Education is supposed to be our great equalizer, but when only half of low-income students are enrolling in college and only three tenths are graduating, you have to figure some of our children are getting a greater equalizer than others.

My early experiences in animation taught me that following someone else is not a great idea.

Absolutely, you rise and fall based on your creative team.

Songs give you incredible opportunity to convey a tremendous amount in a relatively short period of time.

I grew up with probably three different authors having a seminal influence on my childhood, Dr. Seuss being one and Maurice Sendak being another.

Embrace risk. The driving force behind our economic model at Illumination Mac Guff is designed to preserve the opportunity to take risk. Subvert the expectation of the audience. Surprise them with unexpected choices.

I do think we're in a period of time culturally where there is just this extraordinary connection that we have to our pets, and in many ways, they are displacing kids. They're so much simpler than dealing with a kid because of this unconditional love that does not get complicated by adolescence or any other manipulation.

You have to love Dr. Seuss to take on the responsibility of conveying his work in animation or any medium.

I don't fly by the seat of my pants. I set strategies, and then I pursue those in unrelenting fashion.

I was pulled out of school for every moratorium day and every rally for a left-wing candidate... from Ed Koch in his heyday to Eugene McCarthy. That's the culture that I came from.