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Nik Ranieri | |
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 Ranieri in 2015 | |
| Born | August 23, 1961 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Alma mater | Sheridan College |
| Occupation | Animator |
| Employer | Walt Disney Animation Studios (1987–2013) |
| Awards |
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Nik Ranieri (born August 23, 1961) is a Canadian character animator who is primarily known for his work at Walt Disney Animation Studios. He has been supervising animator of many characters and remained so until his layoff in 2013.
After graduating from the Classical Animation Program at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, Ranieri went to work for Atkinson Film-Arts animation production studio (in Ottawa, Ontario). [1]
He began animating for Disney in 1987 on the London, England-based animation crew of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, working with director Richard Williams. Soon after that he moved to Disney's feature animation studio in Glendale, California, where he animated on The Little Mermaid (working primarily on the character of Ursula the sea witch, under directing animator Ruben Aquino). On his next film, Ranieri was promoted to supervising animator on the character of Wilbur in The Rescuers Down Under.
In 1995, he won an Annie Award in the category 'Individual Achievement in Character Animation' for his animation of the raccoon Meeko in Pocahontas. [2]
In 1997, he won an Annie Award in the category 'Individual Achievement in Character Animation' for his animation of Hades in Hercules. [3]
While Ranieri is regarded as one of the modern-day masters of hand-drawn character animation (especially excelling in subtle dialogue scenes and facial expressions) he also successfully made the switch to animating in CG on films such as Chicken Little, Meet the Robinsons and Bolt. Ranieri returned to his roots in classic hand-drawn animation for the 2009 Disney animated film The Princess and the Frog.
On April 6, 2013, The Walt Disney Company announced that Ranieri, along with eight other animators working at Walt Disney Animation Studios, had been laid off in an effort for the company as a whole to cut costs. [4]
He later worked at Studio Roqovan, where he worked on the video game World War Toons, up until the studio closed in 2019. Ranieri won the Outstanding Individual Achievement In Animation award in 2021 at the 73rd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards as Lead Character Layout for The Simpsons episode Wad Goals. [5]
| Year | Title | Credits | Characters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | The All-Night Show (TV Series) | Animator | |
| 1985 | The Body Electric (TV Movie) | Animator | |
| The Raccoons (TV Series) | Animator - 7 Episodes | ||
| 1988 | Who Framed Roger Rabbit | Animator | Roger Rabbit |
| 1989 | Cranium Command (Short) | Animator | |
| The Little Mermaid | Character Animator | Ursula | |
| 1990 | The Rescuers Down Under | Supervising Animator | Wilbur |
| 1991 | Beauty and the Beast | Supervising Animator | Lumiere |
| 1992 | Aladdin | Animator | Jafar |
| 1994 | Chariots of Fur (Short) | Animator | |
| 1995 | Pocahontas | Supervising Animator / Additional Story Development Artist | Meeko |
| 1997 | Hercules | Supervising Animator | Hades |
| 2000 | Fantasia 2000 | Character Designer - Segment " Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro, Opus 102 " | |
| The Emperor's New Groove | Supervising Animator | Kuzco/Kuzco Llama | |
| 2002 | Treasure Planet | Animator | Doctor Delbert Doppler |
| 2005 | Chicken Little | Supervising Animator | Buck "Ace" Cluck |
| 2007 | Meet the Robinsons | Supervising Animator | Lewis |
| 2008 | Bolt | Animator | |
| 2009 | The Princess and the Frog | Supervising Animator | Charlotte "Lottie" La Bouff |
| 2010 | Tangled | Animator | Mother Gothel |
| 2011 | Winnie the Pooh | Additional Animator | |
| 2012 | Wreck-It Ralph | Animator | |
| 2014 | The Prophet | Hand-Drawn Animation Supervisor | |
| 2016 | World War Toons (Video Game) | Animation Director | |
| 2023 | Once Upon a Studio (Short) | Animator | |
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