Rich Moore
Rich Moore is an American film and television animation director, screenwriter and voice actor. In addition to directing the films Wreck-It Ralph (2012) and co-directing Zootopia (2016) and Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) for Walt Disney Animation Studios, he has worked on the animated television series The Simpsons, The Critic and Futurama. He is a two-time Emmy Award winner, a three-time Annie Award winner and an Academy Award winner.
Rich Moore | |
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Moore in 2012 | |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | California Institute of the Arts |
Occupation | Animation director, screenwriter, voice actor |
Years active | 1986–present |
Employer | Rough Draft Studios (1995–2008) Walt Disney Animation Studios (2008–2019) Sony Pictures Animation (2019–present) |
Notable work | The Simpsons The Critic Futurama Wreck-It Ralph Zootopia |
Early life
Moore was raised in Oxnard, California.[1] He studied film and video at the California Institute of the Arts, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1987.[2] While there, he narrated Jim Reardon's 1986 student film Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown.[2] Included in his CalArts class were famous filmmakers such as Andrew Stanton, Brenda Chapman, and Jim Reardon.
Career
Television
After graduating from CalArts, Moore worked for Ralph Bakshi on CBS's Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, co-writing all 13 season 1 episodes in 1987.[3][4] Moore was one of the original three directors of The Simpsons, directing 17 episodes in the first 5 seasons from 1990 to 1993,[5] including the episodes: "Flaming Moe's", "Itchy and Scratchy: The Movie", and "Marge vs. the Monorail".[6][7] He won a 1991 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program for The Simpsons: Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment,[8] and was the sequence director on The Simpsons Movie in 2007.[9]
In 1994, Moore became a producer and supervising director for the animated series The Critic.[5] He then oversaw the creative development and production of Futurama as the show's supervising director. He also directed several episodes of the animated series from 1999 to 2001, including the classic "Roswell That Ends Well",[5][6] for which he won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program.[10]
Moore's other television animation directing credits include Comedy Central's Drawn Together and "Spy vs. Spy" for MADtv.[5] He served as supervising director on the 2009 animated Fox television series Sit Down, Shut Up.[11]
Film
In 2004, Moore directed the Warner Bros. animated short film Duck Dodgers in Attack of the Drones.[5] In 2008, he was invited by John Lasseter to join Walt Disney Animation Studios as a director, with the suggestion that he develop a story set in the world of video games.[12] This would become the 2012 animated feature Wreck-It Ralph, Moore's feature directing debut, and a box office and critical success.[5][6] Moore also supplied the voices for the film's characters Sour Bill and Zangief.[13] Wreck-It Ralph won five Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature and a Best Director award for Moore,[14] and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.[15]
Moore's next animated feature film, Disney's Zootopia, which he co-directed with Byron Howard and Jared Bush, was released in March 2016, having the biggest worldwide opening for an animated film ever and the second highest-grossing animated feature film of 2016 to Finding Dory.
On April 8, 2019, Moore revealed that he had left Disney to join Sony Pictures Animation, where he would direct and produce original animated films for the studio.[16]
Awards
- 1991 – Outstanding Animated Program (Programming Less Than One Hour) for The Simpsons ("Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment")[8]
- 2002 – Outstanding Animated Program (Programming Less Than One Hour) for Futurama ("Roswell That Ends Well")[10]
- Annie Awards
- 2002 – Directing in an Animated Television Production for Futurama ("Roswell That Ends Well")[17]
- 2012 – Directing in an Animated Feature Production for Wreck-It Ralph[14]
- 2016 – Directing in an Animated Feature Production for Zootopia (Shared with Byron Howard)[18]
- Academy Awards
- 2012 – Nominated: Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for Wreck-It Ralph[15]
- 2016 – Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for Zootopia[19]
- 2018 – Nominated: Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for Ralph Breaks the Internet[19]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Credited as | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1986 | Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown | Narrator, Charlie Brown (voices) | Short film | |
1988 | Technological Threat | Character animator, story by | ||
2004 | Duck Dodgers in Attack of the Drones | Director | Short film, produced by Rough Draft Studios and Warner Bros. Animation | |
2006 | Especial |
Professor (voice) |
CG-feature animation film | Animagic, Nox Film Won Best Animated Feature at British Academy Children's Awards |
2007 | The Simpsons Movie | Sequence Director | ||
2011 | Gnomeo and Juliet | Special Thanks | ||
2012 | Wreck-It Ralph | Sour Bill and Zangief (voices) | Director, story by | Won Best Animated Feature at Annie Awards, Critics' Choice Movie Awards, National Board of Review Awards; Nominated for Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film |
