Jeffrey Katzenberg, 57, admitted to The Associated Press during an interview this week in Cannes to promote Kung Fu Panda that he never set out to make cartoons. “I knew nothing about animation. Nothing whatsoever.” Katzenberg said his indoctrination into animation came on his first day at Disney, which he joined in 1984 as head of the film division after his boss at Paramount Pictures, Michael Eisner, became Disney chief executive. In preparation for a meeting with Eisner, Katzenberg made a list of 10 critical things he needed to do at their new outfit. “Nowhere on that list was there any mention of animation,” Katzenberg said. “When the meeting was about to come to an end, Michael stopped and he said, ‘Oh, by the way, do you see that building over there?’ And he pointed out the window of his office. ‘That’s where they make animated films.’ I went, ‘Oh, really?’ He said, ‘Yes, and it’s your problem.’ Honestly, that was my introduction to the animation business. That was my first encounter with it. I saw two, three, four of these movies as a kid growing up. I had zero interest in them. I am not a student of animation. I have no training on animated movies. A hundred percent of it occurred on the job after arriving at the Disney company.” Learning as he went, Katzenberg benefited from copious archives left by Walt Disney, packed with ideas, memos, critiques of works in progress. “It was the most amazing tutorial, and so I really feel like I genuinely was a student of Walt Disney’s even though I never met the man. It was as though he was kind of an angel sitting on my shoulder every day, telling me exactly what to do.” The DreamWorks CEO, who confirmed that a Puss in Boots spinoff feature was in the works, also admitted to some Pixar envy: “Of course, there is. Envy’s a good thing, not a bad thing in this. I envy them the consistency and the quality of the work that they’ve done.” After more than 20 years in animation, Katzenberg’s inner child shines through – and he now considers himself a cartoon geek. “It’s the love of my life, other than my family. It’s just the most exciting and challenging and rewarding thing I’ve ever done, and I continue to be just so enthusiastic about it. It keeps presenting new challenges and new opportunities, and that keeps it fresh and exciting for me.”