Matt Braly
Matthew Benjakarn "Matt" Braly (born November 8, 1988) is a Thai-American animator, writer, director, producer, storyboard artist, and voice actor. He is best known for creating and executive-producing the Disney Channel animated series Amphibia,[1] as well as directing on Gravity Falls and Big City Greens.
Matt Braly | |
|---|---|
| Born | Matthew Benjakarn Braly November 8, 1988 Sacramento, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | California Institute of the Arts |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 2012–present |
| Known for | |
Career
Braly started his career in animation studying at the CalArts institute. After graduating, he joined DreamWorks Animation, where he worked as an story artist in the computer-animated film Turbo (2013).[2]
While working on Turbo, Braly and several other DreamWorks Animation storyboard artists went to visit Alex Hirsch, who was working on a show titled Gravity Falls (2012–16) for Disney Television Animation.[2] Hirsch also went to CalArts and, while they never studied together, Braly liked his student films.[2] During the visit, Hirsch pitched Gravity Falls to Braly.[2]
Fascinated by the concept and how Hirsch wanted it to be serialized program, Braly did a test to work on the show, after which he was hired, serving as a storyboard artist and director for the series.[2] Braly credited Hirsch as the one who "taught [him] so much about storytelling, about developing characters and developing a world", as well as the one who inspired him to create his own show.[2] The series premiered on June 15, 2012, and ended on February 15, 2016.[3] In 2016, Braly won an Annie Award for directing the Gravity Falls episode "Northwest Mansion Mystery".[4]
After directing on Big City Greens,[2][5] Braly developed a show titled Amphibia, for Disney.[6] The show centers on the adventures of a Thai-American girl named Anne Boonchuy in the titular frog-populated world.[6] The show is based on Braly's childhood trips to Bangkok, Thailand, where he felt like an outsider but ultimately ended up not wanting to leave.[7] He also drew inspiration from video games such as The Legend of Zelda and Chrono Trigger.[8] Braly, who is Thai-American himself, made the choice of making the lead character Thai-American due to a wish to creating a Thai character, as there were few Thai lead characters in television series when he was a kid.[9] The series premiered on July 11, 2019, and is currently airing its second season, with a third season in development.[10]
Personal life
As a kid, Braly used to watch films such as Mortal Kombat (1995) due to them being filmed in Thailand, as there was no Thai representation on TV.[9] Braly's mother, On Braly, made vocal cameos in the Amphibia episodes "Family Fishing Trip"[11] and "Lost in Newtopia".
Filmography
| Year | Title | Producer | Screenwriter | Storyboard artist | Director | Actor | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-16 | Gravity Falls | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | 8 episodes | |
| 2013 | Turbo | No | No | Yes | No | No | ||
| 2014 | Steven Universe | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Episode: "Lars and the Cool Kids" | |
| 2017 | Billy Dilley's Super-Duper Subterranean Summer | No | No | Yes | No | No | Storyboard revisionist Episodes: "Lab Friends... Forever?" and "Surviving Billy" | |
| DuckTales | No | No | No | No | No | Additional character designer Episode: "Woo-oo!" | ||
| 2018 | Big City Greens | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| 2019–present | Amphibia | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Chuck Newtopian gatekeeper[12] The Seamstress[12] Additional voices | Creator and executive producer |
Nominations and awards
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 43rd Annie Awards | Outstanding Achievement, Directing in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production | Gravity Falls | Won | [4] |
References
- Radulovic, Petrana (August 14, 2020). "The Disney channel series inspired by Zelda finally gets a retro-game reimagining". Polygon. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
- WONDERS OF ANIMATION: TALKING TO MATT BRALY OF AMPHIBIA
- Hughes, William (November 20, 2015). "Gravity Falls is ending". The A.V. Club. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
- "43RD ANNUAL ANNIE AWARDS". AnnieAwards.org. Archived from the original on April 22, 2019. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
- AMPHIBIA Q&A with Matt Braly
- Petski, Denise. "Disney Channel Launching Toon Series Amphibia and The Owl House, Renews Star vs. the Forces of Evil for Season 4". Deadline.com. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
- Matt Braly, creador de Amphibia y Gravity Falls: “Siempre quise crear mi propia fantasía” (In Spanish)
- Disney's Amphibia, inspired by Zelda, gets a retro 8-bit theme song opening
- ‘Amphibia’ creator wants kids to feel seen with his Thai American heroine
- Ramos, Dino-Ray (June 23, 2020). "Disney Channel Renews 'Amphibia' For Season 3; Kermit The Frog, Jenifer Lewis, George Takei And More To Guest Star On Season 2". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
- My mother, On Braly, voiced Anne's mother in a flashback during today's episode - Family Fishing Trip. You can hear her yelling in Thai off screen, which if you come from a bilingual household should sound pretty familiar. She's never voice acted before but was a TOTAL PRO.
- characters I have voiced on #amphibia thus far
External links
- Matt Braly at IMDb