Tracey Elle Laguerre Talks “I Love You, Jocelyn” and Navigating Industry Adversity

For some, the response to ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ may be nothing more than a faded memory or a lost dream. But for animation producer and illustrator Tracey Elle Laguerre, it marked a clear jumping-off point for her creative journey. “[I remember in fifth grade] we had to write three paragraphs about what we want to be…and I took it way too seriously. I was like, ‘Oh my God, this has to be what I do,’ so I chose animation,” she explained to EnVi. “I was just very interested in it, and I never grew out of it or stopped.”

Withstanding the test of time, Laguerre’s passion continued to burn bright, ultimately shaping a story that pieced her life experiences. Amid promotions for her latest creative endeavor, I Love You Jocelyn, Laguerre connected with EnVi over Zoom to discuss the project’s origin, break down her journey to working with Cartoon Network, and provide wisdom on navigating industry hardships.

An Unexpected Impetus

Years after grade school, another school assignment presented Laguerre the opportunity to kick-start what would become the pilot for the first Haitian-American animation. “It all started when I was at CalArts [California Institute of the Arts],” she explained. “Around my second year was the first time I played around with the I Love You, Jocelyn concept. And after making that short, I realized that I wanted to go bigger and make a longer piece.” 

The journey to developing her brainchild wasn’t easy, however. Upon graduating, Laguerre took on an art director role at Google. At first, the experience felt like a dream — after all, what creative doesn’t want a stable career? But as time passed, it became clear that her heart lay elsewhere. In her spare moments, Laguerre found her thoughts and sketchbooks overflowing with ideas for an expanded animated series. After extensive contemplation and conversations with an acquaintance at Cartoon Network, the hopeful producer quit her four-year job and immediately applied to the newly revamped Cartoon Cartoons program.

On July 7, 2022, Laguerre’s I Love You, Jocelyn, was announced as part of the program’s newest lineup. Although the development process spanned two years, Laguerre’s vigor never waned. If anything, being in the exact environment she had always dreamed of seemed to energize her. As she reminisced on her time in the program, a strong sense of fondness was conveyed: “I was usually the only artist on my team, working with either a bunch of software engineers or people who might not necessarily understand the arts, but have a say in the visuals of their product. For me, that got frustrating and old real fast,” she said. “So when I went over to Cartoon Network and got my own art team, my favorite part was just that, all the artists I worked with inspired me so deeply, and all the artists who worked with me were inspired by me so deeply, and it was just like a big art love fest.”

In 2024, the pilot’s final version screened in a special showcase, along with 29 other shorts. However, sudden corporate restructuring caused an indefinite stall in the program, and it wasn’t until two years later that every artist’s work became publicly viewable on the Warner Bros. TV official YouTube channel.

I Love You, Jocelyn: A Dream Actualized

Officially released on April 20, 2026, Laguerre’s animated short masterfully combines Caribbean folklore with the Japanese mahō shōjo (magical girl) concept to create an unforgettable adventure. 

When discussing how the newest version of I Love You, Jocelyn emerged, Laguerre revealed that she returned to an unfinished concept from her time at the CalArts: “My third-year film was never completed because I ended up working and stuff. And I was so sad about it that I cried in my car and everything. But it ended up being what grew into everything that happened in my sketchbook because I guess not finishing the film made me wanna grow more of it.” In the 2017 version, the story was condensed into a nursing clinic waiting room. But in the expanded universe, the setting takes on an enchanting visual as the series’ lead character, Jo Lovely (voiced by Mykal-Michelle Harris), battles her amphibious foe, Mechanste (voiced by Chris Okawa). 

Throughout the seven-minute narrative, Laguerre pays homage to her personal culture while nodding to several international influences, such as Hayao Miyazaki’s Kiki’s Delivery Service. The Easter egg inclusions don’t appear only in the visuals. While breaking down more of the short’s components, Laguerre explained that the title references the 2003 Haitian romantic comedy series I Love You Anne, before further elaborating: “I’m more inspired by international cinema and the things that people are doing in the Caribbean with filmmaking or India or even Africa, like Nollywood has some really iconic meme-able moments, and I just love that. I find it really inspiring.”

