Byron Howard

For the fictional character, see Byron Howard (Haven).
Not to be confused with Ron Howard.

Byron Howard
Howard at the 2015 Annecy International Animated Film Festival
Born (1968-12-26) December 26, 1968 (age 55)
Misawa, Aomori, Japan
NationalityAmerican
Alma materEvergreen State College
Occupations
  • Animator
  • character designer
  • story artist
  • film director
  • film producer
  • screenwriter
EmployerWalt Disney Animation Studios (1994–present)
Notable workBolt
Tangled
Zootopia
Encanto
Signature

Byron P. Howard (born December 26, 1968)[1] is an American animator, character designer, story artist, film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known as one of the directors of the Walt Disney Animation Studios films Bolt (2008), Tangled (2010), Zootopia (2016), Encanto (2021), and the upcoming Zootopia 2 (2025). He is the first LGBT director to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature twice for his work on Zootopia and Encanto.

Early life and education

Howard was born in Misawa, Japan, and raised in both the outskirts of Philadelphia[2] and Issaquah, Washington, United States, in a middle-class family. He attended Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.[3]

Career

Howard began his career at Disney as a tour guide at Disney MGM Studios. Howard had dreamed of working for Disney, and had written to Master Animator Frank Thomas, one of Disney's Nine Old Men, as he was growing up. He soon began the Disney Studio Internship and was hired in 1994,[3] working as an animator on films including Pocahontas, Mulan, Lilo & Stitch and Brother Bear.[4][5] He was nominated for a 2003 Annie Award for Character Animation for Brother Bear.[6]

The first film Howard directed was the animated Disney film Bolt, which was nominated for the 2008 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.[7] In his role as co-director of the film with Chris Williams, Howard focused on character design and animation.[7] Howard went on to direct the animated Disney films Tangled (2010, co-directed with Nathan Greno) and Zootopia (2016, co-directed with Rich Moore).[8][9][10] He and Greno also co-directed and wrote the animated short Tangled Ever After, which features supporting characters from Tangled and showed in theaters before the 2012 3D re-release of Beauty and the Beast.[11]

Following the making of Zootopia, Howard was one of the keynote speakers at the 2016 View Conference. He presented on the process behind the making of Zootopia and he taught the skills behind creating characters in a workshop entitled “The DNA of Disney Character Design.”[12] After his work on Zootopia, Howard worked with Lin-Manuel Miranda on Encanto.[13] Howard co-directed the film, alongside Zootopia co-director Jared Bush and Charise Castro Smith, while Miranda wrote songs for the project, which centered on a girl from a magical Colombian family who lacks magic herself.[14] Howard was officially announced as the co-director of Zootopia 2 on September 20, 2024, alongside Jared Bush, who the day before had become Chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios following Jennifer Lee's resignation of the position to direct Frozen 3.[15]

In 2009, Howard became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.[16]

Personal life

In the Fusion documentary Imagining Zootopia, Howard mentioned he is openly gay and has been married since 1988.[2]

Filmography

Feature films

Year Film Credited as
Director Story Executive
Producer 		Animator Visual
Development
Artist 		Other Voice Role Notes
1995 Pocahontas No No No No No Yes In-between-er
1998 Mulan No No No Yes No No Animator: Yao and Fa Family Ancestors
2002 Lilo & Stitch No No No Supervising No Yes Supervising Animator: Cobra Bubbles
Character Design
2003 Brother Bear No No No Supervising No No Supervising Animator: Kenai - Bear
2005 Chicken Little No No No No No Yes Additional Story Artist
2008 Bolt Yes No No No No Yes Additional Screenplay Material
2009 The Princess and the Frog No No No No No No Disney Story Trust - uncredited [17]
2010 Tangled Yes No No No No Yes Guard 2/Thug 2
2011 Winnie the Pooh No No No No No No
2012 Wreck-It Ralph No No No No Additional No
2013 Frozen No No No No No No
2014 Big Hero 6 No No No No No Yes Creative Leadership
2016 Zootopia Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Bucky Oryx-Antlerson/Travis
Moana No No No No No Yes
2018 Ralph Breaks the Internet No No No No No Yes
2019 Frozen II No No Yes No No Yes
2021 Raya and the Last Dragon No No No No No Yes Additional Story, Creative Leadership
Encanto Yes Yes No No No Yes Creative Leadership
2022 Strange World No No No No No Yes
2023 Wish No No No No No Yes
2024 Moana 2 No No No No No Yes
2025 Zootopia 2 Yes TBA No No TBA Yes

