Disney's Next Generations: Directors, Animators, Writers

1. Ron Clements

Ron Clements is an American animated film director who collaborates with John Musker. They directed various Disney animated films including The Great Mouse Detective, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules, Treasure Planet, The Princess and the Frog and Moana. The Little Mermaid and Aladdin are ...

2. John Musker

Writer | Hercules

John Musker is an American animated film director who collaborates with Ron Clements. They directed various Disney animated films including The Great Mouse Detective, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules, Treasure Planet, The Princess and the Frog and Moana. The Little Mermaid and Aladdin are ...

3. Gary Trousdale

Director | The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Gary Trousdale was born in La Crescenta, California. His fascination with animation was fostered as a child, where he drew cartoons from an elementary school age. He planned to become an architect, but decided instead to study animation at CalArts, where he studied for three years. He was hired in ...

4. Kirk Wise

Director | Beauty and the Beast

Kirk Wise was born on August 24, 1963 in San Francisco, California, USA. He is a director, known for Beauty and the Beast (1991), Spirited Away (2001) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996).

5. Burny Mattinson

Writer | The Great Mouse Detective

Burny Mattinson's helmed the Academy Award-nominated 1983 animated featurette "Mickey's Christmas Carol." In 1986, wrote, produced and directed "The Great Mouse Detective." Mattinson's worked on"Sleeping Beauty," "101 Dalmatians," "The Sword in the Stone," "The Jungle Book," "The Aristocats" and "...

6. Glen Keane

Animation_department | Beauty and the Beast

Glen Keane was born on April 13, 1954 in Abington, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a producer, known for Beauty and the Beast (1991), Tangled (2010) and Over the Moon (2020). He has been married to Linda Hesselroth since August 3, 1975. They have two children.

7. Andreas Deja

Animation_department | Mushka

Andreas Deja was born on April 1, 1957 in Gdansk, Pomorskie, Poland. He is an assistant director, known for Mushka (2023), The Princess and the Frog (2009) and Winnie the Pooh (2011).

8. Mark Henn

Animation_department | The Lion King

Mark Henn was born on April 6, 1958 in Dayton, Ohio, USA. He is a director, known for The Lion King (1994), Winnie the Pooh (2011) and Mulan (1998). He has been married to Debra Lou Hall since August 1, 1981.

9. Eric Goldberg

Animation_department | Looney Tunes: Back in Action

Eric Goldberg is an animator, director and voice actor from Pennsylvania who is known for his work on Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Pocahontas, Aladdin, The Princess and the Frog, Fat Albert, Fantasia 2000, Moana, Winnie the Pooh and Hercules. He voiced Marvin the Martian, Tweety Bird and Speedy ...

10. John Lasseter

Writer | Toy Story 2

Although born in Hollywood, John and his twin sister Johanna were raised in Whittier near Los Angeles. His parents were Jewell Mae (Risley), an art teacher, and Paul Eual Lasseter, a parts manager at a Chevrolet dealership. His mother's profession contributed to his interest in animation and ...

11. Chris Buck

Director | Frozen

Chris Buck is an animation film director from Wichita, Kansas. He directed the Disney animated films Tarzan, Frozen, Frozen Fever and Frozen II and Sony Pictures Animation's Surf's Up. He was a supervising animator for Percy, Grandmother Willow and Wiggins for Pocahontas. He won Best Animated ...

12. Joe Ranft

Writer | The Brave Little Toaster

Joseph Ranft was an American writer, voice actor, animator, storyboard artist and magician. He worked for Disney and Pixar. He worked on The Lion King, The Brave Little Toaster, Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Cars, Monsters, Inc and Finding Nemo. He voiced in the many films he worked on, notably as ...

13. Kevin Lima

Director | Enchanted

Kevin Lima was born on June 12, 1962 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Enchanted (2007), A Goofy Movie (1995) and Aladdin (1992). He is married to Brenda Chapman. They have one child.

