Aaron Blaise

Born: Aaron Blaise
Birthday: February 2, 1968
Location: Burlington, VT, U.S.
Alma mater: Ringling College of Art and Design
Occupation: Director, Animator
Years active: 1989–present

Aaron Blaise remmbers drawing drawing ducks at the age of 6, using pictures from his father’s field guide as models. He knew every species of duck in North America by age 7. When his family moved to Florida, he spent every moment available in the wild, soaking in the landscapes and wildlife.

After his 1989 graduation from Ringling College of Art, Aaron began work as an animator at Walt Disney Feature Animation on films from “The Rescuers Down Under” to “Mulan.” He was a co-director of Disney’s “Brother Bear” which earned an Oscar nomination for Best Animate Feature Film.

Leaving Disney to help launch a new studio back in Florida and develop several feature film story ideas. Ultimately, Tradition Studios entered into bankruptcy, freeing Aaron to explore his painting career.

The Author

Lavalle Lee

Lavalle Lee has been creating animated cartoons online since 1999/2000 for his website flashcartoons.org. Many cartoons on the site have gained viral video status reaching millions of viewers online. In 2009, Lavalle started learning hand drawn animation from Don Bluth in his animation classes, as well as attending his Masterclasses in Arizona. He has also personally studied animation and visual effects from Veteran Disney animators in Orlando, FL.

Lavalle is widely known in the animation industry as the creator of the TraditionalAnimation.com website. After seeing that most animation sites were about all types of animation, not any specific to classical hand drawn animation, Lavalle knew Traditional Animation needed to be represented online. TraditionalAnimation.com has become the leading website and social media account for all things 2D. The website served as inspiration for “The Traditional Animation Show” in which Lavalle was both producer and host.

His partnership with Don Bluth began when he championed the Dragon's Lair Indiegogo campaign as lead project manager, editor, voice actor and in-betweener. The campaign reached $730,000 dollars to produce a 7-minute pitch video. In 2017, Lavalle brought the idea of creating a school to Don Bluth, and Don Bluth University was born. After a decade of learning from Don Bluth and working together on multiple pitches and business ventures, Lavalle accepted the position as Vice President of Don Bluth's new company Don Bluth Studios.