What's most important in animation is the emotions and the ideas being portrayed. I'm a great believer of energy and emotion.

I am not interested in slickness for the sake of slickness.

The art of cartooning is vulgarity. The only reason for cartooning to exist is to be on the edge. If you only take apart what they allow you to take apart, you're Disney. Cartooning is a low-class, for-the-public art, just like graffiti art and rap music. Vulgar but believable, that's the line I kept walking.

The rise of anime had to happen. If the Japanese could tell better American stories, it would go through the roof. They still tell stories which are very much oriental. I take my hat off to them.

As an artist, I want to interpret my feelings

Look what Disney's done to their animation department. There wasn't an animator in charge of their animation unit!

I'm from the East Coast. I love the city. I love the characters. I love the kind of people we are, the kind other people look at in amazement.