Image from \u201cRed Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs\u201d courtesy of Lionsgate Studios.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBancroft is also a man of deep Christian faith, which he says has been the foundation for his successful career. In this interview, he discusses the new \u201cRed Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs,\u201d his animation journey, and what\u2019s next on his plate.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
As I read over your bio, you\u2019ve had your hand in a lot of classic animation through the years. How does that feel? <\/strong><\/p>\nI am blessed that I\u2019ve been on the journey that I have. And I certainly don\u2019t take credit for it all because I am a Christian myself and I believe that God just really put me in wonderful opportunities to have some kind of influence on these films. And I\u2019m still kind of surprised that people come up to me all the time and say, \u201cYou helped create my childhood.\u201d It was a dream of mine since I was a boy to work at Disney, for the last half of my career, I\u2019ve been independent, doing projects like \u201cRed Shoes and the Seven Dwarves\u201d and my own projects. And I kind of love both worlds, to tell the truth, creatively. And it\u2019s given me all kinds of opportunities to be a part of a bigger spectrum of the animation industry.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRed Shoes\u201d has a really great message for kids about acceptance and confidence in being who you are. I don\u2019t know to what extent you are comfortable talking about what happened with the initial marketing plan that received some backlash. <\/strong><\/p>\nWell, briefly, because I wasn\u2019t involved with all of that. But I know the producers, I know the directors and I\u2019m friends with them. In respect of the people that have been working on this film for years far before, way before I came on involved with it, I also know there\u2019s some cultural differences that happened back in the day. What you are referring to is\u2014the honest truth\u2014there were just some mispronunciations, some mistranslations on some posters, and things got out. I mean, you can understand this in the world that we live in. But things got out of hand in a big way. And it was never the intention of the filmmakers to put out a negative message about body shaming or anything like that. In this film, it\u2019s the film is the opposite of that. You\u2019ve seen the movie.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yes, it\u2019s the exact opposite. And my girls picked up on that message. <\/strong><\/p>\nWhat happened was a real misunderstanding that got blown out of proportion. And unfortunately for the film, because it\u2019s such a charming, family-friendly and great message, it really kind of tainted it early on, and this can happen in Hollywood. It just can happen so easily, especially in our social media world. All that happened as I was just coming on to the picture, and we were recording voices. I wasn\u2019t a part of any of it. So, I don\u2019t know all the logistics and details. But I do know that that was never the intention of the filmmakers to put that message out. I\u2019ve been telling everybody since then because there were a lot of reporters that got a hold of me around that time. And I couldn\u2019t say it enough. But that\u2019s the movie is the opposite of that. It\u2019s said it\u2019s a positive message about body image. And it\u2019s a message that as a father myself\u2014I have three daughters also\u2014it\u2019s a message that was that attracted me to the film. I wanted to help them make this movie because I love that message so much. And it\u2019s the message that my wife wanted to share with our kids because she had so many issues with how society saw her when she was younger. The whole thing was so frustrating to me and to the filmmakers, and to the actors to who, you know, were really on board with trying to be part of something positive. And, and when it blew up, it just, I\u2019m just so happy that time has kind of healed a lot of those wounds and in the film at this point, is going to speak for itself. Because people, anybody that\u2019s seen it, like yourself, knows that it\u2019s not that and it\u2019s the opposite. I\u2019m very happy about that. Anyway, in the end, we will, you know, will have the right message and people will know that that was a mistake.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
There is good comedy in this film as well, not mean-spirited but fun and positive. <\/strong><\/p>\nI think that was kind of the tone that we were going for was to make it genuinely funny, but not in a negative way, not in a hurtful way. Although there are you know, there are negative hurtful people in it like the prince, but he\u2019s so overplayed and so broad, that it\u2019s I think even young children will understand that he\u2019s not a good guy, and the viewpoints are not right. And there are so many positive characters. And I think that\u2019s the really the key and storytelling but trying to get those positive messages across but it\u2019s all about balance. How many characters are negative in the story, how many characters are positive? And how do you balance that out so that the overall intention is seen that the overall intention is a positive And then there\u2019s a lot of other characters that play into that too, that that really lend towards a more positive message in a funny quirky vibe, which is it\u2019s all wrapped up in which is what I loved about it.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
