Carmel Magazine

140 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 5 Rihanna. (Facebook photos show Reisig, his wife and their two children posing with Rihanna at the premiere party). Reisig grew up a curious child who lived in a quaint red farmhouse near Point Lobos before his family settled in Carmel Valley. He loved cowboys and horses, and putting together complicated puzzles (he assembled plastic models before he could even read the instruc- tions), and was fascinated by animation, espe- cially Looney Tunes' characters. "I was exposed to all types of art, was always drawing and painting with my mom," says Reisig, who drew his own 6th birthday party invitation (complete with detailed characters from the Peanuts comic strip) and the baby announce- ment for the birth of his half-brother Gianni Aliotti. While attending York School in Monterey, his art education took a giant leap under the tute- lage of his aunt, Susan Manchester, a well- respected artist on the Peninsula. Manchester encouraged Reisig and was instrumental in him putting together a portfolio impressive enough to earn entrance into the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, where he majored in illustration. While studying there in 1993, he earned an internship at Walt Disney Feature Animation in Florida. "They were looking for artists to teach them traditional hand animation," Reisig says. "I really loved the drawing part of it." That same year, "Jurassic Park" hit theaters as "Home" is based on "The True Meaning of Smekday," a teen book by Adam Rex. Captain Smek is voiced by Steve Martin. For the Oscar- winning "Shrek," Reisig really enjoyed trying to blend a traditional cartoon look with evolving computer animation.

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