The Official Adventures in Odyssey Podcast

Jesse: Hi, Odyssey world. I'm Jesse.

Bob: And I'm Bob. Welcome to the official Adventures in Odyssey podcast.

Jesse: Bob, I don't know if you've been made aware, but we have an animated film in the works.

Bob: Yeah, I think I heard a few things about that. Something about the biggest thing Adventures in Odyssey has ever done?

Jesse: Well, one of the biggest names in that biggest thing is joining us today on the podcast. That's John Pomeroy.

Bob: John has been part of some of the most beloved animated films of the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. He first worked at Disney, learning directly from members of the legendary Nine Old Men.

Jesse: His list of credits includes Disney and non-Disney alike. He worked on The Rescuers, Pete's Dragon, The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, The Land Before Time, Pocahontas, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Treasure Planet, and many more.

Bob: And now he's bringing that experience to Odyssey with the animated feature Journey into the Impossible, coming to theaters this fall. John has been heavily involved in shaping the visual style of this movie, and he's guided the latest tweaks to the look of our audio characters as well. So, let's get to it. Time for our conversation with John.

John, welcome to the podcast today.

John Pomeroy: Oh, great to be here.

Bob: We actually spoke once before 25 years ago. You were in Denver to promote Atlantis: The Lost Empire at a press event that I attended during my days with Plugged In. Do you remember that event?

John Pomeroy: I do. I mean, we were on the publicity junket for about a month and a half there. I remember Denver was one of the cities.

Bob: You demonstrated how to draw Milo Thatch, and I remember that. It was a lot of fun. A lot of our young listeners to the podcast love to draw too. What types of things did you like to draw as a kid, and how did those early interests influence your animation style later in life?

John Pomeroy: My dad was an amateur artist and cartoonist, so that was making a very early impression on me. But my first art form, believe it or not, was sculpting. I loved to play with clay. When I was about three years old, I started modeling with clay.

I would recreate movies that I would watch out of clay. I remember seeing an old Disney movie called Babes in Toyland and I was recreating the March of the Tin Soldiers, these little wooden soldiers I made out of clay. I would actually recreate football games that my brother was playing in in high school, and I would recreate the whole gridiron and all the players playing football.

One of the movies that I fell in love with when I was turning about nine years old was John Wayne in The Alamo. I literally created the entire Alamo fortress, Mexican army, Tennessee and Texan defenders inside. That became the very beginnings of what I would regard as the storytelling medium for animation. After that, I got into cartooning, actually trying to copy my dad, doing his cartoons and painting, and then eventually getting interested in animation.

Jesse: All along, you were headed in the direction career-wise, it sounds like. So, you were drawing, painting, and you were doing animation.

John Pomeroy: I earned my tuition going through art school by actually drawing and painting portraits. I loved painting portraits, and still lifes, and landscapes, and all of the above. I loved doing character design. I was all over the map. I didn't hinder myself by saying I will only just do this. I was into comics, I was into portraits, I was into fine art, comic art, pop art, you name it.

Bob: You said your dad was an artist, so obviously you grew up realizing that this is something that could be a vocation more than just a hobby. At what point did you realize it was the right career for you?

John Pomeroy: I think it was around 12, 13 years old. I was making a puppet that one summer. I think this was 1965, 66, and I wanted to make a perfect replica of the Pinocchio puppet from Disney's Pinocchio. There was no internet, obviously, and no research available to me, so my brother took me to the LA Public Library research department.

I found a book on Pinocchio, and then I found another larger book called The Art of Walt Disney that was written and published around 1942, the golden era of Disney animated features. I started reading that book. I read it once, twice, thrice, and I got hooked. I got bit by the bug. I forgot about the Pinocchio puppet and just started devouring anything I could find out about any of the great animated films.

I started writing Disney Studio letters then. I got their address, and I was writing to them every—I was an animation nerd. I was just a pest. I can understand fans of animation that come up to our convention table with tons of buttons on their shirts and whatever and they're kind of geeky, and I understand that because I'm one of them.

But it bit me hard and I wanted to become, in the worst way, a background artist in animation. I wanted to paint backgrounds like in Bambi, and Snow White, and Pinocchio, and all the classic films. So, that's what I was working towards. I was fine-honing, I was learning how to ink cells, I was learning how to paint backgrounds, I was learning how to draw the characters. I was doing everything to amp up my discipline and my ability to get hired by Disney Studios.

Jesse: And you did. I mean, nothing like starting your animation career at the top with Disney. You mentioned backgrounds. Of course, those early backgrounds are just gorgeous. But why was that your goal, to do backgrounds rather than maybe some of the characters and character development?

John Pomeroy: I think it's because it was an extension of what I was already involved in with painting. I liked painting. I liked watercolor painting. I loved painting in oils, and it just seemed like a natural segue. There was something about the environments that really spoke to me. This book showed a lot of pictures of beautiful pencil layouts from the movie Pinocchio—Geppetto's workshop and all of the details—and that just spoke to me. Everything I could do was pointed in that direction in order to get hired.