Short films and series

Year Title Director Writer Artistic
Supervisor 		Executive
Producer 		Other Voice Notes
2000 John Henry No No Yes No No Character Animation
2009 Super Rhino No No No Yes No
2012 Tangled Ever After Yes Yes No No Yes Lantern Wrangler / Chef
2022 Zootopia+ No No No Yes Yes Bucky Oryx-Antlerson Disney+ Original short films
2024 Iwájú No No No Yes No Disney+ Original long-form limited series

Awards

Golden Globe Award
Academy Award

See also

References

  1. ^ Byron Howard [@ByronPHoward] (26 December 2015). "#Zootopia birthday wishes <3 thank you, my talented friend @LePrinceKido Can't wait to see you in Paris soon!" (Tweet) – via Twitter./photo/1
  2. ^ a b "Imagining Zootopia - Part 7: Zootopia and Us". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
  3. ^ a b Ally Sikora, "A long, drawn-out process," St. Petersburg Times, September 15, 2003.
  4. ^ Ramin Zahed, "Byron Howard to Direct New Disney Feature," Animation Magazine, May 6, 2013.
  5. ^ Borys Kit, "Disney, 'Tangled' Director Plot New Animated Feature With Jason Bateman," The Hollywood Reporter, May 3, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2022
  6. ^ "31st Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners," annieawards.org, 2003.
  7. ^ a b Ellen Wolff, "Animated Oscar noms took long road," Variety, February 5, 2009.
  8. ^ Peter Debruge, "Film Review: 'Zootopia'," Variety, February 12, 2016.
  9. ^ Dan Sarto, "Byron Howard and Rich Moore Talk 'Zootopia'," Animation World Network, December 4, 2015.
  10. ^ Christina Radish, "'Zootopia': Rich Moore, Byron Howard on Their Animated World, Frank Capra Influences," Collider, January 20, 2016.
  11. ^ Noelene Clark, "'Tangled Ever After': Disney lets its hair down," Los Angeles Times, January 15, 2012.
  12. ^ Flores, Terry (2016-08-04). "'Zootopia' Co-Director Byron Howard Among View Conference Keynote Speakers". Variety. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  13. ^ Buchanan, Kyle (November 15, 2016). "Lin-Manuel Miranda Reveals He's Making a Secret Disney Film". Vulture. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  14. ^ Evans, Greg (June 22, 2020). "Lin-Manuel Miranda Confirms New Disney Animated Movie Set In Colombia". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  15. ^ @thejaredbush (September 20, 2024). "Yesterday was a big day @DisneyAnimation! I am so honored to be stepping into this new role with the most talented people in the world and I'm so excited for all that is to come. So let's start with what's next RIGHT NOW: overjoyed to announce we are getting the band back together! Byron Howard will officially be joining me as Director of Zootopia 2!!!!!" (Tweet). Retrieved September 20, 2024 – via Twitter.
  16. ^ Andrew Stewart, "AMPAS invites 134 to join ranks," Variety, June 30, 2009.
  17. ^ Goldman, Eric (February 18, 2016). "How Disney's Story Trust Helped Change Big Hero 6, Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph and More". IGN. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  18. ^ Justin Kroll and Rachel Abrams, "Golden Globe Nomination Reactions" Variety, December 14, 2010.
  19. ^ Ansari, Talal (2022-01-10). "Golden Globe Award Winners 2022: See the Full List, From 'The Power of the Dog' to 'Succession'". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
  20. ^ Donnelly, Jim. "ZOOTOPIA IS THE 2017 OSCAR WINNER FOR ANIMATED FEATURE FILM". The Oscars. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
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