I am very happy and beyond enthusiastic about the success of the Super Mario Bros Movie from Universal / Illumination. It's the biggest motion picture in the world. As of this writing it has grossed $585,474,381 in less than 2 weeks. It has broken the record for a 5 day opening for an animated feature previously held by Disney in 2019. And to top if off it has a 96% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The reason for my excitement is that the Academy's Aaron Horvath is the director of this blockbuster movie. Aaron was with us as a student in 2002 and as an instructor in 2003 up until he broke into the industry at Comedy Central. He went on to an illustrious career and great accomplishments including the Producer / Director of the WB's widely popular series Teen Titans Go on Cartoon Network.

Aaron Horvath is a highly talented artist. He was considered one of our greatest students even when he was here. To celebrate his astounding accomplishments I'll be featuring his art from the time he was with us along with a few extra photos. One in particular where we honored him at the Academy's AnimationNation night in 2007. You can view the presentation on a public post on The Animation Academy's Patreon.

Academy students change the world with their vision and leadership. Keep Creating !!