From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Chris Williams (director)

American and Canadian animator, film director and screenwriter

Summary

American and Canadian animator, film director and screenwriter

Field	Value
name	Chris Williams
image	Chris Williams 2022.jpg
caption	Williams in 2022
birth_place	Missouri, U.S.
years_active	1996–present
occupation	Animator, film director, screenwriter, voice actor
employer	Walt Disney Animation Studios (1998–2018)
Netflix (2018–present)
notable_works	Glago's Guest
Bolt
Big Hero 6
Moana
The Sea Beast
alma_mater	University of Waterloo
Sheridan College
awards	Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
Big Hero 6 (2014)

Netflix (2018–present) Bolt Big Hero 6 Moana The Sea Beast Sheridan College Big Hero 6 (2014)

Chris Williams is an American and Canadian animation film director, screenwriter and voice actor who is best known for directing the films Bolt (2008) and Big Hero 6 (2014) and co-directing the film Moana (2016) for Walt Disney Animation Studios, and for directing the film The Sea Beast (2022) for Netflix Animation.

Early life

Williams was born in Missouri and spent the first 25 years of his life in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, where his father was the director of Counselling Services at the University of Waterloo. and then enrolled in the animation program at Sheridan College, Oakville, Ontario. Upon graduation from Sheridan, he was recruited by Disney and moved to Los Angeles.

Career

Williams previously worked in the story department for Mulan (1998), The Emperor's New Groove (2000) and Frozen (2013), in which he also voiced the character Oaken. In February 2007, it was announced he would direct American Dog, which was re-titled Bolt (2008) and was later joined by Byron Howard, both of them replaced Chris Sanders who was the original director.

In July 2010, it was reported by various sources that Williams would direct King of the Elves based on the story by Philip K. Dick. However, in 2012, it was revealed that Williams had joined another Walt Disney Animation film, Big Hero 6, as a co-director inspired by the Marvel Comics of the same name.

In November 2018, it was reported that Williams had left Disney and he would write and direct The Sea Beast for Netflix. The Sea Beast was released on Netflix on July 8, 2022.

Filmography

Feature films

Year	Film	Credited as	Director
Artist	Other	Voice	Notes
1998	Mulan
2000	The Emperor's New Groove
2002	Lilo & Stitch				Head of Story
2003	Brother Bear				Additional Story
2005	Chicken Little
2007	Meet the Robinsons
2008	Bolt			Additional Voices	Disney Story Trust - uncredited

2009	The Princess and the Frog
2010	Tangled
2011	Winnie the Pooh
2012	Wreck-It Ralph
2013	Frozen			Oaken
2014	Big Hero 6				Creative Leadership
2016	Zootopia				Additional Story, Creative Leadership
Moana				Creative Leadership
2018	Ralph Breaks the Internet
2019	Frozen II			Oaken (uncredited)
2021	Raya and the Last Dragon				Additional Story
2022	The Sea Beast				Netflix Original Film

Shorts and TV

Year	Title	Director	Writer
Producer	Other	Voice	Notes
2008	Glago's Guest
2009	Super Rhino
Prep & Landing					TV special
2015	Frozen Fever				Oaken
2016	LEGO Frozen: Northern Lights				Episode: "Journey to the Lights"
2017	Gone Fishing
Olaf's Frozen Adventure				Oaken	Featurette
2020	Once Upon a Snowman				Disney+ Original Short Film

Other credits

Year	Title	Role
2012	Paperman	Special Thanks
2020	The Willoughbys
2022	Strange World	Very Special Thanks
2023	Nimona	Special Thanks
2024	Moana 2	Special Thanks - Gratitude (as “Chris”)
2025	The Twits	Special Thanks
In Your Dreams

References

Knelman, Martin. (February 25, 2009). "Bolt from blue took Canadian to Oscars". The Star.
(23 February 2015). "University of Waterloo alumnus wins Oscar for Big Hero 6". University of Waterloo.
Fritz, Ben. (February 8, 2007). "'Toy Story' sequel set".
Sciretta, Peter. (June 20, 2008). "Bolt Teaser Poster; A Look Back at American Dog". [[/Film]].
(August 6, 2010). "King of the Elves being reworked; Disney plans far ahead". Filmonic.
(June 29, 2011). "Disney revives 'King of the Elves' toon".
Chitwood, Adam. (June 29, 2011). "Disney Sets HORRIBLE BOSSES Scribe to Pen KING OF THE ELVES". Collider.
Giardina, Carolyn. (December 31, 2013). "Chris Williams To Co-Direct Disney Animation's 'Big Hero 6' With Don Hall". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
Lang, Brent. (November 5, 2018). "Netflix Backs 'Jacob and the Sea Beast' From 'Big Hero 6' Director Chris Williams (EXCLUSIVE)".
(February 18, 2016). "How Disney's ''Story Trust'' Helped Change Big Hero 6, Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph and More". [[IGN]].
(January 13, 2017). "'Moana' Sails Home on Digital HD February 21 and Blu-ray March 7". Animation World Network.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

american-animated-film-directors american-expatriates-in-canada american-male-screenwriters american-male-voice-actors animation-screenwriters animators-from-missouri annie-award-winners directors-of-best-animated-feature-academy-award-winners film-directors-from-missouri living-people male-actors-from-missouri netflix-animation-people people-from-kitchener,-ontario primetime-emmy-award-winners sheridan-college-animation-program-alumni university-of-waterloo-alumni walt-disney-animation-studios-people writers-from-ontario

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Chris Williams (director) — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report