LOS ANGELES?Into Pixar?s famous atrium, where animators are free to approach and talk to head honcho John Lasseter over lunch, Filipino-American Gini Cruz Santos walked in.

Wearing a ?Toy Story 3? T-shirt, Gini is one of Pixar?s employees who call themselves ?Pixnoys.? This Philippine-born character animator, who is blessed with a megawatt smile, sat down for an interview at the renowned studio in Emeryville, California.

?For the fun of it?

Raised in Pasay until she was 3, Gini and her family immigrated to Guam where she had her elementary education. She went back to the Philippines for high school (St. Scholastica?s) and college (University of Santo Tomas, Fine Arts degree in Advertising Arts). She worked in advertising in Guam for five years, then earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Computer Arts from the School of Visual Arts in New York.

From NY, she sent a sample reel of her work to Pixar ?just for the fun of it,? not bothering to enclose a cover letter and a resume because she didn?t expect that the acclaimed animation studio would be interested.

To her surprise, Pixar called. Gini hesitated but went to the interview anyway. She was hired. She has been living in San Francisco since 1996.

For her first project, Gini worked on ?Toy Story 2,? originally planned as a direct-to-video project but upgraded to a theatrical release during production. ?TS2? was that Hollywood rarity?a sequel that was a success?but Gini never imagined there would be a ?TS3.?

Gini also worked on this latest installment, an even rarer commodity?a part 3 that?s succeeding. Andy, the boy who owns the toys in the story, is going to college. What happens to Woody (cowboy sheriff), Buzz (space ranger), Jessie (cowgirl) and the rest of the Mattel gang forms the crux of the often funny, emotionally resonant film.

Gini worked on Andy in the second movie; she thinks of him as a brother.

Homage to father

A delightful paso doble of Buzz and Jessie is Gini?s homage to her late father, Ben Santos. She?s one of the character animators of that sequence choreographed by Fil-Am two-time ?Dancing with the Stars? champ Cheryl Burke and Tony Dovolani. ?My father loved to dance,? said Gini, whose mother Celi lives in Guam. A sister, Jocelyn, is in Arizona while a brother, James, resides in the Philippines.

?My father and I were very close,? said Gini whose full name is Virginia. ?We watched ballroom dancing competition shows and NBA games together. He could dance the paso doble, foxtrot, tango ??

Ben often asked his daughter to be his dance partner. This is why Gini volunteered when director Lee Unkrich (whom she described as an ?awesome talent?) was forming the team that would animate Buzz and Jessie as they hoof it to the Gipsy Kings? music. ?My regret is that my father isn?t going to see this scene,? Gini said.

The animator stressed that her UST training ?comes through in everything I do.? She credited some Filipino traits that stood her in good stead: ?We are good workers. We are detail-oriented.? She added with a laugh that ?being makulit and stubborn? is actually a plus in animation.

Gini volunteered that she injected the Filipino sense of humor and facial expressions in Dory, the blue tang fish in ?Finding Nemo? and one of her all-time favorite Pixar characters. She quipped: ?I can relate to Dory?s forgetfulness.? Nelson Bohol, her fellow Pixnoy who was the set designer of ?Finding ?,? memorably added a ?bahay kubo? to an aquarium in one scene. She also identified with the lead family in ?The Incredibles.? ?I love the characterization of the family members,? she said.

Other credits

Gini?s other credits include ?Ratatouille,? ?A Bug?s Life,? ?Monsters, Inc.,? ?Wall-E,? and ?Up,? the Oscar and Golden Globe winner for Best Animated Film early this year that also featured the contributions of Fil-Ams Ricky Nierva (production designer) and Ronnie del Carmen (story supervisor).

While Gini admires John Lasseter for being ?just one of us? when he?s in the room with animators, she said she has learned a lot from him, especially in terms of improving a film?s appeal, story and entertainment factor. Gini recounted how John arrived looking exhausted for a feedback screening of ?Lifted,? a short film in which she served as supervising animator. She worried that Pixar?s creative chief might be too tired to assess the short film?s progress. ?But his comments were spot on,? Gini said. ?He is sharp. I have a lot of respect for him.?

Gini also admires all of her fellow Pixnoys in various departments?story, animation, administration and security. She cited the US-born ones who know Filipino traditions well, though they were raised away from their parents? homeland. She is looking forward to a repeat of last year?s potluck, held in the grove of Pixar?s campus, in which they ate lechon kawali, adobo and other Pinoy fare.

Animation conference

The bespectacled artist said she?s had informal talks with Ronnie, a fellow UST alumni, about the possibility of holding a conference on animation in the Philippines. ?They are so creative over there,? she enthused. She?s thinking of perhaps a contingent of Pixar artists coming over to talk and share their process. Gini revealed that when she was in Manila last month (she comes home regularly), she toyed with the idea of ?working and collaborating with the artists there for one year.? When she?s in the Philippines, she makes it a point to go to Boracay, ?the best beach.?

What Gini is almost certain of is that she will attend UST?s 400th anniversary celebration in January next year. ?I feel like I should,? she excitedly told us.

Asked what advice she can give to aspiring animators, Gini said, ?If you feel strongly about working in animation, go for it! You must really love to draw. Do a lot of illustrations and drawings.? She revealed that her portfolio of sketches from her UST classes came in handy when she had to submit samples of her work to Pixar.

?Experiment?do something different,? she exhorted would-be animators. ?That?s how you get noticed. Watch a lot of movies. Consider sending your reels to animated film festivals. People get discovered in those events, too.?

Looking forward, Gini said she enjoys working on character animation so she plans to stay focused on it. ?I love to work more on character development, especially in a film that has parts like Dory. Before we start a film, there?s that opportunity to develop this character?who is she, why does she have certain ticks, and so on.?

?I see myself coming out with a short film,? she predicted. ?If you have your own story to tell, that would be amazing. But I am so involved right now with putting someone?s ideas to life.?

Gini will work next on ?Cars 2.? ?I?m looking forward to working with John Lasseter again,? she said.

What happened to the woman who did not like to live in the West Coast? Gini recalled that, two years after she moved to San Francisco, she flew back East in the middle of winter. Walking through the piles of snow, Gini thought, ?No, I don?t miss this at all.?

Email the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com