I love animated films. So when I got the chance to talk with Anna Femirez-Gonzalez, an artist at Pixar Animation, I had a million questions.

You've seen Anna's work on Coco, her incredible Google Doodles like Kati Horado, and her

illustrations in the new children's book, Kamala and Maya's Big Idea, which tells the real-life

story of Kamala Harris and her sister Maya's plan to build a neighborhood playground.

Today, Anna gives us a glimpse into the magic and teamwork that makes films like Coco so special

and tells us how weaving her culture into her work helped her land and then excel at her dream job.

Anna, if I opened up one of your notebooks from grade school and high school, how much doodling would I find in the margins? You know, not that much. I didn't used to draw growing up

because I was a figure ice skater. And I skated competitively

since I was six up until I was like 15 or something. Then my mom was like, hey, why don't you

take a drawing class? I'm so happy that she did and so glad that they would even suggest art

school for me. In high school,

actually, she kind of almost forced me to take this drawing class or against my will almost,

but she was like, just try it out. If you don't like it, you don't have to go back, you know,

but please give it a try. Like, I think you might like it. And so she drove me to, like, my first drawing class.

And I was like, but then I, like, loved it.

Like, after the first session, I was like, this rules.

This is the best.

Like, this is what I want to do forever.

I didn't actually start drawing until I was maybe 17 or six.

Yeah, 17 or something.

When did you first decide to move to the States?

So my mom has a cousin who lives in Chicago, who, you know, she was like, hey, like, can she go live with you for a year? So my aunt was an angel and she took me in for a year. And I lived in Chicago and, you know, that exposed me to a lot. Like it was kind of a huge cultural clash for me because I grew up, you know, kind of sheltered and, you know, in my small community and knew everybody there.

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