About Ben Olson
A Life Drawn a Little Differently
Artist. Storyteller. Animation Director.
Saturday mornings were my thing. Three hours of Bugs Bunny felt like the best possible way to start a weekend. That’s where I fell in love with Chuck Jones’s humor, the personalities of his characters, and the way he could tell a whole story with a look or a perfectly timed pause.
I drew everything I could, including cartoons of my own. I loved watching those characters get themselves into trouble, and I wanted to see what kinds of trouble I could draw mine into.
The Inspiration
I was ten when I saw The Little Mermaid. I couldn’t get enough of the way Glen Keane animated Ariel. She felt so alive that I wanted to understand how someone could do that with a pencil. That was when I started thinking animation might be something I could do for a living.
Then came Aladdin, which is still my favorite animated film. I got The Art of Aladdin when it came out and drew just about everything in it. I spent countless hours with Glen Keane’s Aladdin and, especially, Eric Goldberg’s Genie. That film took a love of animation I already had and gave it a whole new life.
Comics opened another door. In sixth grade, I traded a pack of gum for my first Spider-Man comic, The Deadly Foes of Spider-Man #2. Todd McFarlane’s Spider-Man: Perceptions #1 followed. I loved how a drawing could pull me through a story, one panel at a time, and make me want to turn the page.
I wanted to tell stories through art.
Funny How Things Come Full Circle
Years after those Saturday mornings, I began working with Chuck Jones Galleries as a licensed fine artist for Warner Bros. and Hanna-Barbera. I later became a licensed artist with Disney Fine Art. Getting to paint characters I’d spent my childhood drawing still feels a little surreal.
Getting to know Eric Goldberg personally was a dream come true. About thirty years after I got that Art of Aladdin book, Eric signed my original copy and drew the Genie right there on the page. It was the same book I’d spent all those hours drawing from as a kid.
I still like to start with a sketch. At ZooTampa, I spend time watching and drawing wildlife. The way an animal tilts its head or looks at the one next to it can tell a whole story. Those observations are where my Animal Perspective paintings begin.
From the Drawing Board to the Screen
My animation directing debut came on the Max series Duster. I worked with Bad Robot and Warner Bros. on an animated short that paid tribute to Chuck Jones’s Fast and Furry-ous. After all those Saturday mornings watching Chuck’s cartoons, getting to direct a tribute to one of them was a moment I’ll always remember.
From Sketch to Screen
I’m also creating It’s The Journey, an original animated faith-adventure comedy about friendship, humility, and learning to trust God’s path. It’s a chance to tell a story with characters of my own and bring together the things I’ve always loved about animation.
The characters. The personalities. The stories.
I guess I've been chasing that magic ever since.
And I still love every minute of it.