Though often overlooked when on the topic of major influences in the world of animation, Paul Rudish has still left an undeniably important footprint in the medium as a whole. Starting as a character design artist on storyboards for cartoons such as Batman: The Animated Series, he would eventually migrate to Cartoon Network, working alongside other talents on great Craig McCracken and Genndy Tartakovsky TV series like Samurai Jack, Dexter’s Laboratory, and The Powerpuff Girls.

After providing his skills as an animator, writer, and even voice actor on many series, Rudish was eventually set to helm a series of shorts by Disney around Mickey Mouse, meant to revive the character and modernize the humor for new audiences. The shorts were so well-received that in 2020, Disney announced the new series The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse would be airing on Disney Plus, in the same style as the shorts, continuing to be overseen by Rudish.

The award-winning style and snappiness of his animation aesthetic has allowed for the animator to be part of many successful projects, all of which were made richer as a result. With a fascinating career filled with many collaborations and insight, let’s take a look at the impressively influential work of Paul Rudish.

Early Years of Paul Rudish

Possessing a love of drawing from an early age, a young Rudish would look up to his father, who was an illustrator for Hallmark Cards and the creator of the Rainbow Brite franchise. Having a “live-in art teacher” proved incredibly valuable to Paul, who spoke with CHIBBY CHANNEL in a YouTube interview below:

With encouragement from his father, Rudish would pursue a career in animation at the California Institute of the Arts, of which he would eventually graduate, and with his portfolio in hand began taking any jobs the animator could find in the field. With his credentials speaking for themselves, the recent graduate landed a position on the first season of Batman: The Animated Series as his first experience of industry work.

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Shortly after his time with the caped crusader, Rudish would move to Cartoon Network in the ’90s, and develop partnerships with other talents, taking part in some of the most memorable and beloved programming of the channel’s history. Being a character designer and writer on several successful series, the animator would end up being given his own directing role for the first time with 2003’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series. In 2010, he would follow up with a co-creator credit for Sym-Biotic Titan, a show he conceptualized along with his long-time collaborator Genndy Tartakovsky.

Meeting the Mouse

By this point, Paul Rudish was becoming a well-respected name in the animation industry, with more than a few big hits under his belt. Despite this, the animator had yet to fully helm his own personal project until 2013, when he was approached by Disney to take the reins on their new animated series of shorts centered around Mickey Mouse. Needless to say, the direction taken by Rudish and his team helped the shorts achieve massive success, garnering billions of collective views online and bringing the classic formula of short animations starring legacy Disney characters into the new age.

In an interview with Animation Scoop, Rudish details his team’s goals for transitioning the shorts for a modern era below:

Our hope was to be able to create something to make it feel like we took on the work that Walt [Disney] and Ub [Iwerks] (who originally drew Mickey Mouse) left off. There was no conscious decision to make Mickey more relevant and contemporary, to make it feel like “Spongebob comedy” or style. We knew that we couldn’t make 1930s cartoons, but we knew we could take what we loved about those cartoons and that slap-stick humor and Mickey finding himself getting out of sticky situations and bring them into our time. That type of funny seems to have transcended generations, so we thought it might apply to our cartoons as well.

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With these shorts being upgraded to full series status with The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse on Disney Plus, and with Rudish’s design for the characters being used in more and more advertisements and rides at Disney theme parks, it seems as if his work is here to stay.

Paul Rudish’s Influence on the Medium

It was Rudish’s childhood fascination with animation that led him to become an incredibly important figure in the industry, from storyboard artist to now being in charge of a series starring arguably the most well-known animated character of all time. Taking on such a massive project with a world-famous cartoon icon is not a simple task, and to navigate it expertly all while providing a new style deserves much more attention.

The snappy, contemporary style of his work has the skill to lend itself perfectly to whatever project the animator may be a part of, and whether it be adapting classic characters for new generations or creating new series altogether, there’s plenty to enjoy and admire about the work of Paul Rudish.