Mark Walton explains why an awkward security-escorted exit from Pixar was actually the best thing to happen to his career and reveals the "anti-poaching" paranoia that governed Disney in the early 2000s.

Mark Walton is a powerhouse story artist and the voice of Rhino in Disney’s Bolt. Having spent 14 years at Disney before moving to DreamWorks and Blue Sky, Mark has been with legends like Guillermo del Toro and Joe Ranft.

Mark dives into the resort-like culture of the DreamWorks campus, where free food and on-site doctors kept artists from ever wanting to leave their desks. He breaks down the three lost versions of Rapunzel he worked on, including a steampunk iteration featuring a thief named Bastion. We also get a transparent look at the "scrambling" involved in being an independent artist today, the reality of agism in the animation industry, and a hilarious story about singing Madonna in a five-foot wig for a studio karaoke night.

For anyone curious about the messy, human side of the world’s biggest animation studios.