I actually took my first portfolio to Disney when I was around 15 years old. Walt was still alive. This was in September 1966. We went up to the guard at the gate and I said, "I've got my portfolio. I would love to submit for employment." They said, "Well, we're not hiring right now. We're fully staffed." But I showed them my work and they said, "This looks great, but we're just not hiring right now." I wasn't dissuaded one bit. I was there at the animation mecca in the world, and it was real to me. That one moment really kicked me up several decimals in my excitement to get involved in this industry.

Bob: John, I had the opportunity to be on the Burbank lot where they do the animation and the building with the Seven Dwarfs carved into it like gargoyles in the building. What an amazing—you know, there are certain places when you go and you're there, you just feel an awe of the history that must have taken place in those buildings and the different types of art. So, when you shifted from backgrounds to painting characters, was there one that was perhaps more challenging than others or more dear to you?

John Pomeroy: I've got to say Milo Thatch because Milo Thatch represents all of the great elements that can come together: the vocal performance of Michael J. Fox, the design of the character, and then my own existence and how I contribute to that personality. All three of these elements came together and married themselves and created this entity, this persona named Milo Thatch.

It's probably—I've told everybody that I've interviewed—this is probably the one instance where the animated subject that I created and animated is probably the closest thing to a self-portrait, a biography of myself, than anything else.

Bob: In addition to Walt Disney, you've collaborated with other Hollywood legends. I think Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. How has their approach to storytelling shaped a scene that you've animated?

John Pomeroy: In order to explain how that went, let me back up just a few years and tell you about my collaboration with my two other partners. Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, and myself formed this troika back in the early 70s actually.

In 1979, we decided to leave Disney Studio to start our own brand, our own independent studio. We left there, and one of our first feature films that we created was The Secret of NIMH. It was interesting because Secret of NIMH didn't do all that well for a couple of reasons. We had not the greatest distribution at that time. We were also up that year—it was in 82 or 83—we were up against E.T. And in that year, nobody else saw any other movie except E.T.

The ironic part was we got a phone call from a fan of our movie, and it turned out to be Steven Spielberg. He raved about it. He thought, "This is like old classic Disney, like Pinocchio and Bambi. I thought this art form was just washed out, but you guys have revived it. Let's get together. I want to do something with you guys."

That happened in early 1984. He came to us and said, "I've got it. It's about a little immigrant mouse and his family that come to the United States just as they're completing the Statue of Liberty." And so it had a great story to it. It was family-oriented and it centered on this one little mouse, a six-year-old, Fievel Mousekewitz. We began work on An American Tail.

It was a great experience. Working with Steven inspired him to want to do another collaborative project, and this time inviting his partner, George Lucas, into the mix, and it turned out to be The Land Before Time.

Bob: And, of course, you've worked with some great voice talent too, including a couple of the movies that you've mentioned already today that have included Adventures in Odyssey voices. You just mentioned Land Before Time, which included Will Ryan, and Atlantis, where Phil Morris was Dr. Sweet. So, it's a small world.

John Pomeroy: Small world. Will Ryan passed away a few years ago. I miss him dearly. He was wonderful to work with. He would come up to my desk and watch me draw his character, and we would just soundboard ideas off of each other. He did Digit in An American Tail and then he did Petrie in Land Before Time. Great character voices. He was so multi-talented. And then Phil Morris, he did such an amazing job on Dr. Sweet.

Bob: You've probably been offered a lot of projects. How do you know which ones to accept, and what was unique about the Adventures in Odyssey project that inspired you to work with us?

John Pomeroy: I think my son. He's in the Army right now. He's coming to the end of his training as a special ops medic. I told him, "Hey, I've just been approached by Focus on the Family. They want me to advise them on some project concerning Adventures in Odyssey." And his reaction was, "Wow, Dad, don't you remember I used to listen to their radio shows and I saw their animated shows? Don't you remember that I used to watch that?" And so he was a real cheerleader at the beginning of the process.

Bob: A lot of our young listeners may not realize this, but there was a time when animation almost inherently meant that it was something for families. In the last few decades, that's really changed.

John Pomeroy: Unfortunately, it has. But I think the pendulum swings both ways. I think the direction the pendulum is swinging right now, I believe it's heading in the direction of being family-friendly, in lifting up the Lord to an unsaved world and into advancing the kingdom. I believe that.

I think Adventures in Odyssey plays a very important part of that. I think what it's doing is showcasing principles that are endearing to the family unit, to the fathers and mothers, and it's a teaching aid and it also lifts up the Lord in an entertaining way to the unsaved of the world.

There's a huge fan base for Adventures in Odyssey. I got a good taste of that at your 1000th episode. Now, I've lectured at a couple of the D23 conventions—those are the big conventions that Disney puts on—and your Adventures in Odyssey convention far surpassed that. I couldn't believe how many people were there. It was outstanding. So there's an enormous fan base worldwide and an appetite for this project. I'm hoping that once it gets kicked off, it will breed more and it will continue to replicate itself over and over and over again for families.

