Hey there DuckFans!

June is almost over and we HAVE to be closer to new episodes of DuckTales… We just don’t know how much closer we are. We recently had an opportunity to sit down and chat with Khion Yohann. Khion is well known around the DuckTales fan community both because she is a talented artist and a huge fan of DuckTales. She also works for the animation studio Snipple. Khion was excited to chat with us about working on the show and being involved in the fan community.

 

Mitch: Hello Khion. Thank you for joining us. I have Josh and Pirate Steven in the chat with us. How are you today?

Khion Yohann: Hello everyone! Thanks for inviting me. 😀 I am doing great, how about you?

Mitch: We’ve been surviving. It feels like it has been forever since we have had a new episode of DuckTales, but we’ve been able to enjoy a lot of great fan content lately.

Pirate Steven: Hey Khion!

Khion: Hello there Steven!

You’re right, I was hoping the hiatus wouldn’t be that long, again. 

Mitch: We know the crew is working hard to get new episodes out there. 

Khion: True, hehe.

Mitch: For those who haven’t discovered you online, can you tell the readers what you do on the show?

Khion: I am currently working as a character animator for the show.

Pirate Steven: Do you have a favorite character on the show?

Khion: Yes, the Evil Green Bean!!! hehe

Mitch: Ah, the evil triplet. Is there a reason you fav the character?

Khion: Yes! He is an interesting character, being smart and lazy at the same time. And I love how he always talks his way out of trouble!

Josh: Hey Khion! I’m here too. Just got put on baby duty so I haven’t been able to talk much.

Khion: Hi there Josh! It’s ok. I hope everything is going well with you there.

Mitch: Khion, can you tell us a little about how you got into animation.

Khion: Into the animation industry? Or just the love for animation?

Mitch: Both actually. What drove you into pursuing animation?

Khion: I liked cartoons and anime back when I was a kid and I like to draw, but when the time came to choose for a course in college I initially wanted to take a fine arts degree. Unfortunately, there weren’t any schools offering those courses near us. That’s why I decided to pursue what was available at the time which was animation.

I was first hired in the animation industry as a Video Editor at a studio here in Manila. One day while I was doodling on the computer, one of the animation supervisors saw me, and asked if I wanted to be an animator.

Pirate Steven: Which episode of DuckTales was the first one that you worked on? Do you have a favorite episode or animation from an episode?

Khion: The first one I worked on was the pilot. “Woo-oo!” was the title of the episode if I’m not mistaken. 

Khion: Yes! My favorite episode was the Cornelius Coot episode with he kids and all the SPIDERS!!

Pirate Steven: Did you have to do any character research with watching any of the classic DuckTales 1987 or read any of the comics?

Khion: Not exactly research, but out of curiosity I tried watching the 1987 version just to compare to the 2017 version.

Mitch: So as an animator do you get a section of the episode’s story boards and then work on each frame of the animation?

Khion: Yes We work per scene.

Pirate Steven: What is your favorite Glomgold moment?

Khion: The one where he attended Doofus’s birthday party along with is “son” Sharkbomb.

Mitch: That was a hysterical episode! Sharkbomb was a big surprise.  

Khion: It was! Can’t stop laughing on that one!

Josh: Do you work on every episode or do you get a specific amount per season to work on?

Khion: Just a specific episode per season. It depends on what were given to the studio.

Mitch: We’ve seen a lot of your fan art for the show online, and we love seeing it.

Khion: Thank you.

Mitch: When working on the animation do you work on the line work? Or do you also do color?

Khion: Actually, we’re just doing the rough drawings and the ink. The in-between and color were a job for another department. 

Mitch: So the story goes from boards, to rough animation, then ink, in-between, and finally color. What a process. LoL.

Khion: Yes and then compositing the characters with the backgrounds. hehe.

Pirate: The character intros that you worked on for the Quack Pack episode were fantastic!

Khion: Awww, thank you so much! I’m so glad you liked it.

Pirate: We love the fan art that you have been posting that depicts Donald, Della, Gladstone, and Fethry when they were kids. It makes us want an episode with them as kids or a comic. 

Khion: Same, same!!! I like the idea of the cousins as kids back in the day too. I’m still hoping for an episode about that too.

Pirate: Muppet Babies does really well. I am sure DuckTales Babies would be an instant hit.

Khion: Oooh! A series would be much better than just an episode!!!

Mitch: Khion, you said you grew up an animation fan. What are some of the shows or movies that influenced you?

Khion: Mulan and the Emperor’s New Groove were my top favorite and they greatly influenced me.

Mitch: We’ve mentioned your involvement with the community online. You recently started sharing fan art of your own character that you’ve created and even done some collaborations with other artists online. Can you tell us a little about what it is like being able to work on the show and do fan art online? What is it like being able to interact with the passionate fans of DuckTales?

Khion: It’s great and surreal. I didn’t expect the DuckTales fandom to be so massive.

Mitch: It’s been amazing, and we feel like there is a lot to look forward to.

Khion: Being part of the team, I’ve had the opportunity to watch some of the episodes ahead of them airing. But I also have to wait for the air date just like everyone else. It is so exciting!

It is amazing to be able to interact with my fellow fans, especially the artists. All the trades, collaborations, and art gifts are so much FUN!

This fandom has so much talent and I’m happy to be a part of it.

Mitch: You’ve worked on some stellar episodes. Are there any characters you haven’t worked on yet that you hope to get a chance to?

Khion: YES!!! I was hoping to animate Goldie and Bubba the cave duck. hehe.

Mitch: That image you did of Scrooge and Goldie is one of my favorites! I love what the show has done with her characters.

Khion: Thank you! I love the contrast between Scrooge and Goldie.

Mitch: I know it is late where you are. is there anything you would like to say to fans of the show who are interested in getting into animation?

Khion: I have to be honest, getting into the animation industry was hard, but nothing is impossible with prayer and hard work.

Remember this when animating; you are not just trying to make the character move, you are giving the character life. Make every drawing count. Put your heart into it and try to learn new things every day.

Don’t give up and keep on pushing forward. I believe in you and see you and believe I will see you in the industry one day!

Mitch: Thank you for your time. We look forward to seeing more of your fan art online, and also seeing your posts in the community once episodes have been released. We are thankful to have such passionate fans working on DuckTales.

Khion: Aww, no problem. It’s an honor to talk to you. Thank you for all the support! It is nice meeting you all, also please stay safe wherever you are!

 

Huge thank you to Khion for joining us! You should check out her artwork on Twitter and Instagram.