Sometimes I dream that I'm working; that's awful. When you awaken after a big, surprising dream, you feel it's very interesting. When you sit and write it down, you realize it's a very poor script. But I may find ideas while dozing.

Kids in different countries know my movies by heart because they've seen them so many times. And wonderful returns never stop.

Before my commercial success, I had difficulty doing what I wanted, but my sincere short films always won prizes in festivals. So I was ready for larger successes.

One gets used to success very quickly. The surprise was how deep and enduringly I was touching people, in such different places and throughout generations.

I've always felt that I've made films, period. I wanted to leave the "ghetto." And here I am, I'm out.

My inspiration is my life, what I see happening around me. It can be history and, quite often, plain traditional fairy tales. But I never adapt; I nourish myself with old stories, and then create my own tales.

The quality and success of Disney was actually bad for us animators because everyone on the planet thought that animation was only for kids and only in a certain domain. The big film festivals never thought much about animated films.