Jesse: Those are our prayers, too. So, how will the upcoming Odyssey movie, Journey into the Impossible, be different than any other animated film that audiences might see in the theaters in 2026?

John Pomeroy: Well, God's hand is involved in this, guys. So you can never guess what he's going to do to advance the kingdom through this vessel. It is ordained. It is godly-produced. So it will go its way the way he wants to do it.

He will order the steps on the marketing, the promotions, the merchandising, and the reception and critical acclaim, whether it be good or bad, to the world. This story lifts him up to a point where it may produce some resentment, and that's what the Lord's gospel does at first.

You lift up the Lord to an unsaved person, and you know it's getting through when they become angry or frustrated about it. The Hound of Heaven is implanted in this feature film and it will do its just work. How it's received, we'll see what happens. Let's just hold on to our seats and be surprised.

Bob: We can't wait. Well, we're getting close to the end of our conversation, John, and I think it would be wrong of me to not make sure we get a TRQ. That is a Totally Random Question that has been sent to us by a fan. This one is from Nora Rose and she wants to know: Do you have a favorite Disney villain?

John Pomeroy: Yes. Captain Hook. That particular character was done by one of my mentors, Nine Old Men Frank Thomas. It represents everything about a character coming to life and stepping off the screen.

The caliber of drawing was great. Hans Conried was the voice of Captain Hook; he did a great job. He's a combination of different elements. He's villainous, he's malicious and dangerous, and yet he's comedic. All of these come together and they were a real persona to me when I first saw Peter Pan. So, to me, that's one of my most memorable villains in animation.

Jesse: Nora Rose, thank you for sharing your question. Well, John, we so appreciate your time and your insights. Before we end this conversation, I just want to ask: What advice do you wish you'd received at the start of your career, and maybe some that would be especially helpful for listeners as they're considering a job in the world of art?

John Pomeroy: I received unfortunately some opposition about getting involved in animation. I remember that my art center teacher, the one who was my perspective teacher who kept some of my pieces of artwork, he was sipping coffee in the commissary at Art Center and I wandered in there. I saw him and I wanted to tell him I just got accepted into the animation trainee program at Disney.

He looked at me and paused and he said, "Why would you want to give up an illustrious career as an American illustrator to draw Donald Ducks? Why would you do that?" He basically held up his hand and he just said, "Go away." He was convinced I was just selling myself short.

Animation at that time was not figured as an elevated art form. For someone to give up a career in illustration to go be an animator was beneath him. But that didn't distract me at all because I was so filled with excitement about being accepted into the animation program.

So, every once in a while, you're going to encounter naysayers that are going to kind of try to talk you out of something that is brewing inside of you that wants to move you forward to your goal. So, I guess my advice to any young artist who wants to get into the animation industry, or any young artist who wants to proceed into a particular endeavor: Don't give up.

Continue your work. Include God in your decision-making because that was a big thing in my decision later on in my career on what projects I would follow through on. But don't give up. That combined with discipline, vision, and kind of a mission statement for all artists: How do I use my work to best better society? What can I do with this? Once you've answered that question, proceed ahead and don't be distracted by naysayers, but continue on and just keep your hope alive.

Jesse: Love that advice. And we're so glad that you followed that dream on your heart. We're so honored to have you working on the Odyssey movie, and it's just been great talking to you today on the podcast.

John Pomeroy: Oh, thank you, guys, for having me.

Bob: John has an amazing ability to talk about animation in a way that goes beyond the technical and into the story and heart.

Jesse: You're so right, Bob. Hearing how much thought and care is going into Journey into the Impossible makes me more excited for what's coming. Our fans can check out odysseystudioinsiders.com for more about the movie. But while we're waiting for that, what's new in the club, Bob?

Bob: A brand new episode releases June 18th, just in time for family road trips. Give us a preview, Chris.

Chris: Take a summer vacation with the Calhoun family, now on the Adventures in Odyssey Club.

Guest (Male): Dad, are we almost there? I can't be in this car another minute.

Guest (Male): Did you guys know that Yellowstone is over 2.2 million acres?

Chris: Between meeting new neighbors, cooking over the fire, and making plans for sightseeing, it's a classic family camping trip until things take a dangerous turn.

Guest (Male): They're stealing the camper! They're stealing us!

Chris: Don't miss "The Great Yellowstone Heist," now on the Adventures in Odyssey Club.

Bob: Again, you can hear that episode in the club on June 18th. Join at adventuresinodyssey.com.

Jesse: And check out odysseystudioinsiders.com for more about the film. If you'd like to talk to someone in person, the number is 1-800-A-FAMILY. That's all for this edition of the official Adventures in Odyssey podcast, a presentation of Focus on the Family.

Bob: I'm Bob.

Jesse: And I'm Jesse, reminding you that with God in your life, every day's an adventure.