Jorge R. Gutierrez Explained

Jorge R. Gutierrez
Birth Date:1975 1, mf=yes
Birth Place:Mexico City, Mexico
Alma Mater:California Institute of the Arts (BFA, MFA)
Known For:
The Book of Life
Maya and the Three
Yearsactive:1998–present
Children:1

Jorge R. Gutierrez (born January 25, 1975) is a Mexican-American animator, writer, producer, director, painter, and voice actor. He co-created with Sandra Equihua the Nickelodeon animated series , co-wrote and directed The Book of Life, Son of Jaguar for Google, and Maya and the Three for Netflix Animation.

Biography

Born in 1975 in Mexico City and raised in Tijuana, Gutierrez has completed various films, cartoons, illustrations and paintings exploring his love of Mexican pop and folk culture.

Gutierrez attended the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), where he received his BFA (1997) & MFA (2000) in Experimental Animation under Jules Engel, and was mentored by Maureen Selwood.[1] There he created the 3D short Carmelo, which won the 2001 Student Emmy Award in animation and was screened at Kodak's Emerging Filmmakers Program at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.[2] In 2000, Gutierrez worked under animator Maurice Noble, for the art direction of Chuck Jones' Timberwolf for Warner Bros. In 2001, he began creating Jorge Gutierrez' El Macho, an animated web series for Sony Pictures.

Gutierrez has also done character design on many animated series including Nickelodeon's ChalkZone, as well as Kids' WB's ¡Mucha Lucha!, Cartoon Network's Class of 3000, and Disney's The Buzz on Maggie for which he was nominated for a 2006 Annie Award in character design. As a writer, he's worked on Scholastic's Maya & Miguel as well as Disney's Brandy & Mr. Whiskers and Vampirina.

In 2008, Gutierrez won two Annie awards (Best TV Animated Show & Best TV Character Design) and one Emmy (Best TV Character Design) working on his passion project for Nickelodeon, , along with his co-creator and wife, Sandra Equihua who also won an Emmy for her character designs.

In 2010, he created some of the sketches in Cartoon Network's Mad including "Dear Reaper...", "Dog vs Mailman" (part 1, 2 and 3), "Video Game Cheats", "Arcade Boy" and "Dog vs Fire Hydrant".

In 2012, Gutierrez directed and co-wrote an animated adventure feature film with a Romeo and Juliet style love story set against a Mexican "Day of the Dead" backdrop.[3] The film, with the official title The Book of Life, was co-produced with 20th Century Fox Animation and was released on October 17, 2014.[4] [5] He earned his first Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Animated Feature Film in 2014. He was also nominated for three Annie awards (Best Film, Best Director & Best Character Design).

In February 2015, Reel FX and Gutierrez announced a multi-year, multi-picture deal which included Kung Fu Space Punch and The Book of Life 2.[6] [7]

In 2016 Gutierrez designed, voiced, wrote and directed the Annie and Emmy nominated Son of Jaguar VR short for Google Spotlight Stories.

In 2016, Gutierrez was awarded an Impact Award by the National Hispanic Media Coalition for his “Outstanding Direction in a Motion Picture”.[8]

On August 2, 2017, it was reported that Gutierrez would write and direct The Billion Brick Race, a spin-off of The Lego Movie, for Warner Animation Group.[9] However, on February 8, 2018, it was reported that Gutierrez had permanently cancelled the project.[10]

In October 2020, he signed an over-all-deal with Netflix Animation.[11] He directed the Immigration music video for the Emmy Award-winning series We the People, and wrote and directed the Annie (Best TV Animated Show & Best TV Music) and Emmy (Best Writing, Best Promo, Best Sound and Individual Achievement for Color) Award-winning Maya and the Three, a nine episode animated limited series for Netflix Animation. He had been developing a follow-up series to Maya set in the same universe for Netflix titled Kung Fu Space Punch, however, it was scrapped in 2022 along with many other planned animated series.[12] He was also set to direct an original animated film titled I, Chihuahua from a script he wrote with Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias. However, the film was cancelled in April 2024, due to creative differences.[13]

Personal life

Gutierrez did not speak until the age of five. As an adult, he was diagnosed with autism following his son's diagnosis.[14] [15]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Director Screenwriter Role Notes
2000Carmelo Carmelo's FatherShort film, won Student Emmy
2001Lint People Short film
Storyboard artist
2001 El Macho El MachoWeb series
Also character designer
2014The Book of Life Skeleton CarmeloFeature film
Also character designer and additional music composer
2015Guardians of OzFeature film
Also executive producer and character designer
2017Son of JaguarSon of Jaguar VR Short film
Also character designer and art director
2023Additional VoicesFeature film
2024The Casagrandes MovieFelipe the Street VendorOriginal animated film for Netflix
I, Chihuahua[16] Original animated film for Netflix
Canceled
Kung-Fu Space Punch[17] Original animated film for Netflix
Canceled[18]

