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.
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.[1] 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.[2]
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.
He is currently the Head of Effects Animation and is a Visual Effects Animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios.[3] West is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and is on the Board of Governors, specifically the Animation branch.[4] [5]
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.[6] He started out by posting his drawings on his social media pages and he has since created over 40 of these tributes.[7] 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.[7]
| Encanto | 2021 | Head of Effects Animation | |
| Frozen II | 2019 | Head of Effects Animation | |
| Moana | 2016 | Head of Effects Animation | |
| The Story of Frozen: Making a Disney Animated Classic | 2014 | Self Credited | |
| Big Hero 6 | 2014 | Departmental Leadership | |
| Frozen | 2013 | Effects Supervisor, Head Of Effects Animation | |
| Winnie the Pooh | 2011 | Visual Effects Supervisor | |
| The Princess and the Frog | 2009 | Effects Animation Supervisor | |
| Meet the Robinsons | 2007 | Digital Effects Artist | |
| Chicken Little | 2005 | Effects Animator | |
| Home on the Range | 2004 | Visual Effects Supervisor | |
| 2001 | Visual Effects Supervisor | ||
| The Emperor's New Groove | 2000 | Additional Visual Effects Animator | |
| Fantasia 2000 | 1999 | Assistant Effects Supervisor (segments: Rhapsody in Blue) | |
| Tarzan | 1999 | Visual Effects Animator | |
| Mulan | 1998 | Additional Visual Effects Animator | |
| Hercules | 1997 | Visual Effects Animator | |
| The Hunchback of Notre Dame | 1996 | Visual Effects Animator | |
| Pocahontas | 1995 | Effects Animator | |
| The Lion King | 1994 | Effects Animator | |
| 1992 | Additional Effects Animator | ||
| Bebe's Kids | 1992 | Additional Character Designer, Special Effects Animator | |
| Rover Dangerfield | 1991 | Special Effects Animator |
| Iwájú | 2024 | Visual Effects Supervisor (1 episode, 2024) | |
| Quack Pack | 1996 | Special Effects (1 episode, 1996), Art Coordinator (1 episode, 1996)Stunt Double or Nothing (Nov 27, 1996) Season 1, Episode 38 - Special Effects Hit the Road, Backwater Jack (Nov 19, 1996) Season 1, Episode 34 - Art Coordinator | |
| Britannica's Tales Around the World | 1993 | Ink And Paint (1 episode, 1993)Hansel and Gretel/The Woodcutter's Wealthy Sister/Pedro and the Monster (1993) - Ink And Paint (segments: Pedro and the Monster) |
| Feast | 2014 | Head Of Effects Animation | |
| Paperman | 2012 | Final Line Animator | |
| How to Hook Up Your Home Theater | 2007 | Artistic Coordinator, Effects Supervisor | |
| How to Haunt a House | 1999 | Visual Effects Animator | |
| The Itsy Bitsy Spider | 1992 | Special Effects Animation | |
| The Lion and the Mouse | 1988 | Principal Animator |
| Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection | 2015 | Final Line Animator (segments: Paperman), Artistic Coordinator (segments: How to Hook up Your Home Theater), Effects Supervisor/head Of Effects Animation (segments: How to Hook up Your Home Theater", & "Feast) | |
| The Making of 'Atlantis: The Lost City | 2002 | Self credited - Artistic Supervisor, Visual Effects | |
| Shadrach by the Beastie Boys | 1989 | Painter |
| The Princess and the Frog (video game) | 2009 | Voice | |
| The Princess and the Frog | 2009 | Additional Voices | |
| Eternity | 1989 | Voice |
| Annie Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Animated Effects in an Animated Production[10] | Moana | 2016 | |
| Annie Awards | Nominated for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Effects Animation | 2001 |