Feature Animation
2023
Wish - Sabino
Early 3D visual development for Sabino, exploring Bill Schwab's first pass at the character before the script evolved.
Studio: Walt Disney Animation Studios
Production: Wish (Disney's 100th anniversary feature
Directors: Chris Buck, Fawn Veerasunthorn
Release Date: November 22, 2023
Role: 3D Visual Development and Character Modeling Supervisor
Art Director: Bill Schwab
Software: zBrush & Maya
Years: 2021-2022
Project Site: IMDb Site
Sabino started in the same window as Asha. Bill Schwab had done a first pass at the character, a younger version closer to Asha's generation, and I picked it up in 3D as part of the early visdev exploration. Bill's first-pass designs always carry a lot of voice, so the work was the same loop that defined the Asha collaboration. Sculpt from the 2D, share, take draw-overs back, push the volume where the line could go further, iterate. The goal at this stage is not to finalize a character, it is to find what the design wants to be in three dimensions and to give the directors and the Art Director something they can react to.
The script evolved during preproduction and the design shifted toward a much older Sabino, closer to the grandfather figure that ended up in the film. By the time the new direction landed, I was deep into supervising duties on the rest of the show, and the character continued in the team's hands. Suzan Kim picked up the new design and carried Sabino through to final, making the character her own. The version of Sabino in the released film is hers. What I contributed lives in the earlier character visual language exploration, the kind of work that shapes a project in ways that do not always end with screen time, but that helps to define the look of the movie.
Wish released November 22, 2023, with Suzan's Sabino as the version audiences met. The early exploration is part of how that character found its footing in 3D before the design shifted.