How did you feel when helping put it together? <\/strong><\/p>\nIt was great because I mean, I got to work with new talent that I had never met before. And, like Chloe Grace Moretz, who is wonderful, wonderful and so charming to work with Sam Claflin and I really connected. We recorded him on a stormy weekend in Fiji while he was filming the movie \u201cAdrift\u201d off the Fiji Islands and, and so we flew out there to find a recording studio, on his weekend off, gave us all of his time. He was so generous. He really loved the movie and read the scripts and all that and was really into it. And we, it\u2019s such a, just a wonderful turn. It\u2019s a wonderful weekend even though it\u2019s crazy outside and it was kind of scary flying into CGI video recording and stuff it made us he made it all worthwhile. So those are the kind of stories I have about, you know, the most factor so I\u2019m largely not responsible for story and stuff as much as the actor\u2019s performance. And so that\u2019s kind of a dividing line for me a project but I also was very attentive and worked. And talking about some of the story issues and gave a lot of suggestions along the way, too. It\u2019s very fortunate to have that ability. I just had such a great experience on it. The character designer was a good friend from Disney and I just love to set the style he gave the characters, and they have kind of Disney-reminiscent looks, but also uniquely their own. So, it\u2019s kind of a fun fantasy world fairytale world but that they created for this movie.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
What is next on the agenda for you? What are you working on? <\/strong><\/p>\nI\u2019m teaching a lot right now I\u2019m working for a faith-based college and I started a program there a couple of years ago, shaping the minds that artistry, the creativity of the next generation of animators. I also am working in the industry still. I have a movie that just came out and called \u201cAnimal Crackers\u201d on Netflix, just came out to Netflix. And I also, in working on \u201cSpace Jam 2.\u201d I\u2019m the lead animator on it, which will be out next year.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
How has your faith impacted your career? <\/strong><\/p>\nI was born and raised in a Christian and faith-based family and my love of Jesus and understanding of who God is has been influential, the big picture of a heavenly kingdom. It\u2019s been a big part of taking that knowledge good morals and values and how important that being a parent, taking into the industry of animation entertainment. I started with animation. I was worked at Disney for 12 years, and I felt like being a Christian really helped. I was influenced by the movies that I worked on, in big and small ways. And then also, you know, as a Christian, I feel like I\u2019ve tried to really speak in other people\u2019s lives by example, and testimony in my own life. And I feel like that was my greatest responsibility. God gave me some talents early on when I was young, and I just tried to be responsible and follow His will for what to do with those talents. Hopefully, most believers feel that way. I felt for myself to certain responsibilities that I wanted to play out in my life. I think I\u2019ve done that, for the most part. I\u2019ve really tried to be an influence in the entertainment industry, and a light. And I even started my animation company after leaving Disney because I felt called to do that. And I did that for a good seven years. And we put out our own faith-based video series, \u201cLenny and Sid.\u201d\u00a0 And it\u2019s been amazing. I think when I look back at my life and the journey that God has put me on, that I could be an influence in this industry, but also more largely an influence for God.<\/p>\n
\u201cRed Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs\u201d is available on-demand, DVD, and digital outlets from Lionsgate Studios.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The creator of classic Disney characters Iago, Krunk, Cogworth, and Pumbaa talks about the new spin on classic “Snow White” tale. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2815,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[95,109,1622,1625],"class_list":["post-4828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movies","tag-animated-films","tag-disney-animation","tag-red-shoes-and-the-seven-dwarfs","tag-tony-bancroft"],"yoast_head":"\n
Famed Animator Tony Bancroft on 'Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs,' Career, and Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The creator of classic Disney characters Iago, Krunk, Cogworth, and Pumbaa talks about the new spin on classic "Snow White" tale.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/2020\/10\/famed-animator-tony-bancroft-on-red-shoes-and-the-seven-dwarfs-career-and-faith.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Famed Animator Tony Bancroft on 'Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs,' Career, and Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The creator of classic Disney characters Iago, Krunk, Cogworth, and Pumbaa talks about the new spin on classic "Snow White" tale.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/2020\/10\/famed-animator-tony-bancroft-on-red-shoes-and-the-seven-dwarfs-career-and-faith.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Reel Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dewaynehamby\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-09T19:21:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/720\/2020\/10\/redshoes.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"DeWayne Hamby\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@dewaynehamby\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@dewaynehamby\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"DeWayne Hamby\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/2020\/10\/famed-animator-tony-bancroft-on-red-shoes-and-the-seven-dwarfs-career-and-faith.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/2020\/10\/famed-animator-tony-bancroft-on-red-shoes-and-the-seven-dwarfs-career-and-faith.html\",\"name\":\"Famed Animator Tony Bancroft on 'Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs,' Career, and Faith\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-09T19:21:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-09T19:21:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/#\/schema\/person\/7c2f078f578d8a98ba8dc3f2dad0632e\"},\"description\":\"The creator of classic Disney characters Iago, Krunk, Cogworth, and Pumbaa talks about the new spin on classic \\\"Snow White\\\" tale.