Goldberg’s first assignment for Walt Disney Animation was as Supervising Animator of Genie from Aladdin (1992), followed by co-directing Pocahontas (1995), animating Phil in Hercules (1997), and work on Fantasia/2000 (1999)
In 2006, Goldberg returned to Walt Disney Animation Studios, where he served as Supervising Animator for Louis and “Tiana’s Song” in The Princess and the Frog (2009). For this, Goldberg won his third Annie Award for Best Character Animation in 2009. He also animated Rabbit and the “Backson Song” sequence in Winnie the Pooh (2011). ForWreck-It Ralph (2012), he created hand-drawn animation tests of King Candy and Sour Bill. In 2013, Goldberg was the Supervisor of Hand-Drawn Animation on Oscar®-nominated Get a Horse! (2013). More recently, Goldberg created the hand-drawn animated character Mini Maui, the tattoo conscience of the Maui character for Moana (2016).
The Walt Disney Family Museum
It’s stunning that this was Eric Goldberg’s first assignment at Disney. I am sure there are other examples of one character’s design setting the tone and style direction for the entire movie – but I can’t think of one that was as influential on the look of the overall film as Genie’s was on Aladdin. Not to mention that it was his character animation test over Robin William’s standup that helped get Robin Williams to take the role – another huge impact on the entire animation industry. No wonder they awarded Eric the Winsor-McCay for lifetime achievement. He lifetime achieved in his first assignment!