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Dominic von Riedemann - by Brian Tao

I'm the Animated Film Feature Writer, and winner of 12 Suite 101 Editors' Choice Awards. I also do freelance writing for arts and culture website Sceneandheard.ca, and I'm a founding member of Toronto animators' society AnimaticTO. I'm working on getting my first novel published, and I play guitar semi-professionally, having done jingles for Swiss Chalet and Canadian Tire.

I got hooked on animated film when I saw Disney's 101 Dalmations on reel-to-reel (remember those?). My mother was a huge fan of Disney's Golden Era – films like Snow White and Fantasia – and she encouraged my interest.

When I was older, I got my animation jones from seeing old Pink Panther and Battle of the Planets cartoons on TV. I also jonesed on Warner Bros.' classic Looney Tunes (Mel Blanc is a genius!). Unlike many kids my age, I avoided He-Man and Transformers like the plague; once you've seen good animation, it's hard to appreciate crap.

When I was older, I caught the first wave of Japanese anime with films like Akira. Hayao Miyazaki's work for Studio Ghibli really caught my eye; so poetic and imaginative. These days, I love all sorts of animation. I still appreciate Disney's classic films (although the early 1990's "animation renaissance" films leave me cold), I love Pixar's work to date and I always keep an eye out for what's going on in anime. I also like shows like South Park and Avatar: The Last Airbender.

I'm still a student of animation but I'm learning more and more each day.