Puss In Boots: The Last Wish director Joel Crawford has called for animation directors to receive more respect in Hollywood.

During an appearance on Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast, the Puss In Boots: The Last Wish director assured listeners that directing the animated film involved more than standing behind an artist and telling them to “draw”.

Crawford insisted, “It’s the same goal where you have this vision as a director… You’re essentially capturing a moment, but it’s over the course of different departments.”

Crawford and his team are currently nominated for the Best Animated Feature Film Oscar. The shortlist also includes Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, The Sea Beast and Turning Red. All of the nominees except The Sea Beast are also up for the Best Animated Film BAFTA.

Elsewhere in the interview, Crawford recalled pitching The Last Wish to Ray Winstone, who voices Papa Bear, the adoptive father of Goldilocks, who wishes for a human family.

“He was just in the moment,” Joel described the actor. “Completely engaged in the character, he just said, ‘some people just stick around until the porridge is gone.’ Ugh… and we put that in the script.”

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, the sixth instalment in the Shrek franchise, also features the voices of Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Florence Pugh and Olivia Colman.

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