In June 2002, much to my awed amazement, Pres Romanillos surfed onto this site and actually emailed me to thank me!! I kid you not. And it gets better. In April 2006, he once more emailed me to catch me up on what he was doing, actually going to all the trouble of finding me in Google, since I hadn't updated my email address here. *blush*

Just for the record, Mr. Romanillos is a really nice guy, courteous, and astoundingly modest. He said, "I hadn't realized there was such a fansite for Shan-yu... It's wonderful to see that Shan has touched so many. I loved animating him. I am flattered and honored...how can I contribute to the fan art gallery? Let me know....all the best."

Once I was able to breathe again, which took some time, and once I peeled myself down from the clouds, I actually got up the nerve to ask for a drawing. And he sent me one!! It is now framed and hanging on my bedroom wall, and is simply beautiful. I scanned it for The Fan Art Gallery, although even the large version is only about a quarter the size of the original.

At the time we emailed each other, the movie "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" had recently been released. Mr. Romanillos is justifiably proud of his work with the character Little Creek. If you aren't familiar with Little Creek, check out his page at my Animated Lust site.

I asked Mr. Romanillos to tell me a little about himself. He is originally from New York, where he studied Fine Arts and Illustration from the School of Visual Arts, which he calls "a really great school for the arts". He was recruited by Disney in 1989 and flown to LA to work on "The Little Mermaid". He was mentored for almost six years by the great Glen Keane, from "Aladdin" through "Pocahontas". He later left Disney to work for Dreamworks. He has now left the major studios and struck out on his own, "busy developing my own characters and animated projects".

In the '06 email, he said something that delighted me, and I hope will inspire any artists among you: "As a kid I did nothing but daydream...I guess that daydreaming paid off...I became an artist because of it. "

Mr. Romanillos and his wife Jeannine lived in central Florida at the time he first emailed me, but he now lives in LA.

As I said, Mr. Romanillos is a modest man. At my gushing, he said, "I am really flattered... Animating takes so much work... at times we as animators don't realize that our work can inspire so many others... hearing responses like yours make all those long hours at the drawing table worth more while." I know a lot of us, both artists and simple animation lovers, know Mr. Romanillos' name and might find their way here. If you'd like to leave a message of appreciation for animators in general, go to the Animator Hall of Fame ~ there's a form there you can use, and I'll post your message for Mr. Romanillos and all other animators to read.

Home	Facts about Shan Yu | The "True History" of Shan Yu | Links | The Pen Behind the Man ~ Pres Romanillos Galleries ~ The Imperial Scouts scene | The "doll scene" | The Tung Shao Pass scene | A pen sequence | A different look | Fan Art | Screen caps #1 | Screen caps #2 | Scans & screen caps

Shan Yu is the property of Walt Disney Pictures - we only wish we owned him!