Domestika Creatives: Venturia

Venturia Animation Studios specializes in recreating the traditional cartoon aesthetic using digital techniques

Venturia Animation Studios fuses animation styles from different periods in history: taking inspiration from genre classics to create characters and backdrops using digital techniques that enable them to work more comfortably and thoroughly, and deliver the best results for their clients.

It is thanks to this cocktail-approach that the Colombian animation studio has ended up collaborating with international clients such as Netflix, Warner Records, and Walt Disney World, alongside developing their own original content that captures the magic and personality of their native country.

Here, Juan Manuel Urbina, creative director at Venturia Animation Studios, tells us why he is drawn to the traditional cartoon aesthetic and what it is about their characters that make them so exciting. Watch below:

Becoming a kid again

“When someone sits down to watch an animation, they let their guard down and allow themselves to be swept up–this is what makes our stories so powerful.” Urbina is convinced that animation will have impacted everyone during their childhoods. This is what causes us to have an emotional connection with it, which means that when we see a well-animated story, it has the power to take us somewhere that live-action images can’t necessarily. Animation is not just child’s play, it is a source of universal nostalgia and evokes memories from our past.

A world beyond our own

At Venturia, the role of animation is to capture and create a caricature of life. The studio is less focused on animation that employs realism, preferring that which crafts parallel realities. The difference between a live-action image, which requires a huge amount of physical resources (actors, cameras, lighting, sets…) and planning, and the magic of animation, is that the latter has no limits. You just need your pencil.

Searching for Colombia’s magic

“In Latin America, especially in Colombia, there are many untold stories,” says Urbina. There are hidden corners filled with magic all over the world. At Venturia, their objective is to show customs and landscapes that go beyond those that everyone is used to already seeing–stories set in the USA, Japan, and other global powers in the animation industry. Ventura sets out to capture what’s close to home, to go back to its roots, and let the imagination soar.

If you like this Domestika Creatives post, remember that you can learn to design characters with Venturia using styles from the golden age of animation. Discover their course, Retro Character Design for Animation.

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