Toniko Pantoja
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Days of the Old Road (2015) New Territories (2016)
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HomeAbout Me Story Storyboard Portfolio Animatics Professional Work Animation Work Demo Reels Student Films Casual Shorts Art Days of the Old Road (2015) New Territories (2016) TipsFrequently Asked QuestionsContact Me
Toniko Pantoja
Director + Story Artist + 2D Animator + Character Designer
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Sep 14, 2018
Big Wolf (Early Wolfsong 2012 Storyboards with DIALOGUE)
Sep 14, 2018

Wow, I finally found this.

Here are the original storyboards for Wolf song I did in 2012, back when it was titled BIG WOLF, and back when our two characters actually spoke to each other. I used a bit of Black Swan music, and some of Denny's early exploration

The working title for Wolfsong back in 2012 was "Big Wolf" referencing the gigantic size of the wolves, and how our young hunter mistook an over sized wolf pup for an adult.

When I pitched the film to my friend and composer Denny Schneidemesser, we immediately agreed to having a haunting tune for the lullaby, and the overall film to feel full of despair. I wanted to reintroduce the lullaby again near the end, and Denny was figuring out the problem on how to make the theme sound melancholic towards the end.

After Crayon Dragon, I wanted to do a film with dialogue because a lot of studios were looking for animators who could handle acting with dialogue. Wolfsong (titled Big Wolf back then) had our two main characters speak to each other. The whole thing was supposed to feel like a folk tale, but in reality I thought the idea of these two characters seemed really cool. I also had ambitious plans to have Karen Kahler sing actually lyrics that I was writing at the time, in which the lyrics spoke about how the wolves saw stars as distant ancestors dancing. Lucien Dodge provided the voice for Sam the Hunter. In this animatic, I provide some of the original exploration for the dialogue.

Nearing the films actual completion, Karen asked me the second time if there was a chance the film would have no dialogue (I rejected this idea before). If she still had doubts about the dialogue, I knew we had to halt the production and talk it out. I called Lucien and Karen to a group chat and the two expressed how the dialogue didn't add to the overall tone and story of the movie. At the end, we decided to not put dialogue - but I loved the two's performance so much that I wanted to have them around since the characters still sang and grunted.

The reason why Wolfsong became the way it is now is because of those two, and I am forever thankful.

As usual, Glenn Hafagre does an amazing job for the film's final sound design.

Sep 14, 2018
Sep 14, 2018
Crayon Dragon Original Storyboards (dec 2011)
Sep 14, 2018

The original storyboards for Crayon Dragon - the boards I used for final production. After 8 passes of the short, this animatic was completed December 2011. This was before Denny Schneidemesser's involvement for the music, and I use a track from Boondock Saints.

A lot of shots were either changed, or removed. The dragon used to make dolphin sounds...

Sep 14, 2018

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