CHRIS BUCK
A native of Wichita, Kansas,
Chris Buck made his feature directing debut with Disney's blockbuster animated feature,
tarzan (1999).
Having studied character animation at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), one of Buck's first major jobs was as an animator on the Disney movie
The Fox and the Hound (1981). Work on films such as
Oliver & Company (1988) and
The Little Mermaid (1989) followed, and he received an Annie nomination for Best Individual Achievement for Animation for creating Grandmother Willow in
Pocahontas (1995).
He performed experimental animation for
The Rescuers Down Under and
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and worked as a supervising animator on Walt Disney Pictures' 2004 feature
Home on the Range.
Other accomplishments include a stint at Hyperion Pictures, where Buck helped develop several films and served as a directing animator on the feature
Bebe's Kids. He also joined creative forces with director
Tim Burton to help storyboard Disney's live-action featurette
Frankenweenie. Buck later worked with Burton again as directing animator on the
Brad Bird-directed "Family Dog" episode of
Steven Spielberg's
Amazing Stories and as director of the subsequent primetime animated series.
Buck's career also spans a number of animated commercials (including some with the Keebler elves) and he also taught character animation classes at CalArts.
More recently, he co-directed the animated feature
Surf's Up (2007) with
Ash Brannon. The movie features penguins competing in a world surfing championship.
Filmography:
Surf's Up (2007)
tarzan (1999)