14. Brenda Chapman

Writer | Brave

Brenda Chapman is an American animator, animation film director and writer from Beason, Illinois. She directed the Pixar film Brave and the DreamWorks Animation film The Prince of Egypt. She wrote the storylines of The Lion King and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. She is married to Kevin Lima, fellow ...

15. Roger Allers

Director | The Lion King

Roger Allers is an American animated film director and writer who is known for co-directing the influential 1994 Disney musical film The Lion King. He also worked on Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid. He was intended to direct the musical drama Kingdom of the Sun, which got ...

16. Ruben A. Aquino

Animation_department | Mulan

Ruben A. Aquino was born on December 18, 1953 in Okinawa, Japan. He is known for Mulan (1998), Meet the Robinsons (2007) and The Little Mermaid (1989).

17. Nik Ranieri

Animation_department | Pocahontas

Nik Ranieri was born August 23,1961 in Toronto, Canada and was trained in animation at Sheridan College in Oakville, Canada.

After college, Nik worked in several commercial houses in Canada, later relocating to England, where he worked as a Journeyman Animator on Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. That ...

18. Mike Gabriel

Director | The Rescuers Down Under

Mike Gabriel was born on November 5, 1954 in Long Beach, California, USA. He is known for The Rescuers Down Under (1990), Pocahontas (1995) and Oliver & Company (1988). He is married to Tammy Rae Norman. They have three children.

19. Tony Bancroft

Director | Mulan

Tony Bancroft has spent the past 16 years developing his skills as an Animator/Director with Walt Disney Feature Animation, Sony Imageworks, and currently with Toonacious Family Entertainment, his own animation studio.

Tony was accepted into the exclusive, Disney-sponsored California Institute of ...

20. Chris Sanders

Writer | Lilo & Stitch

Born and raised in Colorado, Chris Sanders fell in love with animation at the age of ten after seeing Ward Kimball animated shorts on 'The Wonderful World of Disney'. He began drawing, and applied to CalArts after his grandmother told him about the animation program at the school. He majored in ...

21. Pete Docter

Writer | Up

Pete Docter is the Oscar®-winning director of "Monsters, Inc.," "Up," and "Inside Out," and Chief Creative Officer at Pixar Animation Studios. He is currently directing Pixar's feature film "Soul" with producer Dana Murray, which is set to release June 19, 2020.

Starting at Pixar in 1990 as the ...

22. Andrew Stanton

Writer | WALL·E

Andrew Stanton has been a major creative force at Pixar Animation Studios since 1990, when he became the second animator and ninth employee to join the company's elite group of computer animation pioneers. As Vice President, Creative he currently oversees all shorts and feature projects at the ...

23. Brad Bird

Writer | The Incredibles

Phillip Bradley "Brad" Bird is an American director, screenwriter, animator, producer and occasional voice actor, known for both animated and live-action films. Bird was born in Kalispell, Montana, the youngest of four children of Marjorie A. (née Cross) and Philip Cullen Bird. His father worked in...

24. Lee Unkrich

Editor | Coco

Lee Unkrich is an Academy Award-winning director at Pixar Animation Studios. He most recently directed Disney.Pixar's critically-acclaimed "Coco", which received the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and Best Song.

As the director of Disney.Pixar's "Toy Story 3," Lee was also awarded an ...

25. Ralph Eggleston

Production_designer | Finding Nemo

Ralph Eggleston was born on October 18, 1965 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. He was a production designer, known for Finding Nemo (2003), Monsters, Inc. (2001) and WALL·E (2008). He died on August 28, 2022 in California, USA.

26. Bob Peterson

Actor | Up

Bob Peterson was born in Wooster, Ohio, USA, in 1961. He studied mechanical engineering at Ohio Northern University, where he took computer graphics courses and graduated in 1983. He continued his studies in mechanical engineering at Purdue University where he earned a master's degree in 1986. ...

