Dagan Moriarty
Growing up everybody watches cartoons, but very few of us have the passion or ability to create them. Dagan Moriarty though is one man who had both the artistic ability & unwavering passion to see his artwork come to life through the medium of animation.
Over the course of an almost 2-decade long career, Dagan has worked for the iconic Sesame Workshop, Disney & Cartoon Network on many beloved properties. During that entire time, Dagan's passion for the medium has never faltered. In fact, whilst speaking with Pario it is clear that Dagan's passion is stronger than ever.
According to Dagan his passion for art & animation stems back to his Grandfather, who Dagan says "was a brilliant artist himself." As a child, Dagan would often observe his Grandfather as he watched Bob Ross painting on television. An activity that Dagan recalls his Grandfather treating "almost like a sport as he [Dagan's Grandfather] yelled at the TV passionately." This passion would then be passed down to Dagan when he & his Grandfather would spend time drawing together.
Sadly though Dagan's Grandfather would pass before getting to see him become a professional animator.
"One of my greatest laments is that he didn't get to see me go from school into the job market," Dagan told Pario. "Grandpa was always the one person to ride me & be emphatic about not wasting my talent because I think he was sort of living vicariously through me. He passed when I was still in art school, so he knew I was on that path & I think he would be so proud now."
After discovering the passion for art & animation via his Grandfather Dagan's influences & inspirations continued to expand. During our conversation, Dagan named a number of properties as being pivotal to his development as an artist. As a young boy, his first inspirations were Looney Tunes & The Smurfs. As he grew Dagan would then discover anime properties such as Voltron & Robotech, which he says showed him that cartoons weren't just "kids stuff." Dagan wouldn't stop searching for inspiration there though, as video games & Akira Toriyama via Dragon Quest then became a big influence on his art.
"I'm always looking for new things to leverage & incorporate into my own work," explained Dagan. "I always say you shouldn't just look at comics or animation. You should seek inspiration from whatever moves you. Whether that is from live-action films, fine art, the people around you or even just a hike in nature."
Being able to draw from so many inspirations is perhaps more important now than ever before in the animation industry. Dagan has come to that conclusion as he has witnessed the animation industry enter into the midst of a "big up-swing" - thanks in large part to COVID.
"Live-action production is so hard to do right now, whereas animation lends itself to working remotely. We don't necessarily need to be in the same building collaborating - although that is a huge plus, it's not a necessity."
The success of animated properties such as Spider-Man Into The Spiderverse, Castlevania on Netflix & Invincible on Amazon Prime only strengthen Dagan's belief that the animation industry is in a very strong & exciting position.
"From kids stuff right through to the Castlevania's or Invincible's of the world there is a lot more exploration of genre now," said Dagan. "Due to that, I see animation studios always scrambling for established talent & pushing for young talent straight out of art school now, which wasn't the case when I graduated."
When contemplating his career Dagan explained that he has been "obsessed with animation" ever since he was 4-5 years old. An obsession that surprisingly hasn't been diminished by working in the field.
"Believe it or not working in animation doesn't take that edge off the passion, the enjoyment or the love for it. I think animation is just a part of the fabric of who I am. I am very lucky in that way."
Whilst Dagan is as passionate as ever about animation, the way in which he expresses that passion may be changing in the near future. During our conversation, Dagan elaborated on his desire to explore animation more via podcasting & Twitch streaming. A project which Dagan has previously spoken about briefly during his podcasting appearances on Knockback, a retro & nostalgia podcast he co-chairs with his brother Colin Moriarty.
"I always envisioned that if I was going to do podcasting on my own consistently it would be through a weekly podcast show in conjunction with a weekly Twitch stream... And I might be very close to doing that!"
Obviously in order to do this there would be financial considerations to make. For Dagan though the biggest question is "Can I be content doing just podcasting & Twitch with some animation commissions on the side? Because I'm not ready to step away from the animation world totally."
Although Dagan has been a longtime podcast & Youtube consumer his desire to venture more deeply into podcasting was spurred on by his experiences with Colin on Knockback.
"I never thought I would have another passion as strongly as the one I have for animation or drawing. But now I do & Colin is really the one responsible for pushing that boulder down the hill & watching it snowball. I've learned so much from him just by co-chairing a podcast with him."
Keep up with Dagan on social media:
Instagram: @DaganLikesToDraw
Twitter: @dagan1973
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