The John Lasseter-led Skydance Animation has added former Disney all-star team members including Rich Moore, Brad Bird, and Alan Menken to their team. The coming together of these legendary filmmakers and animation gurus is bound to generate interest among fans of animated movies around the world. Here’s a brief introduction to some of the new hires at Skydance Animation Studios.
Rich Moore is working on two of his recent projects with Skydance Animation: Luck and Spellbound. He’s an Oscar-winning writer and filmmaker. Moore has inked a multi-year exclusive contract with Skydance, where he will play a key role in the creation, conceptualization, and execution of the company’s animated films. Before joining Walt Disney Animation, he was a member of the Disney Story Trust and worked on films such as Frozen, Moana, and Tangled for Sony Pictures Animation. In 2017, Rich Moore was awarded the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for his work on Zootopia. In addition, he was nominated for Wreck-It Ralph and Ralph Breaks the Internet. Before joining Disney, he was one of three directors of Fox’s smash comedy The Simpsons.
Brad Bird is another fantastic addition to Skydance Animation’s A-list team. He has signed on to produce the science-fiction detective story Ray Gunn for Skydance. Pixar’s famous director created and directed The Incredibles, The Incredibles 2, and Ratatouille under John Lasseter’s careful watch. While both The Incredibles and Ratatouille earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Screenplay, The Incredibles 2 went on to become the most influential animated picture of all time. Bird also appeared as Edna Mode in The Incredibles and Ambrister Minion in Ratatouille. Ray Gunn originated in the mid-1990s as a hand-drawn film at Turner Animation, but the premise was judged too advanced for that time. After putting the project on hold for decades, the time has come for Brad Bird to work with John Lasseter on an animated film.
Alan Menken, the composer, songwriter, musician, and record producer whose name appears on some of television’s most acclaimed soundtracks, has joined the Skydance Animation family. He will now write music for Skydance’s upcoming musical fantasy Spellbound. Glenn Slater (Tangled) and Chris Montan (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Frozen) will join him on these one-of-a-kind songs. Meanwhile, John Lasseter, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and David Lipman will be among the creators. Menken has been nominated for two Academy Awards for his work on Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas, and Beauty and the Beast.
About Skydance Animation
Skydance, although a relative newcomer to the digital animation space, is creating award-winning and highly acclaimed animation movies and short films. David Ellison founded Skydance Media in Santa Monica, California in 2006. The company has produced non-animated films such as Mission Impossible: Fallout, True Grit, Top Gun: Maverick, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and Jack Reacher. It currently focuses its efforts on film and television, particularly animated movies. Skydance was founded in 2010 by David Ellison to provide meaningful, diverse, and entertaining animated content to audiences all around the world.
About John Lasseter
Skydance Animation is led by John Lasseter. His skills include animating, directing, producing, and writing. From an early age, Lasseter’s mother encouraged him to pursue his talent for animation and enrolled him at the California Institute of Arts. John Lasseter was hired by Disney shortly after graduating. He was an early collaborator on numerous films, including The Hound, The Black Cauldron, and The Fox. When he joined Lucasfilm (now Pixar) to work on CGI projects, Toy Story was the company’s first feature-length digital animation picture. Lasseter rose to prominence as a CGI pioneer and is often credited with Pixar’s success. As Pixar and Disney’s chief creative officer, he participated in some of the world’s most famous animated movies, such as Cars, Frozen, A Bug’s Life, Brave, Finding Nemo, Up, and Inside Out. In 2019, Skydance hired John Lasseter as its director of animation intending to offer new and exciting animated movies, TV shows, and short films to fans around the globe.