Victoria Ying works on her next creation
What emotional truths lie within animated or graphic novel stories?
Victoria Ying is a critically acclaimed author and artist living in Los Angeles. She started her career in the arts by falling in love with comic books. This eventually turned into a career working in animation and graphic novels.
"Victoria has been a major fixture in the western animation and graphic novel space for the last 2 decades. Her long career started in animation as a visual development artist at major studios like Walt Disney Animation contributing to modern animation classics, but in the last few years I've had the privilege to watch her grow beyond the scope of helping someone else tell their stories, to crafting and telling her own. The fact that she is able to share a piece of herself in work like her upcoming graphic novel Hungry Ghost is such a gift to see and one that will hopefully touch and inspire others for many years to come," offers Mingjue Helen Chen, Production Designer.
Ying’s film credits include Tangled, Wreck it Ralph, Frozen, Paperman, Big Hero 6, and Moana. She is the author and illustrator of City of Secrets, and the sequel City of Illusion and her forthcoming YA graphic novel Hungry Ghost.
“It’s been a genuine pleasure seeing Victoria's many talents and multi-faceted nature be expressed deftly across a diverse variety of mediums and genres throughout her career. A feat that is only possible because it is matched by her openness, curiosity, discipline, and optimism that also permeate throughout her work,” says Minkyu Lee who is a writer, director and artist.
Ying is also the writer and illustrator of Marvel/Scholastic’s Shang-Chi and the Fruits of Immortality and the illustrator on DC Comic’s Diana Princess of the Amazons and the sequel Diana and Nubia Princesses of the Amazons.
Goldie Chan: What has your career path been?
Victoria Ying: When I was in the eighth grade, I wrote in my yearbook that I wanted to write manga and move to Japan. I focused hard and worked on my art during the dawn of the internet age by posting on forums and creating my own website at the age of fifteen. I applied to Art Center college of design where I graduated with a major in Illustration and a minor in Entertainment. Art Center is known for their entertainment program and I learned a lot about the business of making art for films. I applied for the Disney Talent Development program and after one failed attempt, eventually made it in in 2008. I got to learn the ins and outs of the Disney way of telling stories and I got to work with some of the best in the business. I was lucky enough to be asked to stay on full time after my apprenticeship and I was a Disney employee for eight years. I am lucky enough to say that I worked on films such as Tangled, Frozen, Wreck it Ralph, Big Hero 6 and Moana.
But the desire to write my own stories stayed with me. I learned a lot from watching the process at the studio and realized that I could develop my skills as a writer as well as an illustrator. I moved into publishing full time with my debut graphic novel City of Secrets and it’s sequel City of Illusion. My YA debut graphic novel Hungry Ghost will publish on April 25, 2023.
Chan: What has been your favorite project that you’ve worked on?
Ying: In terms of films, Tangled being my first holds a very special place in my heart. I think you never quite forget the magic of working with a team and building a vision together. The leadership on that film was so supportive and kind and helped me to become the storyteller that I am today.
For books, Hungry Ghost is the book of my heart. It was a gut wrenching thing to write, but there’s a truth in it that is undeniable. I wrote fantasies for so long that this is a big departure for me, but it was a book that needed to come out of me and it is the work that I am most proud of.
Victoria Ying decides the next part of her story.
Chan: What is the most important element to a great story?
Ying: A great story has to speak some kind of emotional truth. The power of fiction is to reveal something about our humanity and it requires a level of introspection to be able to deliver on that promise. I think that you can tell when something is written and made with sincerity and when that happens, a spell is cast and magic happens.
Chan: What are you currently working on?
Ying: Currently, I am working on the followup to my book Hungry Ghost with an untitled project using some of my own life experiences as the seed. It will be another graphic novel that explores what it was like to be a young person on the internet and finding yourself in unsafe situations because of your ambition.
Chan: What is a life lesson you’d like to share with a younger version of yourself?
Ying: You don’t have to become somebody that is lovable, you already are. Don’t spend your life hating yourself and trying to change to be good enough because that’s a losing game.
Chan: What change would you like to see in your industry?
Ying: The legendary artist Jack Kirby said, “Comics will break your heart, kid,” and I see that that is still true to this day. Our industry chews up artists and spits them back out. The schedules are insane and the pay isn’t nearly enough. So many artists I know are barely making a living wage. In the animation field, we had a strong union that helped us get healthcare and good compensation, but with the diffuse nature of the labor in comics, there is nothing like that. I hope that our industry can respect artists and their labor, time, and creativity and compensate them fairly. With so many traditional publishers looking to dip their toes into comics for young people, we have to be more vigilant than ever against unreasonable deadlines and low compensation.
Chan: What has been your favorite project or creative partner to work with?
Ying: While Hungry Ghost was difficult to write, I felt that I had found the kind of creative work that I was put on the planet to make. I want to keep making different kinds of work, I want to write fantasies but I also want to write grounded stories about what it’s like to be a teenager. I feel that my career in comics has given me that and I’m so glad that I had the courage to write Hungry Ghost.
Chan: Any last branding or career advice for this year?
Ying: Be honest as often as possible. Speak the hard truth because more than likely, other people will feel the same way and you will find community and healing.
Evaluate what gives you joy. People can tell if you’re just making Tiktoks because someone told you it was a good idea. If you’re not having fun, it won’t ring true and you won’t find your audience.