2016 | Zootopia | Larry and Doug (voices) | Co-director (with Byron Howard and Jared Bush), story by | Won Best Animated Feature at Critics' Choice Movie Awards, Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, Best Animated Feature at Annie Awards, Academy Award for Best Animated Feature; Nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film |
Finding Dory | Special Thanks | |||
2018 | Ralph Breaks the Internet[20] | Sour Bill (voice) | Director (with Phil Johnston), story by | Nominated for Best Animated Feature at Critics' Choice Movie Awards, Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, Best Animated Feature at Annie Awards, Academy Award for Best Animated Feature |
2021 | Vivo[21] | Producer (with Lisa Stewart) |
Television directing credits
The Simpsons
- "The Telltale Head" (season 1, episode 8, original air date: February 25, 1990)
- "Homer's Night Out" (season 1, episode 10, March 25, 1990)
- "Simpson and Delilah" (season 2, episode 2, October 18, 1990)
- "Treehouse of Horror" (season 2, episode 3, October 25, 1990)
- "Dead Putting Society" (season 2, episode 6, November 15, 1990)
- "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" (season 2, episode 13, February 7, 1991)
- "Lisa's Substitute" (season 2, episode 19, April 25, 1991)
- "Stark Raving Dad" (season 3, episode 1, September 19, 1991)
- "Bart the Murderer" (season 3, episode 4, October 10, 1991)
- "Flaming Moe's" (season 3, episode 10, November 21, 1991)
- "Lisa the Greek" (season 3, episode 14, January 23, 1992)
- "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?" (season 3, episode 24, August 27, 1992)
- "A Streetcar Named Marge" (season 4, episode 2, October 1, 1992)
- "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie" (season 4, episode 6, November 3, 1992)
- "Marge vs. the Monorail" (season 4, episode 12, January 14, 1993)
- "The Front" (season 4, episode 19, April 15, 1993)
- "Cape Feare" (season 5, episode 2, October 7, 1993)
The Critic
- "Pilot" (season 1, episode 1, January 26, 1994)
- "Lady Hawke" (season 2, episode 3, March 19, 1995)
- "I Can't Believe It's a Clip Show" (season 2, episode 10, May 21, 1995)
Futurama
- "Space Pilot 3000" (co-directed with Gregg Vanzo) (season 1, episode 1, March 28, 1999)
- "Hell Is Other Robots" (season 1, episode 9, May 18, 1999)
- "A Clone of My Own" (season 2, episode 15, April 9, 2000)
- "Anthology of Interest I" (co-directed with Chris Louden) (season 2, episode 20, May 21, 2000)
- "Roswell That Ends Well" (season 4, episode 1, December 9, 2001)
Baby Blues
- "Bizzy Moves In" (season 1, episode 2, July 28, 2000)
Drawn Together
- "Clum Babies" (season 2, episode 5, November 16, 2005)
- "Alzheimer's That Ends Well" (season 2, episode 14, March 8, 2006)
References
- Gaudiosi, John (October 31, 2012). "'Wreck-It Ralph' Director Rich Moore Has Plenty of Game, Literally". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 30, 2018.
- "Wreck-It Ralph Director Rich Moore on his Film Sensibility: 'It's a CalArts Thing'" (Press release). California Institute of the Arts. November 29, 2012. Archived from the original on December 4, 2012.
- Rogers, Nathaniel (February 18, 2013). "Interview: Rich Moore on His Long Journey With 'Wreck-It Ralph'". The Film Experience.
- Morris, Chris (September 30, 2015). "Saturday-Morning Revolution: When Ralph Bakshi Met Mighty Mouse". Night Flight. Archived from the original on November 2, 2019.
- MacQuarrie, Jim (October 29, 2012). "Interview With Rich Moore and Clark Spencer, the Director and Producer of Wreck-It Ralph". Wired. Archived from the original on November 22, 2018.
- Goodsell, Luke (December 21, 2012). "Interview: Director Rich Moore on Wreck-It Ralph". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019.
- Lussier, Germain (September 12, 2012). "Film Interview: Rich Moore, Director of 'Wreck-It Ralph,' Talks Sequels, Cameos, and a Game Deleted From the Film". /Film. Archived from the original on November 22, 2018.
- "Emmy Awards: The Other Winners". Los Angeles Times. August 26, 1991. Archived from the original on May 13, 2020.
- Vo, Alex (July 30, 2007). "Comic-Con Premieres New Futurama Footage; Plus, We Interview Futurama's Rich Moore". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on December 4, 2017.
- "Futurama". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on April 28, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
- Brian Lowry, "Review: 'Sit Down, Shut Up'," Variety, April 15, 2009.
- Rich Moore, "Game Theory: The Passion Behind 'Wreck-It Ralph'," New York Times, December 28, 2012.
- Andy Wilson, "Rich Moore: From The Simpsons to Wreck-It Ralph," Huffington Post, May 5, 2013.
- Carolyn Giardina, "'Wreck-It Ralph' Wins Five Annie Awards Including Best Animated Feature," The Hollywood Reporter, February 2, 2013.
- Brian Truitt, "Disney inspiration is huge for 'Ralph' director," USA Today, February 22, 2013.
- McNary, Dave (April 8, 2019). "'Zootopia' Director Rich Moore Leaves Disney for Sony Pictures Animation". Variety. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- "30th Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners". International Animated Film Society. 2002. Archived from the original on 2007-07-02. Retrieved 2007-06-28.
- Flores, Terry (November 28, 2016). "'Zootopia' Tops Annie Awards Nominations, 'Kubo and the Two Strings' in Close Second". Variety. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
- Donnelly, Jim. "'Zootopia' Is the 2017 Oscar Winner for Animated Feature Film". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
- "Sequel to "Wreck-It Ralph" Hits Theaters on March 9, 2018 - The Walt Disney Company". 30 June 2016.
- Hopewell, John (12 June 2019). "Sony Pictures Animation Links To Tencent, Sets 'Boondocks,' Tartakovsky Duo". Variety. Retrieved 15 July 2019.