Matt Braly facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Matt Braly
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Braly in 2019
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| Born |
Matthew Benjakarn Braly
November 8, 1988 Sacramento, California, U.S.
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| Alma mater | California Institute of the Arts |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 2010–present |
| Known for | Amphibia |
| Spouse(s) |
Katherine Bedrosian
(m. 2018) |
| Children | 1 |
| Parent(s) |
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Matthew Braly, born on November 8, 1988, is an American animator, writer, and director. He is famous for creating the Disney Channel animated show Amphibia. He also directed episodes for popular shows like Gravity Falls and Big City Greens.
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Matt Braly's Animation Journey
Matt Braly decided to work in animation after a special "career day" at his high school. A Pixar animator visited and drew a character from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. This made Matt realize he wanted to create animated stories for a living.
He studied at the California Institute of the Arts, a famous art school. After graduating in 2010, he started working at DreamWorks Animation. There, he helped create storyboards for the movie Turbo, which came out in 2013.
Working on Gravity Falls
While at DreamWorks, Matt and other artists visited Alex Hirsch, who was making a new show for Disney called Gravity Falls. Alex Hirsch also went to CalArts, and Matt liked his student films. During the visit, Alex told Matt all about Gravity Falls.
Matt was very interested in the show's ideas and how it would tell a long story over many episodes. He took a test and was hired to work on Gravity Falls as a storyboard artist and director. Matt says that Alex Hirsch taught him a lot about how to tell stories, create characters, and build a whole new world. Alex also inspired Matt to create his own show one day.
Gravity Falls first aired on June 15, 2012, and finished on February 15, 2016. In 2016, Matt Braly won an Annie Award for directing the Gravity Falls episode "Northwest Mansion Mystery".
Creating Amphibia
After directing episodes for Big City Greens, Matt Braly developed his own show called Amphibia for Disney Channel. The show is about a Thai-American girl named Anne Boonchuy who finds herself in a world full of frogs and other amphibians.
Matt got the idea for Amphibia from his own childhood trips to Bangkok, Thailand. He often felt like an outsider there but always loved his visits. He also found inspiration from video games like The Legend of Zelda and Chrono Trigger. Since Matt is Thai-American, he wanted the main character, Anne, to be Thai-American too. He felt there weren't many Thai lead characters on TV when he was growing up.
Amphibia aired for three seasons, with 58 episodes, from June 17, 2019, to May 14, 2022. Matt considers the final episode, "The Hardest Thing," his favorite.
New Projects and Future Work
After Amphibia finished in May 2022, Matt Braly left Disney Television Animation. In August 2023, he wrote an online comic strip for Sonic the Hedgehog as part of a special campaign.
Matt is now working on several new projects. He is directing and co-writing a fantasy-adventure movie for Sony Pictures Animation with his friend Rebecca Sugar. This movie will be about a sick boy who travels to a magical Thai spirit world.
He also developed a graphic novel called Family Force V, which was published by Skybound Comet in May 2025. Matt is also helping to develop a series of short animated films that explore important social topics.
In November 2024, Matt Braly spoke out about a reported decision by Disney to not air an episode of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur that featured a transgender character. He called this decision "absolute cowardice" and said that such content is needed more than ever.
Matt Braly's Personal Life
Matt Braly is of Thai descent. His mother, On Braly, even voiced the character of Mrs. Boonchuy in Amphibia. Matt and his wife, Katherine Bedrosian, went to Christian Brothers High School together. They got married on April 21, 2018. On January 31, 2025, Matt and Katherine welcomed their first child, a boy named Alex.
When Matt was a child, he enjoyed watching movies like Mortal Kombat because they were filmed in Thailand. He also loved drawing characters from games like Mortal Kombat and Sonic the Hedgehog. Matt is a big fan of the Sonic the Hedgehog games. The opening of the Sonic X anime even inspired the big ending scene of the Amphibia episode "True Colors".
Matt is also a fan of horror movies, which inspired the Amphibia episode "The Shut-In." He enjoys the Disney series Gargoyles and the movie The Princess and the Frog. Many voice actors from these productions have appeared in Amphibia. Both Matt and his wife are fans of RuPaul's Drag Race, and RuPaul himself had a recurring role in Amphibia season 3.
Matt Braly's Work in Film and TV
Matt Braly has worked on many animated projects. Here are some of them:
Films
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Storyboard artist |
Others | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Adam and Dog | No | No | No | Yes | Assistant animator Short film |
| 2013 | Turbo | No | No | Yes | No | |
| 2021 | The Mitchells vs. the Machines | No | No | Yes | No | |
| TBA | Untitled Sony Pictures Animation film | Yes | Yes | TBA | TBA | Co-written with Rebecca Sugar |
Television
| Year | Title | Creator | Executive producer |
Writer | Storyboard artist |
Director | Actor | Others | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012–16 | Gravity Falls | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | 8 episodes Key animator |
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| 2014 | Steven Universe | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Episode: "Lars and the Cool Kids" | |
| 2017 | Billy Dilley's Super-Duper Subterranean Summer | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Storyboard revisionist | |
| DuckTales | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Additional character designer | ||
| 2018 | Big City Greens | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | 7 episodes | |
| 2019–22 | Amphibia | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Chuck Newtopian gatekeeper The Seamstress Additional voices |
Executive producer |
| 2023 | The Owl House | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Special Thanks |
Awards and Recognition
Matt Braly's work has been recognized with several awards and nominations:
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 43rd Annie Awards | Outstanding Directing in an Animated TV Production | Gravity Falls (for "Northwest Mansion Mystery") | Won | |
| 2021 | Daytime Emmys | Outstanding Children's Animated Series | Amphibia | Nominated | |
| 2022 | Annie Awards | Best TV/Media – Children | "True Colors" (from Amphibia) | Nominated | |
| 33rd GLAAD Media Awards | Outstanding Kids and Family Programming | Amphibia | Nominated | ||
| Children's and Family Emmys | Outstanding Writing for an Animated Program | Amphibia | Nominated | ||
| 2023 | 34th GLAAD Media Awards | Outstanding Kids and Family Programming | Amphibia | Nominated |
See also
In Spanish: Matt Braly para niños
