Carlos Baena

Carlos Baena is a professional animator and now a cofounder of the online school Animation Mentor, which was started in March, 2005. It was the first post-secondary school that helped students to pursue a career in animation. At the school, students work with mentors from major studios in a production-style environment, and graduate with a professional demo reel.

Baena currently lives in San Francisco, California, where he spends his leisure time studying and making short films, composing music, skateboarding, and working on animation.

Background
Born on the Canary Islands and raised in Madrid, Baena came to the United States to attend the University of San Francisco and the Academy of Art University. After graduating in June 1998, he found a job animating commercials at Will Vinton Studios in Portland, Oregon. Four months later, he returned to San Francisco to work on spots and short films at Click 3X and WildBrain, Inc. Working on commercials and short films helped him secure a position at San Rafael, CA.-based Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) in March 2001. At (ILM), Baena worked as an animator on Jurassic Park III, Men in Black II, and Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. Eventually, Baena left ILM for Pixar in 2002 where he worked on the films Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL-E, and Toy Story 3 as well as the short film Boundin'. Later in 2012, Baena joined Pixar's competing studio Universal Animation Studios where he worked as an animator on Quest, Nepola's Odyssey II, Paradoria, and Imagimals, as well as the television special Nepola's Mythological Holiday.

Animation mentor
Baena works with fellow cofounders, Bobby Beck, AnimationMentor.com’s CEO and President, and Shawn Kelly to define and shape the school’s overall direction. Baena balances his cofounder responsibilities with his full-time animator job at Pixar in Emeryville, California.

Awards
In Cars, Baena animated several scenes with the two Italian cars Guido and Luigi and received a 2007 Annie Award nomination for Best Character Animation for his work.

Director

 * The Tiger's Apprentice (2023)

Animation Department

 * The Pixelators: Level Two (2020) - (animator)
 * Crystal: The Rise of Darkness (2019) - (animator)
 * Puppet Pals Forever (2018) - (animator)
 * Imagimals (2017) - (animator)
 * Paradoria (2015) - (animator)
 * Nepola's Odyssey II (2014) - (animator)
 * Nepola's Mythological Holiday (2013) - (animator)
 * Quest (2012) - (animator)
 * Toy Story 3 (2010) - (animator)
 * WALL-E (2008) - (animator)
 * Ratatouille (2007) - (animator)
 * Boundin' (2003) - (animator)
 * Finding Nemo (2003) - (animator)
 * Exploring the Reef (2003) - (Video short; animator)
 * Hubert's Brain (2001) - (animator)

Visual Effects

 * Cars (2006) - (animator)
 * The Incredibles (2004) - (animator)
 * Men in Black II (2002) - (animator: air chase and post office sequences, ILM)
 * Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) - (animator: ILM)
 * Jurassic Park III (2001) - (CG animator)
 * Star Wars T.I.E. (2000) - (CGI animator: ILM)