Clark Spencer

Last updated

Clark Spencer
Born (1963-04-06) April 6, 1963 (age 60)
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Alma mater Harvard University
Occupation(s)President of Walt Disney Animation Studios, film producer, businessman, studio executive
Years active1993-present
Notable work Lilo & Stitch
Bolt
Winnie the Pooh
Wreck-It Ralph
Zootopia
Awards Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
Zootopia (2016)
Encanto (2021)

Clark Spencer (born April 6, 1963) is an American film producer, businessman and studio executive best known for his work at Walt Disney Animation Studios, and for winning the Oscars for Best Animated Feature for his work on Zootopia and Encanto .

Contents

Biography

Spencer was born in Seattle, Washington, and attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Tacoma, Washington from September 1976[ citation needed ] to June 1981. Spencer graduated from Harvard University in 1985 with a degree in history.

He joined Walt Disney Feature Animation in 1993. He was director of planning but moved on to be senior vice president of finance and operations. He moved on to the Florida animation division of the company where he was the head of studio before becoming the producer of Lilo & Stitch (2002). [1] [2] Since then, Spencer has gone on to also produce the Disney animated film Bolt , as well as Winnie the Pooh , Wreck-It Ralph and Zootopia . [3]

He was involved in the purchase of Miramax Films in the early 1990s.

In August 2019, Spencer was named president of Walt Disney Animation Studios after Andrew Millstein was moved over to co-president of Blue Sky Studios. [4]

Filmography

Feature films

YearTitle Producer Studio
Leadership
2002 Lilo & Stitch YesNo
2007 Meet the Robinsons ExecutiveNo
2008 Bolt YesNo
2009 The Princess and the Frog NoUncredited
2010 Tangled NoYes
2011 Winnie the Pooh YesYes
2012 Wreck-It Ralph YesUncredited
2013 Frozen NoYes
2014 Big Hero 6 NoYes
2016 Zootopia YesYes
Moana NoYes
2018 Ralph Breaks the Internet YesYes
2019 Frozen II NoYes
2021 Raya and the Last Dragon NoYes
Encanto YesYes
2022 Strange World NoYes
2023 Wish NoYes

Short films

YearTitle Producer
2009 Super Rhino Yes

Awards

Producers Guild of America
Academy Award

Related Research Articles

The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is given each year for animated films. An animated feature is defined by the academy as a film with a running time of more than 40 minutes in which characters' performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique, a significant number of the major characters are animated, and animation figures in no less than 75 percent of the running time. The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature was first awarded in 2002 for films released in 2001.

The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards, covering the year 1931–32, to the present.

Modern animation in the United States from 1989 to 2004 is referred to as the renaissance age of American animation. During this period, many large American entertainment companies reformed and reinvigorated their animation departments, following a dark age during the 1970s to mid 1980s. During this time the United States had a profound effect on animation worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walt Disney Animation Studios</span> American animation studio

Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene from its first synchronized sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie (1928). Founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney, it is the oldest-running animation studio in the world. It is currently organized as a division of Walt Disney Studios and is headquartered at the Roy E. Disney Animation Building at the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California. Since its foundation, the studio has produced 61 feature films, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to Strange World (2022), and hundreds of short films.

Jim Reardon is an American animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter, and television director. He is best known for his work on the animated TV series The Simpsons. He has directed over 30 episodes of the series and was credited as a supervising director for seasons 9 through 15. He has been described by Ralph Bakshi as "one of the best cartoon writers in the business".

<i>Bolt</i> (2008 film) 2008 animated Disney film

Bolt is a 2008 American computer-animated comedy-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 48th Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Chris Williams and Byron Howard and produced by Clark Spencer, from a screenplay written by Williams and Dan Fogelman. The film stars the voices of John Travolta, Susie Essman, Mark Walton, Miley Cyrus, Malcolm McDowell, Diedrich Bader, Nick Swardson, and Greg Germann. This was also one of the final film roles for James Lipton before his death in 2020, the other being Igor, which was released the same year as Bolt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Sanders</span> American filmmaker, illustrator, and voice actor

Christopher Michael Sanders is an American animator, director, screenwriter, producer, illustrator, and voice actor. His credits include Lilo & Stitch (2002) and How to Train Your Dragon (2010), both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with Dean DeBlois, The Croods (2013) with Kirk DeMicco, and The Call of the Wild (2020). He is also known for creating the story behind Lilo & Stitch and for creating and voicing its latter title character in the film and its franchise.

