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.
Merino's grandparents are from Mexico. [1] Her father was a machinist, and her mother was an office manager. [2] She grew up in Norwalk, California, and studied sociology at University of California Santa Barbara. [2] Working as a social worker for a year, she began taking temp placements outside of that role, including at Disney. [2]
Merino began with Disney Animation in the 1990s, expecting to stay for five years. [2] [1]
Merino was a software engineer and technology administration manager for Chicken Little (2005), and promotional support for Meet the Robinsons (2007).
Having worked up through the technology department to the role of administrative manager, Tangled (2010) producer Roy Conli asked her to manage the editing department, which made her a production manager. [2]
She re-enrolled in school, receiving an MBA. [2] She was a production assistant for Wreck-It Ralph (2012). Merino was a production manager and departmental leadership for Big Hero 6 (2014), departmental leadership for Zootopia (2016), production manager for Moana (2016), [3] and studio and creative leadership for Raya and the Last Dragon (2021). Merino joined Encanto two years into development, as it started to transition to production. It is her first film where she is listed as the main producer. [1]
Merino created an employee resource group at Disney called Voces (Voices). [2] Separately, Encanto had a Familia Group, which would meet monthly for lunch to discuss the concept of family. [1]
Wilmer Eduardo Valderrama is an American actor. He is known for his role as Fez in the sitcom That '70s Show (1998–2006), his current role as Special Agent Nick Torres in NCIS (2016–present), and Agustín Madrigal in Encanto. He was also host of the MTV series Yo Momma (2006–07), the voice of Manny from the Playhouse Disney/Disney Junior animated series Handy Manny (2006–2013), and played Carlos Madrigal in From Dusk till Dawn: The Series (2014–2016). He has had recurring roles on Grey's Anatomy as well as The Ranch.
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 after the closure of Laugh-O-Gram Studio, it is the longest-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 62 feature films, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to Wish (2023), and hundreds of short films.
The Producers Guild of America Awards were originally established in 1990 by the Producers Guild of America (PGA) as the Golden Laurel Awards, created by PGA Treasurer Joel Freeman with the support of Guild President Leonard Stern, in order to honor the visionaries who produce and execute motion picture and television product. The ceremony has been hosted each year by celebrity host/presenters, including Nick Clooney, Michael Douglas, Robert Guillaume, James Earl Jones, Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Garry Marshall, Walter Matthau, Ronald Reagan, Marlo Thomas, Grant Tinker, Ted Turner, and Karen S. Kramer among others.
Byron P. Howard is an American animator, character designer, story artist, film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known as a director on 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.
Clark Spencer 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.
The Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting in a Feature Production is an Annie Award awarded annually to the best animated feature film and introduced in 1998 rewarding voice acting for animated feature films.
Jennifer Michelle Lee is an American filmmaker. She is the chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios. She is best known as the writer and one of the directors of Frozen (2013) and its sequel Frozen II (2019), the former of which earned her an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Lee is the first female director of a Walt Disney Animation Studios feature film and the first female director of two feature films that each earned more than $1 billion in gross box office revenue. She has won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and an Annie Award, and has been nominated for one more BAFTA Award and two more Annie Awards.
Zootopia is a 2016 American animated buddy cop action comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore, co-directed by Jared Bush, and produced by Clark Spencer, from a screenplay written by Bush and Phil Johnston, and a story by Howard, Moore, Bush, Johnston, Jim Reardon, Josie Trinidad, and Jennifer Lee. The film stars the voices of Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence, Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake, Tommy Chong, J. K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer, Alan Tudyk, and Shakira. Taking place in the titular city where anthropomorphic mammals coexist, it tells a story of an unlikely partnership between a rabbit police officer and a fox con artist as they uncover a criminal conspiracy involving the disappearance of some of its predatory citizens.
Moana, is a 2016 American animated musical fantasy adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, co-directed by Chris Williams and Don Hall, and produced by Osnat Shurer, from a screenplay written by Jared Bush, and based on a story conceived by Clements, Musker, Williams, Hall, Pamela Ribon, and the writing team of Aaron Kandell and Jordan Kandell.
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.
Chloe Auliʻi Cravalho is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut at the age of 16 as the voice of the title character in the Disney animated musical film Moana (2016). She went on to star in the NBC drama series Rise (2018), the Netflix drama film All Together Now (2020), the supernatural comedy Darby and the Dead (2022), the Amazon Prime Video sci-fi series The Power (2023), the Disney Channel animated series Hailey's On It!, and the 2024 film adaptation of the Mean Girls musical.
Encanto is a 2021 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard, co-directed by Charise Castro Smith, and produced by Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer, with original songs written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and an original musical orchestral score composed by Germaine Franco. The screenplay was written by Castro Smith and Bush, both of whom also conceived the film's story with Howard, Miranda, Jason Hand, and Nancy Kruse. The film stars the voices of Stephanie Beatriz, María Cecilia Botero, John Leguizamo, Mauro Castillo, Jessica Darrow, Angie Cepeda, Carolina Gaitán, Diane Guerrero, and Wilmer Valderrama, with Rhenzy Feliz, Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Adassa, and Maluma in additional roles. Encanto follows a multigenerational Colombian family, the Madrigals, led by a matriarch whose children and grandchildren—except for Mirabel Madrigal—receive magical gifts from a miracle, which they use to help the people in their rural community, called the Encanto. When Mirabel learns that the family is losing their magic, she sets out to find out why and save the family and house.
Moana 2 is an upcoming American animated musical fantasy adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The sequel to Moana (2016), the film was directed by David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller and produced by Christina Chen and Yvett Merino, from a screenplay by Jared Bush and Miller. The film stars Auliʻi Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, Rachel House, and Alan Tudyk, all reprising their roles from the first film, with Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda, Rose Matafeo, David Fane, Hualālai Chung, Awhimai Fraser, and Gerald Ramsey joining the cast.
Zootopia+ is an animated miniseries based on Zootopia by Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Jared Bush. Produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, the series was released on Disney+ on November 9, 2022.
Mirabel Madrigal is a fictional character that appears in the Walt Disney Animation Studios' film, Encanto (2021). Created by directors Byron Howard and Jared Bush, Mirabel is depicted as an imperfect, quirky, emotional, and empathetic 15-year-old girl who is the only member of the Madrigal family who does not receive a magical gift. When their "miracle" begins to fade, Mirabel takes it upon herself to save the magic, learning of her familial troubles.
Far from the Tree is a 2021 American animated short film written and directed by Natalie Nourigat and produced by Ruth Strother. The film follows a young curious raccoon whose father often scolds her for inadvertently putting herself in danger. When she becomes an adult, she finds herself and her son in similar circumstances to her parent and herself.
Zootopia 2 is an upcoming American animated buddy cop comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The sequel to Zootopia (2016), and the second installment in the Zootopia franchise, it is being written and directed by Jared Bush and produced by Yvett Merino. It stars Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman reprising their respective roles as Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde from the first film, joined by Ke Huy Quan and Fortune Feimster.
Zootopia, also known as Zootropolis or Zoomania in various regions, is a Disney media franchise that originally started in 2016 with the release of the American animated feature film Zootopia, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The series takes place in the titular city where anthropomorphic animals consisting of predators and prey coexist with one another.