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/2020\/10\/famed-animator-tony-bancroft-on-red-shoes-and-the-seven-dwarfs-career-and-faith.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/2020\/10\/famed-animator-tony-bancroft-on-red-shoes-and-the-seven-dwarfs-career-and-faith.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/2020\/10\/famed-animator-tony-bancroft-on-red-shoes-and-the-seven-dwarfs-career-and-faith.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Famed Animator Tony Bancroft on ‘Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs,’ Career, and Faith\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/\",\"name\":\"Reel Faith\",\"description\":\"News and notes on faith in popular culture\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/#\/schema\/person\/7c2f078f578d8a98ba8dc3f2dad0632e\",\"name\":\"DeWayne Hamby\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3aec351f57e304d60b5ad6f6b589ee89?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3aec351f57e304d60b5ad6f6b589ee89?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"DeWayne Hamby\"},\"description\":\"As a journalist for more than 20 years, DeWayne Hamby has covered the worlds of church and culture for a variety of publications and websites, including Charisma, Ministry Today, New Man, and Christian Retailing. He and his wife, LeAnn, live in Tennessee with their three daughters. Connect with DeWayne on social media\u2014http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dewaynehamby and www.twitter.com\/dewaynehamby.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.dewaynehamby.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/author\/dhamby\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Famed Animator Tony Bancroft on 'Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs,' Career, and Faith","description":"The creator of classic Disney characters Iago, Krunk, Cogworth, and Pumbaa talks about the new spin on classic \"Snow White\" tale.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/2020\/10\/famed-animator-tony-bancroft-on-red-shoes-and-the-seven-dwarfs-career-and-faith.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Famed Animator Tony Bancroft on 'Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs,' Career, and Faith","og_description":"The creator of classic Disney characters Iago, Krunk, Cogworth, and Pumbaa talks about the new spin on classic \"Snow White\" tale.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/2020\/10\/famed-animator-tony-bancroft-on-red-shoes-and-the-seven-dwarfs-career-and-faith.html","og_site_name":"Reel Faith","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dewaynehamby","article_published_time":"2020-10-09T19:21:10+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/720\/2020\/10\/redshoes.jpg"}],"author":"DeWayne Hamby","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@dewaynehamby","twitter_site":"@dewaynehamby","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"DeWayne Hamby","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/2020\/10\/famed-animator-tony-bancroft-on-red-shoes-and-the-seven-dwarfs-career-and-faith.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/2020\/10\/famed-animator-tony-bancroft-on-red-shoes-and-the-seven-dwarfs-career-and-faith.html","name":"Famed Animator Tony Bancroft on 'Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs,' Career, and Faith","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-10-09T19:21:10+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-09T19:21:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/#\/schema\/person\/7c2f078f578d8a98ba8dc3f2dad0632e"},"description":"The creator of classic Disney characters Iago, Krunk, Cogworth, and Pumbaa talks about the new spin on classic \"Snow White\" tale.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/2020\/10\/famed-animator-tony-bancroft-on-red-shoes-and-the-seven-dwarfs-career-and-faith.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/2020\/10\/famed-animator-tony-bancroft-on-red-shoes-and-the-seven-dwarfs-career-and-faith.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/2020\/10\/famed-animator-tony-bancroft-on-red-shoes-and-the-seven-dwarfs-career-and-faith.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Famed Animator Tony Bancroft on ‘Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs,’ Career, and Faith"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/","name":"Reel Faith","description":"News and notes on faith in popular culture","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/#\/schema\/person\/7c2f078f578d8a98ba8dc3f2dad0632e","name":"DeWayne Hamby","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3aec351f57e304d60b5ad6f6b589ee89?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3aec351f57e304d60b5ad6f6b589ee89?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"DeWayne Hamby"},"description":"As a journalist for more than 20 years, DeWayne Hamby has covered the worlds of church and culture for a variety of publications and websites, including Charisma, Ministry Today, New Man, and Christian Retailing. He and his wife, LeAnn, live in Tennessee with their three daughters. Connect with DeWayne on social media\u2014http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dewaynehamby and www.twitter.com\/dewaynehamby.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.dewaynehamby.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/author\/dhamby"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2815"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4828\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/reelfaith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/720\/2020\/10\/redshoes.jpg\")