Gary Trousdale
Trousdale at the 2014Annecy International Animated Film Festival
Born	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupations	Animator film director screenwriter storyboard artist
Years active	1982–present
Employer(s)	Walt Disney Feature Animation (1984–2003) DreamWorks Animation (2003–2019)

Gary Trousdale is an American animator, film director, screenwriter and storyboard artist. He is best known for directing films such asBeauty and the Beast (1991),The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), andAtlantis: The Lost Empire (2001). He frequently works withKirk Wise andDon Hahn.

Trousdale was raised inLa Crescenta, north ofGlendale,California. He had planned to be an architect, but had failed at math. Instead, he had decided to study animation atCalArts, where he studied for three years. After his studying, he applied to work as an animator for Carter/Mendez Productions.^[1] He was hired in 1982 to design storyboards and do other animation. He then went to work designing restaurant menus and T-shirts.

Trousdale was hired byWalt Disney Productions in 1984 as an inbetween effects animator onThe Black Cauldron (1985). Trousdale then worked as a storyboard artist onOliver & Company (1988) andThe Little Mermaid (1989).^[2] It was on the former film Trousdale became re-acquainted withKirk Wise, his future collaborator. Wise recalled, "Gary and I actually met at CalArts in my first year, that would've been 1981 ...We didn't cross paths again until I was at Disney. I worked at the end ofThe Great Mouse Detective, I got laid off for a year and came back in '87/'88 onOliver & Company in the story department and that's where Gary and I started working together."^[3]

While working onThe Rescuers Down Under (1990), Trousdale and Wise were fired from the project due to creative differences, most particularly after their desire to have anAboriginal Australian child actor hired to voice Cody was ignored.^[4] They both moved toOrlando,Florida to theDisney-MGM Studios where they developed aRoger Rabbit short film titledBuggy Buggy Blunder, which told of Baby Herman's stroller getting away fromRoger while they were out in the city.^[3] Their pitch was rejected by the studio's management.^[5] Trousdale and Wise then directed the animated opening sequence forCranium Command, an attraction ride at theWalt Disney World Resort'sEPCOT Center. Trousdale explained, "...there was a shakeup on the directorial side... they said you guys go, that's how we got put together."^[3]

In 1988, Richard Purdum had been hired to directBeauty and the Beast (1991). A storyboard reel was screened forJeffrey Katzenberg, to which he strongly disapproved declaring it was too dark and dramatic. As a result, in December 1989, Purdum amicably resigned as director.^[6] At the time, Trousdale and Wise were developingGoofy of the Apes, a spoof ofTarzan of the Apes starringGoofy.^[3] Trousdale and Wise received a phone call from Charlie Fink, the studio's vice president of creative affairs, requesting they board "a plane next Monday for New York". Recalling their success onCranium Command, Katzenberg had been considered them as potential candidates to direct the film. Both men met with Katzenberg,Howard Ashman,Peter Schneider,Don Hahn, andLinda Woolverton to begin overhauling the story, and subsequently flew back to Glendale.^[1][5] Within three months, they served as acting directors before they became the film's official directors.^[7] As directors, Trousdale directed the live-action reference footage and supervised the layout and special effects, while Wise supervised the character animation and character cleanup. Both directors nevertheless were involved in the art direction, storyboarding, voice recording, editing, and background design.^[8]

Beauty and the Beast was released to critical acclaim, and by February 1992, it became the first animated film to gross $100 million in North America alone.^[9] The film was subsequently nominated for anAcademy Award forBest Picture, becoming the first animated film to achieve this feat.^[10] That same month, Trousdale and Wise helped to rewriteThe Lion King (1994), working alongside Hahn,Roger Allers,Brenda Chapman, andChris Sanders to conceive a new story outline in two days.^[11] For about a year, Trousdale and Wise developedSong of the Sea, an animated retelling of the Greek myth ofOrpheus and Eurydice but withhumpback whales.^[12] However, in 1993, both directors received a phone call from Katzenberg, telling them:"'Guys, drop everything—you're working onHunchback now.'"^[13]

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) reunited most of the production team that had worked onBeauty and the Beast (1991), with the inclusion of two Parisian-based animatorsPaul and Gaëtan Brizzi. Together, they embarked to create a more complex, literary, and sophisticated film than its predecessor.^[14] During the film's production, in November 1995, Trousdale and Wise signed a long-term contract extension with Disney.^[2] Upon release, the film earned $325 million worldwide,^[15] though it received a mixed response from film critics.^[12]

In October 1996, Trousdale, Wise, Hahn, and screenwriterTab Murphy decided their next film should be an action-adventure film during lunch at a Mexican restaurant.^[16] The resulting film becameAtlantis: The Lost Empire, released in 2001. Prior to the film's release, Trousdale and Wise were developing a theatrical sequel, which would have told of another attempted re-take of Atlantis, in which Milo Thatch and his crew battle Helga Sinclair.^[17] These plans were later shelved after the film had disappointed at the box office, earning $186 million worldwide. AfterAtlantis was released, Trousdale was attached to directGnomeo & Juliet (2011) as his first solo project.Kate Winslet,Ewan McGregor, andJudi Dench had been hired to voice the principal characters. In June 2003, afterMichael Eisner had raised concerns about the project's commercial appeal, Trousdale was dismissed from the project after developing creative differences withDavid Stainton, the studio's then-Feature Animation president.^[18]

Trousdale later moved toDreamWorks Animation in 2003, where he worked as a storyboard artist onMadagascar (2005) andFlushed Away (2006). He then directed several animated specials, includingThe Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper (2005),Shrek the Halls (2007), andScared Shrekless (2010). In 2010, he was nominated for anAnnie Award forOutstanding Achievement for Directing in a Television Production for the latter special.^[19] In 2014, he directed the animated shortRocky and Bullwinkle.^[20]

• Thomas, Bob (1991).Disney's Art of Animation: From Mickey Mouse to Beauty and the Beast. New York: Hyperion.ISBN 1-56282-899-1.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toGary Trousdale.

• Gary Trousdale atIMDb
• Official Website

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