Simon Wells

Early life and education

Born in Cambridge, he attended The Perse School and De Montfort University where he studied audio-visual design. Upon graduating he found a job at Richard Williams's studio where he animated commercials and other projects. Wells later supervised the animation on Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Career

Wells began his film career by joining Richard Williams Animation, where he served as a supervising animator on Who Framed Roger Rabbit. After the closing of Richard Williams Animation, Wells became a member of Amblimation, a studio owned by Steven Spielberg, where he served as director on their only three films: An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story and Balto. Wells was set to direct a sequel to Casper, but the project was cancelled.

After the closing of Amblimation, Wells joined DreamWorks where he worked as storyboard artist on many animated projects, and also directed The Prince of Egypt which was nominated for an Annie Award.

In 2002, Wells directed his first live-action film, a film adaptation of his great-grandfather's book The Time Machine.

Wells went back to DreamWorks Animation, where he continued as a story artist for films such as Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002), Shrek 2 (2004), Madagascar (2005) and Flushed Away (2006).

In 2011 he co-wrote and directed Mars Needs Moms using motion-capture technology during the filming.

Filmography

Director

• An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991)
• We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993)
• Balto (1995)
• The Prince of Egypt (1998)
• The Time Machine (2002)
• Mars Needs Moms (2011) (Also writer)

Story artist

• Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)
• Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)
• Madagascar (2005)
• Over the Hedge (2006)
• Flushed Away (2006)
• Shrek the Third (2007)
• Kung Fu Panda (2008)
• The Croods (2013)
• Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)
• The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017)
• The Croods: A New Age (2020)
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)
• Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023)
• Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024)

Additional story artist

• Antz (1998)
• The Road to El Dorado (2000)
• Chicken Run (2000)
• Shrek 2 (2004)
• Shark Tale (2004)
• Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
• How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019)
• Ultraman: Rising (2024)

Other credits

References

References

1. (2022-05-10). "20 years ago, H.G. Wells' great-grandson reimagined a time travel classic".
2. Sciences, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and. "'The Prince of Egypt' Directors Look Back on Their Animated Landmark 25 Years Later (Exclusive)".
3. (18 December 2023). "Watch: DreamWorks Celebrates 'The Prince of Egypt' 25th Anniversary with Video Reminiscences".
4. "Mars Needs Moms, but Earth needs Director Simon Wells!". Josh Armstrong.
5. Crislip, Anthony. (2023-06-18). "How Disney's Mars Needs Moms Became 2011's Biggest Box Office Flop".