Travis Blaise

Under the premise that “animation is the greatest form of visual storytelling,” Travis Blaise founded the Needle On The Sketch initiative, where he is also the director of upcoming series and instructor. Through that platform, he has created workshops, tutorials, and online classes covering character design, animation, storyboarding, and building an animation portfolio.

In 2008, he was an adjunct professor for an experimental 2D animation class at CalArts (California, U.S.). From 2017 to 2021, he was a mentor, instructor, and adjunct professor at DigiPen Studios, training students in animation and storyboarding. His latest work was as a storyboard artist in the movie Mufasa (2024) and Oswald (upcoming production announced in 2025).

With over 36 years of experience, Travis Blaise has participated in a wide range of movies and TV shows throughout his career in storyboard artistry, including Disenchantment (2021), Big Mouth (2017), Disney’s Penn Zero (2014), and his animation work with Brother Bear (2003), Lilo & Stitch (2002), Mulan (1998), and The Lion King (1994). He worked for Disney from 1990 to 2004, where he served as an in-between artist and animator in films and video games.

After his time at Disney Feature Animation, he also worked for different divisions of The Walt Disney Company such as Disney Television, Disney Animation, Disney Interactive, as well as other studios such as DreamWorks, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Netflix, and Warner Bros. 

He is a global lecturer and speaker on storytelling filmmaking in animation.

Travis Blaised joined Tecnológico de Monterrey as a Distinguished Visiting Professor in Animation and Storytelling for the School of Architecture, Art and Design. 

• Illustration, Ringling School of Art and Design
• Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida (two internships)

• Latest tutorials and courses from Travis Blaise about storytelling, animation, and storyboards: https://sketchtoanimate.com/