Honorary degree: The Beach inspires creative spark for alumna director Jennifer Yuh Nelson

Published May 9, 2023

Jennifer Yuh Nelson 鈥94 vividly remembers her basic life drawing class with Professor John Lincoln at Cal State Long Beach.  

鈥淚 was sitting there, drawing a figure,鈥 Nelson said. 鈥淗e snuck up behind me and watched me for a minute. Then he said, 鈥楾hink!鈥 It took me by surprise. He was apologetic. But he said, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e not thinking. You鈥檙e drawing without thinking. That is not performance. That is not art. That is just repetition.鈥  

鈥淚 still think about what he said. It reminds me to be present and think about your artistic choices at all times.鈥  

Nelson has taken what she learned at The Beach and crafted an illustrious career. She鈥檚 a three-time Emmy Award winner, she鈥檚 helped pave the way for other female and minority filmmakers, and she is receiving an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at next week鈥檚 Commencement at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.  

Nelson was the head of story for the animated film 鈥淜ung Fu Panda,鈥 and the director for 鈥淜ung Fu Panda 2鈥 and 鈥淜ung Fu Panda 3,鈥 both bona fide blockbusters. 

She was the director for the 2018 film 鈥淭he Darkest Minds,鈥 and now serves as the supervising director for the Netflix animated series, 鈥淟ove, Death and Robots,鈥 which has won 13 Emmys, including two for Nelson for 鈥渙utstanding short form animated program.鈥 

But she regards her honorary doctorate as one of her highest accolades. 

I don鈥檛 think it really sunk in, until I got the phone call, talking it through. It was just like, wow. That鈥檚 the only word I could put to it. Wow. That鈥檚 such an honor. 

President Jane Close Conoley said in a letter to Nelson that the honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree 鈥渨ill be awarded in recognition of your pioneering contributions to the film industry, your outstanding record as a visual storyteller and director of animation, and your exceptional commitment to showcasing, nurturing and uplifting new voices and stories.鈥  

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Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Jennifer Yuh Nelson in her Culver City office.

All in the family 

Nelson was born in South Korea and immigrated to the United States when she was 4 years old. Her mother and sisters are all artists and illustrators. She has been drawing since age 3.  

She grew up in Lakewood, and her two older sisters, Gloria and Catherine, also attended and graduated from Cal State Long Beach with degrees in illustration. Nelson obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in illustration in 1994. 

Among her many memories of The Beach, she fondly recalls field trips with Richard S. Oden鈥檚 illustration class.

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Drawing by Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Drawing by Jennifer Yuh Nelson during her time at 好色先生.

鈥淭he illustration class would go out and watercolor,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e went horseback riding. We鈥檇 camp out in the fields somewhere together. We鈥檇 sit around the campfire 鈥 basically being kids, growing up together. It was so great. We鈥檇 draw outside. I learned more during those painting retreats than what I would normally do, just sitting in a room.鈥  

A turning point for her was when veteran storyboard artist visited one of her classes as a guest speaker. 

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know that was really a career option,鈥 she said. 鈥淗e showed all these amazing sketches of films. It鈥檚 the first time I saw somebody doing what I was naturally doing 鈥 I saw right then what I wanted. And it allowed me to go into the job market asking for it 鈥 this is what I want to do.鈥  

During her final semester, she took a book-making class with David Hadlock.  

鈥淓veryone walked out holding an illustrated book. You saw an entire classroom of the most amazing, demented, beautiful illustrated books.鈥 

It was also during that semester that she took a part-time job as a production assistant at Jetlag Productions, where she did cleanups of other illustrators鈥 work. One of the producers saw some of her drawings on the side, and said, 鈥淲hy don鈥檛 you start drawing for us?鈥 She subsequently helped draw monsters for a few months. 

After a stint at Hanna-Barbera, she was hired as a storyboard artist on HBO鈥檚 鈥淭odd McFarlane鈥檚 Spawn鈥 series. That鈥檚 where she met her husband, Thomas Nelson, another storyboard artist. 

In 1998, she joined DreamWorks Animation as a storyboard artist, where she worked on 鈥淪pirit: Stallion of the Cimarron,鈥 鈥淪inbad: Legend of the Seven Seas鈥 and 鈥淢adagascar.鈥 She was asked to be head of story for 鈥淜ung Fu Panda,鈥 which she embraced because she鈥檚 a fan of martial arts movies.  

She directed the opening hand-drawn dream sequence, which won her an Annie Award, animation鈥檚 highest honor. 

She was asked to direct 鈥淜ung Fu Panda 2鈥 and the third in the franchise, and the rest is history. The second film raked in $165.2 million domestically and $500.4 million internationally, while the third film grossed $143.5 million domestically and $377.6 internationally. For a few years, she was the highest-grossing female director of all time. 

Now she鈥檚 the supervising director of 鈥淟ove, Death & Robots,鈥 an acclaimed Netflix series that鈥檚 aired three seasons and is in production for a fourth. 

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Love, Death and Robots
Storyboards for 鈥淧op Squad鈥 episode of "Love Death & Robots" by Jennifer Yuh Nelson. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 super fun. This is probably closest to my college work,鈥 she said. 鈥淵ou spend your life gathering the skills to do what you want. That鈥檚 kind of where I am now. 

鈥淪o many people have reached out. They鈥檙e getting tattoos of it. There have been cosplay videos, reaction videos. People really seem to resonate with the show.鈥 

Nelson said she is thankful for the experiences she had at The Beach and praises the illustration program for its uniqueness. 

鈥淚 think the thing that鈥檚 really great about Cal State Long Beach, especially at the time: It wasn鈥檛 cranking out people all with the same style. You came in with your individuality and your weirdness and your personal style, and it helped enhance it. It gives you philosophical backing that you can use all over the place that went beyond art.鈥