Jay Shuster grew up in Birmingham, Michigan. He started working at Pixar in 2002 as a character and environments designer for Cars and Wall-E. He won an Academy Award in 2009 for 'Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture' for Wall-E. He recently worked on Cars 2 as the character art designer. He also worked as a sketch artist in Toy Story Toons: Small Fry (short film), Toy Story Toons: Partysaurus Rex (short film) and Toy Story 3 (2010), as a concept artist in Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace (1999) and in Star Wars: Episode II-The Attack of the Clones (2002) and as a production designer in The Blue Umbrella (short film).

So Jay, did you always think you would be in the Art Department for Pixar?
Jay: Well I am the son of a car designer, so no. But I guess as a child I grew up around a nest of blue prints, drawings, posters, machines and models of all things connected to mechanised transportation. Seeing lots of drawings kind of inspired me to draw, especially vehicles.

What was your first designing job and what did it involve?
Jay: My first job was for Lucasfilm (Star Wars), it was an opportunity to work in a creative environment.
I designed a variety of vehicles and environments for the Star Wars prequel film trilogy.

How did you gain your skills and have they always been helpful in your jobs?
Jay: I went to school and studied industrial design that gave me the greatest skills for the work I do. My personal skill set didn't really find traction until I got the Pixar gig.

You're now working in the art department at Pixar, is it individual or team work?
Jay: Each person works on their own, but people get hired if they can work well with others and obviously for their talents. Nothing comes easy, every environment and character requires your full attention. You need to be very committed and there is no