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2003ChalkZoneGuest art director for "Pumpkin Love/Chip of Fools/Irresistible/Please Let Me In"
2004¡Mucha Lucha!Character designer for Season 2 and 3
2004-2007Maya & MiguelFreelance writer for multiple episodes
2005The Buzz on MaggieCharacter model design supervisor
2006Brandy & Mr. WhiskersWriter for "Big Girls Don't Body Slam"
2007Class of 3000Guest music video art director for "Love is in the Hair...Net"
2007-2008Gordo GordoCreator, writer, character designer, executive producer, production designer
2010Carmen Got ExpelledButcherTV short; Also creator, writer, character designer, and director
2010-2013MadAnimator, graphic designer
2015-2016The Adventures of Puss in BootsExecutive consultant
2018Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesGhostbear (voice)4 episodes
2019Victor and ValentinoSal (voice)Recurring role
2019The Loud HouseLucha Libre Commentator (voice)Episode: "Lucha Fever with the Casagrandes"
2021Maya and the ThreeKing Teca (voice)Also creator, writer, director, and executive producer
2021AnimaniacsDiego Rivera (voice)Segment: "The Warners Are Present"
2021The CasagrandesLucha Libre Commentator / Pigeon Referee (voices)Episode: "Saving Face"

Bibliography

YearTitlePublisherISBNNotesRef
2014The Art of The Book of LifeDark Horse BooksAuthor & illustrator[19]
2018Día de los MuertosLittle SimonIllustrator[20]
Border BangCernunnosAuthor and illustrator[21]

Notes and References

  1. mexopolis. 1613598339756589056. my dad saved my first year CalArts review.
  2. Web site: Loved Book of Life? Then you need to see this short film by its director . 2022-12-04 . www.vox.com . 27 October 2014 . en.
  3. News: GUILLERMO DEL TORO JOINS WITH REEL FX TO PRODUCE EPIC ANIMATED ADVENTURE DAY OF THE DEAD. February 21, 2012. Reel FX. February 21, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20140408041844/http://www.reelfx.com/news/item/reelfx-guillermo-del-toro-day-of-the-dead. April 8, 2014. dead.
  4. News: McClintock. Pamela. Fox Animation Teaming With Guillermo del Toro on 'Book of Life' (Exclusive). December 13, 2012. The Hollywood Reporter. December 12, 2012.
  5. News: Fox Sets New Dates for Book of Life, Gone Girl and Frankenstein. October 15, 2013. ComingSoon.net. October 15, 2013. October 15, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131015230754/http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=110276. dead.
  6. News: Untitled Kung Fu Space Western Is Reel. https://archive.today/20150219161054/http://blog.bcdb.com/untitled-kung-fu-space-western-reel-8325/. dead. February 19, 2015. Big Cartoon Blog. BCDB. 19 February 2015.
  7. News: Hopewell. John. 'Despicable Me 3,' Pixar's 'Coco,' 'The Big Bad Fox' to Bow at France's 2017 Annecy Animation Festival. April 30, 2017. Variety. April 24, 2017.
  8. Web site: Roterman. Natalie. 2015-02-12. Gina Rodríguez, Carlos Ponce, Elizabeth Peña To Be Honored At NHMC Awards. 2021-08-05. Latin Times. en.
  9. Web site: Book of Life Director Developing LEGO's Billion Brick Race. Screen Rant. Hood. Cooper. August 2, 2017. February 9, 2018.
  10. Web site: Jorge Gutierrez Departs as Director of 'LEGO Movie' Spinoff. Animation World Network. McLean. Tom. February 8, 2018. February 9, 2018.
  11. Web site: Thorne. Will. 2020-10-14. 'The Book of Life' Director Jorge Gutierrez Inks Overall Deal With Netflix. 2020-10-16. Variety. en.
  12. mexopolis. 1530007420017094656. my beloved kung space western is not moving forward at Netflix Animation :(. Jorge Gutierrez . May 27, 2022.
  13. Web site:
    • since everyone is asking, my beloved "I Chihuahua" is, as of now, officially dead at FAN (Feature Animation Netflix) over "creative differences". I adore the film with all my heart and absolutely plan to get it made somewhere else. Netflix is being really cool about letting me take it outside so I could not be more excited and hopeful for the future.
    .
  14. Web site: Jorge R. Gutierrez on Twitter: "It's #WorldAutismAwarenessDay ! I'm the autistic father (I was diagnosed 3 years ago) of a wonderful son who also happens to have autism. It has made us who we are and I could not be more proud of him.".
  15. Web site: Bennett . Neil . Jorge Gutiérrez on the Power Being Autistic Brings to his Creativity . Digital Arts Online . 13 June 2021 . 12 February 2019.
  16. Jorge Gutierrez To Direct Netflix Animated Film "I, Chihuahua" Starring Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias. Netflix Media Center. March 23, 2022. March 23, 2022.
  17. News: Annecy: Reel FX, Jorge R. Gutierrez Announce 'The Book of Life 2,' Unveil 'Kung Fu Space Punch' (EXCLUSIVE). Variety. June 15, 2017 . June 15, 2017.
  18. my beloved kung space western is not moving forward at Netflix Animation. May 26, 2022. mexopolis. Gutierrez. Jorge. 1530007420017094656.
  19. Book: The Art of The Book of Life . 978-1616555337 . Gutierrez. Jorge. Oct 17, 2014. Dark Horse Books .
  20. Book: Día de los Muertos . 978-1534415157 . Eliot. Hannah. July 24, 2018. Little Simon .
  21. Book: Border Bang . 978-2374950419. Gutierrez. Jorge. November 8, 2018. Harry N. Abrams .