Simon Otto

Simon Otto’s journey is kinda wild, honestly. Born in this tiny Swiss town called Gommiswald, just on the edge of Zurich, he didn’t exactly start off in the animation world. Nope, dude was literally carving snow sculptures for ski resorts like Arosa and St. Moritz and doodling cartoons for “Die Suedostschweiz,” his local paper. Banking apprenticeship? Yeah, that happened too, but clearly, he wasn’t about that buttoned-up life for long. He ended up at F&F Schule für Experimentelle Gestaltung in Zurich, which is a mouthful, but basically an arts school that let him go wild creatively. Then he bounces over to Paris to study at Les Gobelins—pretty much the Harvard for animators. Got lucky (or just hella talented) and scored an internship with Walt Disney Feature Animation in Paris, soaking up everything the pros could throw at him. DreamWorks picked him up back in ‘97 for The Prince of Egypt, and honestly, he’s been kind of a big deal there ever since. Simon’s fingerprints are all over those legendary How to Train Your Dragon films—he was Head of Character Animation for the entire trilogy. So, not just the guy making characters move, but helping shape who they are, how they look, and really the whole vibe. He’s bounced around roles—supervising animator on Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Flushed Away, and even did character design for Over the Hedge. Most recently, he directed an episode called “The Tall Grass” for Netflix’s Love, Death & Robots, plus he’s got a bunch of other Netflix stuff brewing. This guy’s career is basically a masterclass in following your weirdest talents and making them work.