These are the Catalan brothers who have drawn the great characters of world animation cinema.
Brothers Carles and Jordi Grangel have a gift. They've been drawing since they were children. They've always taken advantage of that talent. At a very young age, they dedicated themselves to comics and illustration in their native Barcelona. Until Carles decided to open up new horizons.
“I went to London at 23 to look for work. I contacted a production company that only had one opening, a character creator. They offered me the job, and I accepted. Two weeks after I started the job, Steven Spielberg stopped by the studio, saw my drawing, and approved it. That's been almost 40 years, and I haven't stopped working for him,” explains Carles Grangel.
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From working with Spielberg and all the greats of world animation, Carles and Jordi founded Grangel Studio, which soon became an international benchmark for character creation: Corpse Bride, Kung-Fu Panda, Bee, Pinocchio, the animals of Madagascar, the Prince of Egypt, Spirit, and the gang of monsters from Hotel Transylvania have all sprung from the Grangels' imagination and brushes.
Featured worksThe Prince of Egypt ( Simon Wells, Steve Hickner, Brenda Chapman, 1998) Spirit the Horse ( Kelly Asbury, Lorna Cook, 2002) Madagascar ( Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, 2005) Corpse Bride ( Tim Burton, Mike Johnson, 2005) Hotel Transylvania ( Genndy Tartakovsky, 2012) Pinocchio ( Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, 2022) CAT, the Barça mascot. The Grangel brothers also designed the Barça mascot to celebrate the club's 125th anniversary. Cat has become a mass phenomenon.
Now, Casa Seat brings together the work of these artists in an exhibition, Creating Film Characters, which includes more than 300 original works, some of which have been exhibited at the MoMA in New York, such as the Corpse Bride drawings. The Grangel brothers want to celebrate their studio's 40th anniversary with this exhibition, which will remain open to the public until September 4th, and admission is free. Casa Seat will also offer guided tours on Fridays and screenings of unforgettable films such as Madagascar (Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, 2005), Corpse Bride (Tim Burton, Mike Johnson, 2005), and Hotel Transylvania (Genndy Tartakovsky, 2012).
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Running into Spielberg at 23 was undoubtedly a stroke of luck, but Carles wants to make it clear that if his studio has reached the top, it's "thanks to talent and a lot of hard work." "In this world, you have to compete with the best; you have to speak perfect English and be very quick, because directors only have five minutes to show them your project, get them interested, and want it. To be number one, you have to give it your all," he asserts.
“Two weeks after I started my job, Steven Spielberg came by the studio, saw my drawing, and approved it.”And he recalls that, after his time in London, he moved to Los Angeles to work with the big names like Warner Bros., Sony, DreamWorks... “My contract was for 40 hours a week, but I worked 14 a day; there's no other way if you want to be the best. I got tired of seeing colleagues leave the company, fill their cardboard boxes with their utensils and family photos, and walk out the door like in the movies,” he adds.
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Thanks to that effort, he became the best and was able to return to Barcelona. “Before, it was unthinkable, but now we can work from here,” says Jordi, who also describes his creative process: “They give us the scripts, which are confidential, almost like a state secret, and we begin to draw the characters. In addition to Carles and me, there is another creative at Grangel Studio, but we can form a team of up to 12 people for some projects. Right now, we are the ones signing American talent.”
Cat, the Barça mascot
Llibert TeixidoThey then meet the actors who will voice their characters. The Grangels have worked with Kenneth Branagh, Angelina Jolie, Robert De Niro, Helena Bonham Carter, Will Smith, and Johnny Depp, among many other stars, because "seeing how they move is essential to drawing the characters they're going to play."
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And so a universe is created that aims, and almost always succeeds, in moving children around the world. A universe drawn like that of Hotel Transylvania , which the Grangels presented to the film's director and which can be seen in the exhibition at Casa Seat. An initial drawing presents all the protagonists to show the difference in height and build between them. Subsequent images develop each of the characters: Dracula, Frankenstein, Mavis, the Mummy...
Grangel Studio works on at most two projects at the same time, which is why the company has had to reject some well-known films such as Shrek (Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson, 2001), although the Grangels quietly say that they are not at all sorry, because they did not like the script.
Carles and Jordi Grangel, yesterday, at Casa Seat
Llibert TeixidoThey also have a rule they haven't broken, even though they've already made 32 feature films: "We never make sequels because our job is to be creative, and we've been given a blank check on occasion," Jordi recalls.
The Grangels fondly remember Tim Burton, for whom they drew 82 characters for Corpse Bride , because "he responded very well to our ideas." They also show their respect for Guillermo del Toro, with whom they worked on Pinocchio , the film that won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2022. Carles and Jordi, who have a special affection for The Road to El Dorado (Bibo Bergeron, 2000) and Hormigaz (Eric Darnell, Tim Johnson, 1998), are still going strong and are about to release two new titles.
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