Raymond Saharath Persi is an American animator, director, screenwriter, producer, storyboard artist and voice actor. He has directed many episodes of The Simpsons, including "Mobile Homer", "The Girl Who Slept Too Little", "The Monkey Suit", "Little Big Girl", "24 Minutes", "Love, Springfieldian Style" and the Emmy Award-winning "The Seemingly Never-Ending Story". Persi went on to work as a sequence director for The Simpsons Movie (2007).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rich Moore</span> American film director

Rich Moore is an American film and television animation director, screenwriter and voice actor. He has directed the films Wreck-It Ralph (2012) and co-directed Zootopia (2016) and Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) for Walt Disney Animation Studios. In addition, he has also 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Hahn</span> American film producer and director (born 1955)

Donald Paul Hahn is an American film producer who is credited with producing some of the most successful animated films in recent history, including Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King.

The Annie Award for Best Animated Feature is an Annie Award introduced in 1992, awarded annually to the best animated feature film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byron Howard</span> American film director and animator

Byron P. Howard is an American animator, character designer, story artist, film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known as the director of the Walt Disney Animation Studios films Bolt (2008), Tangled (2010), Zootopia (2016), and Encanto (2021). He is the first LGBT director to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature twice for his work on Zootopia and Encanto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disney Renaissance</span> Period of Disney animated films, 1989–1999

The Disney Renaissance was a period from November 17, 1989 to June 18, 1999 during which Walt Disney Feature Animation returned to producing critically and commercially successful animated films. These were mostly musical adaptations of well-known stories, similar to the films produced during the era of Walt Disney from the 1930s to 1960s. The resurgence allowed Disney's animated films to become a powerhouse of successes at the domestic and foreign box office, earning much greater profits than most of the Disney films of previous eras.

<i>Paperman</i> 2012 American film

Paperman is a 2012 American black-and-white computer-cel animated romantic comedy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Directed by John Kahrs, it blends traditional and computer animation, and features the voices of Kahrs and Kari Wahlgren in the leading roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Kahrs</span> American actor, animator and film director

John Kahrs is an American actor, animator and film director.

Jared Bush is an American screenwriter, producer and director. He is best known for co-writing and co-directing the Walt Disney Animation Studios film Zootopia (2016), writing the film Moana (2016) and writing, directing and winning an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for the film Encanto (2021) besides co-creating and executive producing the Disney XD animated series Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero.

Yvett Merino is a film producer who served as a main producer for the film Disney's Encanto. As producer, she won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, with Jared Bush, Byron Howard, and Clark Spencer.

Wonderful World of Animation is a nighttime show at Disney's Hollywood Studios. The show is a celebration of all Disney animation, beginning with Mickey Mouse. It premiered on May 1, 2019, as part of the park's 30th anniversary celebration, replacing Disney Movie Magic.

Wondrous Journeys is a projection mapping and fireworks show at Disneyland that debuted on January 27, 2023. It premiered alongside World of Color: One as part of the Disney 100 Years of Wonder celebration to commemorate the 100th anniversary of The Walt Disney Company. The show contains a large assortment of songs and characters from Walt Disney Animation Studios films.

References

  1. The Story Room: The Making of 'Lilo & Stitch' (DVD). Burbank, CA: Walt Disney Home Entertainment. 2005.
  2. Jérémie Noyer (March 24, 2009). "Lilo & Stitch: Producer Clark Spencer on a Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride!". Animated Views. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  3. "Clark Spencer". IMDb. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  4. Keegan, Rebecca (August 9, 2019). "Disney Installs Top Animation Execs at Fox's Blue Sky". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved June 26, 2022.
  5. Donnelly, Jim. "OSCAR NOMINATIONS 2019: SEE FULL LIST OF NOMINEES". The Oscars. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  6. "93rd Academy Awards Nominees". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on March 15, 2021. Retrieved March 15, 2021.