Only a close second behind Gollum, Smaug was a character that I had dreamt of working on for a long time. Having completed my time as the Animation Lead for The Gollum sequence on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, I was incredibly fortunate and thrilled to follow it up with being the Animation Lead for the Smaug gold chamber sequence on The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The work our team did on Smaug garnered the character a VES award for Most Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Film.