, "...animator Gini Santos.... "Lifted" supervising animator,..." She was lauded for her work in Brave.Ruben V. Nepales, Philippine Daily Inquirer, July 7, 2012, A great ‘Pilipino’ weekend, Accessed June 12, 2014, "... Gini Cruz Santos...first female animation supervisor..." She is sometimes described as a Pixnoy: a Filipino-American or Fil-am artist working at Pixar.Bert Sulat Jr., July 15, 2007, Philippine Star, There's a rat in my ratatouille, Accessed June 12, 2014Janet Nepales, Female Network, June 24, 2010, "Pixnoy" (Pinay Working at Pixar) Animates Toy Story 3: Janet talks to Gini Cruz Santos, a Filipina animator for Pixar's popular sequel, Accessed June 12, 2014Staff reporters, July 11, 2012, Asian Week, San Francisco Book Launch of My Filipino Connection – The Philippines in Hollywood , Accessed June 12, 2014, "... “Pixnoys” – top Filam talents at Pixar... Gini Cruz Santos..."
Filmography A Bug's Life (1998): additional animator Toy Story 2 (1999): animator Monsters, Inc. (2001): character developer, animator, additional layout artist Finding Nemo (2003): animator The Incredibles (2004): animator Cars (2006): additional animator Lifted (2006): supervising animator Ratatouille (2007): animator Your Friend the Rat (2007): 3D animator Presto (2008): animator WALL-E (2008): additional animator Up (2009): animator Toy Story 3 (2010): animator Cars 2 (2011): animator Toy Story Toons (2011): Hawaiian Vacation (2011): special thanks Brave (2012): animator Inside Out (2015): promotional animation The Good Dinosaur (2015): additional directing animator Coco (2017): supervising animator Toy Story 4 (2019): animator Soul (2020): directing animator, cultural trust Pixar Popcorn (2021): Dory Finding (2021): animator, writer 22 vs. Earth (2021): animator SparkShorts (2021): Nona (2021): animator Inside Out 2 (2024): additional animator Dream Productions (2024): Part 1: The Dream Team (2024): additional animator Part 2: Out of Body (2024): additional animator Part 3: Romance! (2024): additional animator Part 4: A Night to Remember (2024): additional animator Win or Lose (2025): Coach's Kid (2025): animation supervisor Blue (2025): animation supervisor Raspberry (2025): animation supervisor Pickle (2025): animation supervisor Steal (2025): animation supervisor Mixed Signals (2025): animation supervisor I Got It (2025): animation supervisor Home (2025): animation supervisor Hoppers (2026): crowds animation supervisor Toy Story 5 (2026): animator
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