From September 2013 to January 2014, I had the privilege of working at Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, a stop-motion studio that held immense personal significance for me. It felt like a full circle moment—my first job in animation was at Skellington Studios in the mid-1990s on James and the Giant Peach, and Stoopid Buddy brought me back to the tactile, hands-on roots of my artistic journey.

At the time, Stoopid Buddy was an energetic and rapidly growing studio, gaining momentum through projects like Robot Chicken. I had the opportunity to work on WWE Slam City, a YouTube series that perfectly encapsulated the studio’s scrappy and irreverent spirit. This experience was refreshingly grounded, as I closely collaborated with animators, immersed myself in the creative process, and became part of a studio culture that prioritized creativity over polish or prestige.

Although my time at Stoopid Buddy was brief, it was a meaningful stop that allowed me to reconnect with the raw and collaborative essence of animation outside the confines of larger studio systems. As a bonus, it also provided me with the chance to cross paths with Seth Green, whom I had previously encountered at Skywalker Ranch during the development of Detours, a project that, like many in the industry, ultimately became a casualty of shifting studio priorities.