Drawing is the first language of the human being before writing. It’s a transcription of how the human being sees reality, not reality itself.
You draw the character from all angles – side, profile, back, etc. so the animator has this character in all the ways it looks like.
Image is an international language.
People, they think that animation is a style. Animation is just a technique. It’s like, people, they think that comics is a style, like comics is a superhero story. Comic is just a narration, and is a medium, you can say any kind of story in comics and you can say of any kind of story in animation.
My mother was the favorite child of her parents. My father was the favorite child of his parents. The result of these two favorite children was me. And I am an only child. So I was convinced that I was the center of the universe.
One can forgive but one should never forget.
We can only feel sorry for ourselves when our misfortunes are still supportable. Once this limit is crossed, the only way to bear the unbearable is to laugh at it.
I became the voice of a generation in a very surprising way, because many Iranians recognize themselves in it. But that is not what I wanted.
Politicians think they have answers for everything. We artists, we only have questions.
If people are given the chance to experience life in more than one country, they will hate a little less. It’s not a miracle potion, but little by little you can solve problems in the basement of a country, not on the surface.
Always keep your dignity and be true to yourself.
You know, they say in France that translation is like a woman: she is either beautiful or faithful.
If you have a little sensibility or a heart, you have all the reason to be depressed once in a while. But the depression is like a motor for creation. I need a little bit of depression, a bit of acid in my stomach, to be able to create. When I’m happy, I just want to dance.
I call Iran home because no matter how long I live in France, and despite the fact that I feel also French after all these years, to me the word ‘home’ has only one meaning: Iran. I suppose it’s that way for everyone: Home is the place where one is born and raised.
I like to make mechanical stuff. Once I make a film I have to do whatever I can make onstage I make it onstage.
I have my dark side. You have your dark side. From the second that we have a brain, there are things that are not right – we are human beings with all these illusions and complexes and everything. That’s attractive to me.
I have been brought up open-minded. If I didn’t know any people from other countries, I’d think everyone was evil based on news stories. But I know a lot of people, and know that there is no such thing as stark good and evil. Isn’t it possible there is the same amount of evil everywhere?
A cat can never be well-trained because they’re too independent.
I’m not a very good financing person. I don’t even know how much money I have in my bank account. I never have opened one single envelope from the bank – they freak me out.
I’m a very individualistic person. That is why I don’t belong to any political party or anything. I really believe in justice and freedom.