Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} I grew up in Holland, playing soccer and drawing cartoons on rainy afternoons. My first creative influence and inspiration was Walt Disney. When I was eleven my family immigrated to America. I relied on my drawing ability to compensate for my lack of English. I was enthralled with the wealth of cartoons on American TV. When I was thirteen my family visited the Disney Studio, where I was encouraged to make my own animated films. I often knocked heads with my art teacher at Cupertino High School, Fran Coleman, but she managed to open my mind to a world of art beyond Disney. While still in high school, I met the legendary Warner Bros. cartoon director, Chuck Jones, and showed him one of my short films. With a recommendation from Mr. Jones, I was accepted at Cal Arts in southern California, where I studied under Disney veterans. Upon graduation from Cal Arts in 1981, I went to work at the Disney Studio. Over the years I've worked on such films as "Winnie the Pooh Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} ," "The Princess and the Frog," "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" at Disney, "The Road to El Dorado," at DreamWorks, and "Curious George" at Universal Studios.  I am married and have three lively kids, a fat cat and a boisterous dog, all of whom inspire me. Thus Jimmy Dabble, a middle grade novel about a precocious kid on a farm, was born in 2001. Fuddles, a picture book about a pampered fat cat was published in 2011. And A Very Fuddles Christmas will be published in 2013.