27. Henry Selick

Director | Coraline

Henry Selick is a film director, specializing in films with stop-motion animation. He has formal training as an animator.

Selick was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, son of Charles H. Selick and Melanie Molan. He was mostly raised in Rumson, New Jersey. As a child, Selick took up drawing as a hobby. ...

28. Tim Burton

Producer | Edward Scissorhands

Timothy Walter Burton was born in Burbank, California, to Jean Rae (Erickson), who owned a cat-themed gift shop, and William Reed Burton, who worked for the Burbank Park and Recreation Department. He spent most of his childhood as a recluse, drawing cartoons, and watching old movies (he was ...

29. Dale Baer

Animation_department | The Emperor's New Groove

Dale Baer was born on June 15, 1950 in Denver, Colorado, USA. He is known for The Emperor's New Groove (2000), Species (1995) and Robin Hood (2010). He was married to Jane Baer and Teddy. He died on January 15, 2021 in Irvine, California, USA.

30. James Baxter

Animation_department | Kung Fu Panda

James Baxter was born in May 1967 in Bristol, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Kung Fu Panda (2008), Mary Poppins Returns (2018) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996).

31. Duncan Marjoribanks

Animation_department | Pocahontas

Duncan Marjoribanks was born on December 29, 1953 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is an actor, known for Pocahontas (1995), Aladdin (1992) and The Little Mermaid (1989).

32. Will Finn

Writer | Home on the Range

Will Finn was born on November 1, 1958 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a writer, known for Home on the Range (2004), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) and Pocahontas (1995).

33. Tony Fucile

Animation_department | The Incredibles

Tony Fucile was born in 1964 in San Francisco, California, USA. He is an actor, known for The Incredibles (2004), The Iron Giant (1999) and Ratatouille (2007). He is married to Stacey. They have two children.

34. Michael Surrey

Animation_department | Tarzan

Michael Surrey was born on August 17, 1964. He is an actor, known for Tarzan (1999), Aladdin (1992) and Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001).

35. Randy Haycock

Animation_department | Hercules

Randy Haycock is known for Hercules (1997), Tarzan (1999) and Meet the Robinsons (2007).

36. Bruce W. Smith

Animation_department | Space Jam

Bruce W. Smith is a feature film character animator, director and television producer. He is best known as the creator and executive producer of the Disney Channel hit show The Proud Family and for supervising the animation of the evil villain Dr. Facilier in the Walt Disney animated film The ...

37. Byron Howard

Director | Zootopia

Byron Howard was born on December 26, 1968 in Misawa, Japan. He is a director and producer, known for Zootopia (2016), Encanto (2021) and Tangled (2010).

38. Chris Williams

Actor | Frozen

Chris Williams was born on April 23, 1968 in Missouri, USA. He is a writer and actor, known for Frozen (2013), Big Hero 6 (2014) and The Sea Beast (2022). He has been married to Astrid Sealey since July 10, 2004. They have two children.

39. Don Hall

Writer | Meet the Robinsons

Don Hall was born on March 8, 1969 in Glenwood, Iowa, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Meet the Robinsons (2007), Big Hero 6 (2014) and Raya and the Last Dragon (2021).

40. Rich Moore

Director | Wreck-It Ralph

Rich Moore was born on May 10, 1963 in Oxnard, California, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Wreck-It Ralph (2012), Zootopia (2016) and Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018).

41. Jennifer Lee

Writer | Frozen

Jennifer Lee was born on October 22, 1971 in Barrington, Rhode Island, USA. She is a producer and writer, known for Frozen (2013), Frozen II (2019) and Wreck-It Ralph (2012). She has been married to Alfred Molina since August 2021. She was previously married to Robert Joseph Monn.

42. Jared Bush

Writer | Zootopia

Jared Bush was born on June 12, 1974 in Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Zootopia (2016), Encanto (2021) and All of Us (2003). He is married to Pamela McDonald. They have three children.