From 'Corpse Bride' to 'Kun-Fu Panda', 40 years of the Grangel brothers' magic.

"Hollywood doesn't call you, you have to go looking for it." These are the words of the Grangel brothers, Carlos and Jordi, some of the icons of international animation of the last 25 years. They created the characters in films such as "Corpse Bride," "Hotel Transylvania," "How to Train Your Dragon," and "Madagascar," most of which were created in their native Barcelona. On the 40th anniversary of their Grangel Studio , they wanted to celebrate with the largest exhibition to date of their work, spanning 32 feature films and 450 pieces, some of which have already been seen at MoMA in New York and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul.

It all began in the mid-1980s when Carlos, the eldest brother, an ambitious 22-year-old cartoonist, left home and went to London in search of a career in animation. There, he went to Amblin, the newly launched production company owned by a certain Steven Spielberg , and wasted no time applying for a job. They told him the only open position was that of lead character designer, and he accepted. Suddenly, he was working at a Hollywood studio, designing characters for various films in production. Until one day, a scruffy guy with a beard and a cap came over to see what he was doing. "He saw my drawings and said, 'We already have a designer for years.' And so it was. I joined my brother, and together we've been collaborating with him for 30 years through DreamWorks Studios," confesses Carlos Grangel. So much so, that they had to say no to films like 'Ratatouille' and Pixar's 'Monsters, Inc.' because of their loyalty to DreamWorks.

With a small creative team of three people and a team that can grow to twelve, 80 percent of them Catalan, they have become one of the most creative forces in animation. Their work helped Guillermo del Toro win an Oscar for his adaptation of 'Pinocchio' . "When you work with these great directors, you know you have to capture what they want quickly, because they only have five minutes to talk to you. That's the time in which you have to understand what they want and improve it," says Carlos Grangel.

A clear example of their approach is 'Corpse Bride,' the main focus of the exhibition. Burton gave them ideas and sketches of what he wanted to do and simply said, "Improve it!" And they did, creating up to 82 characters that populate this true marvel of stop motion and one of the clearest examples of these brothers' imagination and creative ambition.

The exhibition is divided into three floors. The first features early works such as 'Balto' , his first collaboration with Spielberg, and his work creating Barça's new mascot, Cat. " Dreamworks offered us the chance to direct 'El Dorado', but we had to decline because we know our strengths, and that's creating characters, environments, and sets. Our rule is clear: creativity first. That's why we never accept sequels, and the first priority is the script and the director we'll have to work with," they state.

The ground floor includes the original sketches for their greatest hits. These include "How to Train Your Dragon," "Madagascar ," "The Prince of Egypt," "Spirit," and "Bee Movie ." "We work from sketches. We can present up to 20 different ones per character in a film. In total, we hold a pitch meeting with the producers, during which we can show up to 500 sketches. And many are on display," they acknowledge.

They also do editing and adaptation work with the actors who will voice the characters so that their image better fits the actor's voice and characteristics. They have worked, for example, with Will Smith and Robert de Niro for 'Shark's Tale' or Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in 'Corpse Bride'. "We don't have the luxury of being mythomaniacs. It's not a blessing to get to know them; it's a job, and we have to do it well. We've been doing this for 40 years, and we have no intention of stopping," they confess.

The secret to their success? Just one: hard work, letting your talent speak for you and represent you. "In Los Angeles, you have a 40-hour-a-week contract, but everyone works 65. We've adapted to that system after five years living there and soaking up that environment. You have to work harder than anyone else. As if you were Michael Phelps and got up at 4:30 in the morning to train and be better than everyone else. You have to be willing to put in a 14-hour workday and accept the sacrifices that come with it . I don't have children, so I don't have time," says Carlos Grangel, the oldest brother and the one who started the adventure.

The top floor of the exhibition houses a Corpse Bride display with giant images of the characters displayed almost like large mirrors where the public can get lost. You can also encounter the mummy from "Hotel Transylvania" wandering through its halls . And the best part is that it's a free exhibition that will run all summer. "There are pieces here that you had to pay a €90 entrance fee to see at MoMA. That was one of our conditions when we started the exhibition: that everyone could see it," says Jordi Grangel.