Netflix's The Monkey King was the second production I got to work on while at Tangent Animation. I was responsible for a number of background and secondary characters, and even had a chance to sneak in a little work on a primary character.
THE MAYOR'S SON
Modeled from 2D reference
This was one of the most fun characters I have ever had the pleasure to work on. Upon completion the client was so happy they gave him a little extra screen time (or so I'm told).
Baby Monkey king
Modeled from 2D reference
This was originally meant to be a background monkey character, but the director liked it so much that the face that I modeled ended up being swapped with the original Baby Monkey King design. In addition to modeling this face, I was responsible for swapping the hair styles between the original Baby Monkey King and my background baby monkey.
I also got to model a swollen tongue variant for a gag that was cut from the film.
THE Cuttlefish
Modeled from 2D reference
This creature was modeled in pose first to nail proportions, and then neutralized afterwards for Rigging.
Fun fact: I have a phobia of sea creatures 🐟 🦑
MINISTERS
Modeled from 2D reference
Using faces from four different background characters, I modeled the Ministers' costume and bodies. As a side note, I used cloth sim for the first time on the sleeves of their outfit.
Rice villagers
Modeled from 2D reference
Background characters used to populate the rice and fish villages.
FISH
Modeled from 2D reference
Although this fish didn't get a ton of screen time, it was a lot of fun to model with its perma-bored face. This, like most of the sea creatures modeled for this film, was used to fill crowds in the underwater scenes.
Babbo maiden
Modeled costume from 2D reference
I was responsible for the "maiden" costume for Babbo. Although this sequence was re-written and Babbo Maiden was cut from the film, he will forever remain in my heart.
