March 27, 2011

THERE ARE PENGUINS IN SYDNEY!



It's amazing (and a little overwhelming) to think in less than 2 months my wife and I will be living in Sydney, Australia... and I'll be working on Happy Feet 2. That doesn't even make sense to me. How is that possible?

THIS is how.

I can't even write about what this feels like. If you knew how many times I've been rejected and how many times I've wanted to quit you might understand. But when things like this happen, I can't help but reflect on where I've been and how thankful I am for what I have and what I've been blessed to experience. I know it's cliche, but if you had told me 10 years ago when I graduated from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale about all the things I'd get to do, and the great friends I'd make, I wouldn't have believed any of it. Why? Because I was living back in Virginia with my Grandma and her cat, in her two bedroom apartment with no job and no leads. My dream since elementary school was to be a character animator and make movies. How was that going to happen?

My wife LOVES the Boston Celtics. In fact, tomorrow night we are driving down to Indianapolis to see them play the Pacers. In 2008 they won the NBA Finals. For most of the players on the team, it was their first NBA Championship. One of those players was Kevin Garnett. I shared these videos with my students a few weeks ago. Because his emotions are so raw, I explained to them this is what it felt like to get rejection letters and lose year after year, what it felt like when I won, and finally what it feels like once you've gone through all of that.







I don't know who, but this is for someone out there. No matter what it looks like, no matter what it feels like...don't ever, ever, quit! Trust me. Keep after it!

4 comments:

Alexandra Zedalis said...

Congrats Phil! Keep up the blog while you're there!!

Phillip Hall said...

Thanks!! I'll do my best! Hope you're doing well.

Ricardo Vicens said...

Great posting! I needed to see that and remind myself. Thanks for sharing and I hope all is going well for you Australia. Very happy for you! You deserve it.

-Rick

Phillip Hall said...

Rick! What's up man! Where you at? Whatcha been up to!?