Byron Howard
Byron P. Howard (born December 26, 1968)[1] is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, story artist and occasional voice actor at Walt Disney Animation Studios. He is best known as the co-director of Bolt (2008), Tangled (2010), and Zootopia (2016), and a supervising animator on Lilo & Stitch (2002) and Brother Bear (2003). He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Tangled[2] and won an Oscar for Zootopia.
Byron Howard | |
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Howard at the 2015 Annecy International Animated Film Festival | |
Born | Misawa, Japan | December 26, 1968
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Evergreen State College |
Occupation | Director, screenwriter, producer, animator, voice actor |
Employer | Walt Disney Animation Studios (1994–present) |
Notable work | Bolt Tangled Zootopia |
Signature | |
Early life and education
Howard was born in Misawa, Japan, and raised in both the outskirts of Philadelphia[3] and Issaquah, Washington, United States, in a middle-class family. He attended Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.[4]
Career
Howard began his career at Disney in 1994,[4] working as an animator on films including Pocahontas, Mulan, Lilo & Stitch and Brother Bear.[5][6] He was nominated for a 2003 Annie Award for Character Animation for Brother Bear.[7]
The first film Howard directed was the animated Disney film Bolt, which was nominated for the 2008 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.[8] In his role as co-director of the film with Chris Williams, Howard focused on character design and animation.[8] Howard went on to direct the animated Disney films Tangled (2010, co-directed with Nathan Greno) and Zootopia (2016, co-directed with Rich Moore).[9][10][11] He and Greno also co-directed and wrote the animated short Tangled Ever After, which features supporting characters from Tangled and showed in theaters before the 2012 3D re-release of Beauty and the Beast.[12]
As of November 2016, Howard is working with Lin-Manuel Miranda on an original animated film.[13] Howard will co-direct the film, tentatively titled Encanto, alongside Zootopia co-director Jared Bush and Charise Castro Smith, while Miranda will write songs for the project, which will center on a girl from a magical Colombian family who lacks magic herself.[14][15][16]
In 2009, Howard became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.[17]
Personal life
In the Fusion documentary Imagining Zootopia, Howard mentioned he is openly gay and has been married since 1988.[3]
Filmography
Year | Title | Credited as | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1995 | Pocahontas | Inbetweener | |
1998 | Mulan | Animator | |
2000 | John Henry | Supervising animator | Short film, from Disney's American Legends (2002) |
2002 | Lilo & Stitch | Supervising animator, character designer | Cobra Bubbles |
2003 | Brother Bear | Supervising animator | Nominated for Annie Award for Character Animation |
2005 | Chicken Little | Additional story artist | |
2008 | Bolt | Co-director (with Chris Williams), additional screenplay material | Nominated for Academy Award for Best Animated Feature |
2009 | Super Rhino | Executive producer | Short film, included on home video release of Bolt |
2010 | Tangled | Co-director (with Nathan Greno), voices of Guard 2 and Thug 2 | Won Tokyo Anime Award for International Theater; nominated for Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Animated Feature |
2012 | Tangled Ever After | Co-director (with Nathan Greno), writer, voices of Lantern Wrangler and Chef | Short film |
2016 | Zootopia | Co-director (with Rich Moore and Jared Bush), story by, supervising animator, voices of Travis and Bucky Oryx-Antlerson |
Won Academy Award for Best Animated Feature |
TBA | Encanto (working title)[18] [19][15][16] | Co-director (with Jared Bush and Charise Castro Smith) |
Awards
- Golden Globe Award
- 2008 – Nominated: Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film for Bolt
- 2010 – Nominated: Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film for Tangled[2]
- 2017 – Won: Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film for Zootopia
- Academy Award
- 2008 – Nominated: Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for Bolt
- 2010 – Nominated: Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for Tangled
- 2017 – Won: Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for Zootopia[20]
See also
- List of LGBT Academy Award winners and nominees
References
- Byron Howard [@ByronPHoward] (26 December 2015). "#Zootopia birthday wishes <3 thank you, my talented friend @LePrinceKido Can't wait to see you in Paris soon!" (Tweet) – via Twitter. /photo/1
- Justin Kroll and Rachel Abrams, "Golden Globe Nomination Reactions," Variety, December 14, 2010.
- "Imagining Zootopia - Part 7: Zootopia and Us". www.youtube.com.
- Ally Sikora, "A long, drawn-out process," St. Petersburg Times, September 15, 2003.
- Ramin Zahed, "Byron Howard to Direct New Disney Feature," Animation Magazine, May 6, 2013.
- Borys Kit, "Disney, 'Tangled' Director Plot New Animated Feature With Jason Bateman," The Hollywood Reporter, May 3, 2013.
- "31st Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners," annieawards.org, 2003.
- Ellen Wolff, "Animated Oscar noms took long road," Variety, February 5, 2009.
- Peter Debruge, "Film Review: 'Zootopia'," Variety, February 12, 2016.
- Dan Sarto, "Byron Howard and Rich Moore Talk 'Zootopia'," Animation World Network, December 4, 2015.
- Christina Radish, "'Zootopia': Rich Moore, Byron Howard on Their Animated World, Frank Capra Influences," Collider, January 20, 2016.
- Noelene Clark, "'Tangled Ever After': Disney lets its hair down," Los Angeles Times, January 15, 2012.
- Buchanan, Kyle (November 15, 2016). "Lin-Manuel Miranda Reveals He's Making a Secret Disney Film". Vulture. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
- "Report: 'Zootopia' Directors Byron Howard and Jared Bush To Helm Disney Animation's Newest Film Centered on A Latinx Family". The DisnInsider. January 29, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
- "Exclusive: Byron Howard and Jared Bush to Direct 'Encanto' For Walt Disney Animation Studios". The DisnInsider. June 17, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
- Evans, Greg (June 22, 2020). "Lin-Manuel Miranda Confirms New Disney Animated Movie Set In Colombia". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
- Andrew Stewart, "AMPAS invites 134 to join ranks," Variety, June 30, 2009.
- "Disney's Teaming Lin Manuel Miranda with Zootopia Co-Director for Secret Animated Film". Cinemablend.
- "Walt Disney Animation Hires Directors for Four New Original Film Projects -". October 1, 2019.
- Donnelly, Jim. "ZOOTOPIA IS THE 2017 OSCAR WINNER FOR ANIMATED FEATURE FILM". The Oscars. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 27 February 2017.