EP.21: Hello Art, Meet Social Media - A Conversation with Tom Bancroft

On this week’s episode, Alan and Joey are talking to veteran animator, and CEO of Pencilish Animation Studios, Tom Bancroft. Tom worked as an animator at Disney for over 10 years and is the man responsible for one of the most beloved Disney characters of all time: MUSHU from Mulan! He talks about his journey with this character and what it was like working with Eddie Murphy (oh, and you’ll never guess which two actors almost got the role.) Tom is the perfect guest for our theme this week: Hello Art, Meet Social Media, as he’s launched a viral drawing / animation challenge called #MERMAY with over 28 million participants via his company Pencilish, which challenges artists across the globe to create a mermaid everyday for the month of May, with one winner selected at the end. Tom understands the importance of incorporating social media into his work and his company, and has found new and interesting ways to do so, even beyond the #MERMAY2021challenge. Tom has set up one of the first crown-funded animation studios and he goes into detail about all of this in the episode - you don’t want to miss it. Anyone out there who has ever thought about a career in animation, or is curious about how it all works...listen up! As always, we have a guest-inspired cocktail of the week! This week enjoy the MICKEY & MINNIE. Find the full recipe and more on @twoguysfromhollywood on Instagram, and @TGFHPodcast on Twitter and Facebook. Cheers! To learn more about Tom and Pencilish Animation Studios, visit: https://wefunder.com/pencilish http://www.pencilish.com/ @pencilishstudios @tombancroft1 Follow @mermay_official on Instagram and @mermayofficial on TIK TOK!