Marlon West

Marlon West is an effects animator who is Head of Effects Animation and Visual Effects Supervisor for Walt Disney Animation Studios. He has twice been nominated for Annie Awards, winning for his effects animation work on Moana in 2017.

Early life
West became interested in film and animation as a child. He often made short films with an 8mm camera, casting neighborhood kids in his films. He was also interested in making stop-motion films in the style of Jason and the Argonauts. West graduated from University City High School in University City, Missouri in 1981. He then attended Columbia College Chicago where he got a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in Filmmaking and a Bachelors of Arts degree in Creative Writing in 1985.

Early career
After West graduated from Columbia College Chicago he worked at a film studio called Hyperion Studios in Los Angeles on two films Rover Dangerfield and Bebe's Kids. Before he started working at Disney he was freelance animator and worked on commercials and music videos. He's worked on music videos for both The Beastie Boys and Paula Abdul. He started as a trainee for Walt Disney Animation Studios in 1994 and his first project was The Lion King.

Current career
He is currently the Head of Effects Animation and is a Visual Effects Animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios. West is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and is on the Board of Governors, specifically the Animation branch.

Art
In 2020 in the wake of the George Floyd murder, West was inspired to create a series of what he called "Ink Tributes" to civil rights heroes and victims of police brutality. He started out by posting his drawings on his social media pages and he has since created over 40 of these tributes. Some of his first tributes were to Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Vice President Kamala Harris. West's own son inspired two of his tributes for Nina Pop and Tony McDade. West's son inspired these portraits because he is also transgender. His art was debuted at the Museum of Social Justice in Los Angeles on August 13, 2022.

Filmography
=== Films ===

=== TV series ===