From a young age, Jorge R. Gutiérrez dreamed of fantastical worlds. He admired the warriors in Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and spent hours playing Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter, imagining himself as an invincible hero. What he never imagined was that, years later, he would be the one creating epic universes that are now part of the global collective imagination.
Born in Mexico City in 1975 and raised in Tijuana, Gutiérrez fell in love with art and animation at a very young age. That passion led him to study at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), where he found his voice as an artist and director. There he created Carmelo, a 3D short film that earned him a student Emmy in 2001 and put him on the international map.
His style is unmistakable: vibrant colors, characters that look like they came out of a Mexican mural, and a deep love for his cultural roots. All of this was captured in projects such as El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, a Nickelodeon series he created with his wife and muse, artist Sandra Equihua. The production was a watershed moment: it won six Emmy Awards and two Annie Awards, and showed the world that Latino stories could shine in their own right in animation.
The big break came in 2014 with The Book of Life, a film produced by Guillermo del Toro that took inspiration from the Day of the Dead and won over international audiences. The film received multiple nominations and reaffirmed that Mexican culture, reinterpreted through fantasy, had an indisputable place on the big screen.
But Jorge didn’t stop there. In 2021, he released the miniseries Maya and the Three on Netflix, an epic adventure inspired by Mesoamerican mythology. Although there were initial doubts about whether such a story would have a global impact, the series became a phenomenon seen in more than 55 countries and won four Emmy Awards. Gutiérrez describes it as his Latin American version of The Lord of the Rings, with a warrior princess as the protagonist and a narrative that blends the ancestral with the modern.
Today, the director continues to dream big. From projects such as I, Chihuahua—an animated film about a small fighting dog that reflects the indomitable spirit of Mexico—to international collaborations such as the special Halloween episode of The Simpsons, Jorge continues to prove that there are no boundaries when it comes to creativity. He is even preparing an animation for the impressive Las Vegas Sphere, as part of a UFC fight.
Beyond the awards and accolades, what sets Jorge R. Gutiérrez apart is his mission to reinterpret Mexican culture and bring it to the world. “The further you are from your country, the more you miss it and see it with love,” he confesses. That love is the driving force behind each of his projects, where catrinas, luchadores, and the Mexican worldview come to life in characters that inspire new generations.
His dream is simple but powerful: that, just as he once wanted to be a samurai, a child anywhere in the world will see Maya and the Three and play at being an eagle warrior. Because, in the end, what Jorge has achieved is not just telling stories, but opening a space for Mexican fantasy to engage with the entire world.