From watching cartoons at his place in Kochi to dreaming about pursuing a career in animation to working on Hollywood films, Sandeep Menon says he is glad that he held onto his dream, adding that working on a "Bollywood-style" animated project is on his wishlist.

"I used to love watching cartoons while growing up, so there was ‘Tom And Jerry' and lots of Disney movies. I used to love all of them. As a child, I was like I want to work on such kind of films. It was like a dream and I didn't ever let go of that dream," Menon told IANS while looking back at his time growing up in Kochi.

"It is hard (to do that while growing up in India) because everything is catered to engineering or being a doctor or having a business. I was a child who wanted to work on animated films, and kept going for that. It was a long journey. It took a long time to get here, but it has been amazing and worth it," he added.

He works as a designer at Blue Sky Studios. He has lent his creative expertise on "Spies In Disguise", which is about superspy Lance Sterling (voiced by Will Smith) and scientist Walter Beckett ( Tom Holland), as they team up to save the world amid chaos, even as Walter turns Lance into a bird. The film, produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox, also stars Rashida Jones, Ben Mendelsohn, Reba McEntire, Rachel Brosnahan, Karen Gillan, DJ Khaled and Masi Oka. Fox Studios India will release "Spies in Disguises" in India on December 27.

"The experience of working on the film was really fun. I love spy films and it is a spy animation film, so I had a blast. I got a chance to design the spy gadgets, spy planes and vehicles," said Menon, who worked as a product designer in India before heading to the animation world.

Menon says watching one's own design come to life is so rewarding.

"It feels nice to see my name in the end credit and telling my parents to go watch it and they feel proud of me," said Menon, who lives in New York.

Staying in New York has helped him evolve as an artiste.

"I live in New York City and I get to go to so many museums, lot of gallery shows and all the art. It helps me grow," he said,

What's your dream project?

"I would love to work on a Bollywood style animation someday... That would be fun," he said.

(Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians.in)