How does one balance so many muses? Well, for Laguerre, there are absolutely no compromises when it comes to conveying her worldview: “I never try to restrict myself or hold back. Even though I ingest things from a lot of different places, when I spew it out, it’s all coming from me, so it’s all being transmuted and translated through my perspective.”

Since its release, the pilot has garnered 100,000 views and counting and has sparked several hit social media posts. All the buzz around its creation and similar projects shows that people yearn for authentic creations rather than junk content. In conversation about where the series would expand if it were greenlit, Laguerre says she would love to explore all of the Caribbean folktales her grandmother used to tell her. “I’ve heard the stories so many times, I just feel like I know them by heart, so I could turn any of those into an episode,” she said. “[However, at the center, I just picture Jo] frolicking around on Miami Island with her friends, getting into adventures, and learning a couple of lessons along the way. It’s just about having a funny, feel-good time.” 

In the moment, anticipation of the future sparked a look back at where it all began. As Laguerre continued, she further detailed the essence of the narrative. “The really important thing for this show for me was I wanted to create something that I felt was missing on the television landscape. [Back when I was at Google] I would end up coming home from work and going straight to my sketchbook, making I Love You, Jocelyn stuff just because it’s what I wanted to see on TV, and it wasn’t there,” she said. “I wanted to eventually one day come home and be able to sit down and watch it, with a bag of popcorn the same way I watched SpongeBob. That was how I was approaching everything.”

Artists: Triumphant Against All Odds

Outside of animation, Laguerre has created in various forms, including children’s book illustrations, crosswalk murals, and Google Doodles, to name a few. When she isn’t working with clients, Laguerre keeps her creativity alive by developing her personal business, Sunshine Cartoons, which utilizes colorful designs to celebrate imagination, individuality, and joy.

Although she has seen considerable success since breaking into the industry at 16, there are always two sides to the coin. Reflecting on the most difficult moment of her career, Laguerre explained that the recent years have been particularly challenging because of external factors such as AI and the outsourcing of work to other countries. However, no matter how many curveballs come their way, the creative community always stands firm.

While highlighting the resilience of artists, Laguerre drew attention to some of the movements she’s witnessed even in times of adversity: “I’ve seen so much entrepreneurship and so much community forward thinking because [creatives are] essentially forming a resistance where they’re like, ‘We have something to say. We have beautiful things to create, and we’re gonna do it.’ I’m really proud of artists for that because it’s not an easy place to be in society.” As she continued, one event that came to mind was Silver Lake Shorts, a non-profit monthly film screening series based in Los Angeles.

“They just started, three guys and a dream,” she said. “I just had a screening with them. When they started, only 20 people showed up. Now, this last screening in early August, there were 200 people. They had to turn people away at the door, and that is community-based growth of filmmakers coming together.” Continuing, she emphasized the importance of self-assurance, stating: “It’s just you can’t underestimate yourself and what you’re capable of doing and the impact you can have in the world; you can make a difference ’cause you’re here.” 

An Uplifting Adieu

As the interview neared its close, Laguerre offered a valuable nugget of wisdom when asked if she had any advice for aspiring animators and creatives: “The industry goes through ups and downs; sometimes there’s so much work you’re throwing it at friends because you’re just telling people, ‘I can’t take any more projects. Too many projects. Here, go give it to my friend,’ and other times, you’re scraping by for just one big project. You can’t really control any of that. That’s why agility, or being able to thrive in ambiguity, is important because you can’t control what other people are doing, but you can control what you’re doing.”  

Now you can have your own watershed moment, too. As she continued, Laguerre dropped a reading assignment that further complements her thoughtful insight: “My best advice would be: if you can read Walt Disney’s Bob Thomas biography, you’ll see nothing has changed between when Walt started and today,” she said. “I think people can learn so much from reading about his life. I know I did. It made me feel a lot better when things dried up because it just felt like I wasn’t the first one dealing with [those struggles].”

If you’re looking to support Laguerre outside of I Love You, Jocelyn, check out her Etsy. For updates on what’s to come, you can follow her on Instagram and YouTube.  

Interested in exploring another animated work? Check out our interview with “Paper Daughter” creator Cami Kwan!