John Musker | |
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 Musker at the 2016Annecy International Animated Film Festival | |
| Born | John Edward Musker (1953-11-08)November 8, 1953 (age 72) |
| Alma mater | Northwestern University(BA) California Institute of the Arts(MFA) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1977–present |
| Employer | Walt Disney Animation Studios |
| Spouse | Gale Musker |
| Children | 3 |
| Signature | |
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John Edward Musker (born November 8, 1953) is an American animator and filmmaker. He often collaborates with fellow directorRon Clements and is best known for writing and directing theDisney animated filmsThe Great Mouse Detective (1986),The Little Mermaid (1989),Aladdin (1992),Hercules (1997),Treasure Planet (2002),The Princess and the Frog (2009), andMoana (2016).
Musker was born in Chicago, Illinois, the second[1][2] oldest of eight children in anIrish Catholic family. His father, Robert J. Musker, who worked for over 40 years atIllinois Bell Telephone, died in 2008 at the age of 84,[2] and his mother, Joan T. Musker (née Lally), died in 2011 at the age of 81.[1]
He attended Loyola Academy in Illinois and then graduated from theWeinberg College of Arts and Sciences atNorthwestern University,[3] where he majored in English and drew cartoons for theDaily Northwestern.[4] After that, he obtained his Master of Fine Arts at CALARTS,California Institute of the Arts in Santa Clarita. There he served a two-year apprenticeship with famed animatorFrank Thomas, a supervising animator of Disney films such asPeter Pan (1953),Lady and the Tramp (1955), andThe Aristocats (1970).
Musker met Ron Clements during the production ofThe Fox and the Hound in 1981, where he worked as a character animator under Clements and Cliff Nordberg. Musker teamed up with Clements as story artists onThe Black Cauldron before they were removed from the project.[5]
Following thegreen-lighting of Clements's pitch for an adaptation of the children's book seriesBasil of Baker Street byEve Titus into an animated feature, Musker and fellow story artistBurny Mattinson were assigned as the original directors while Dave Michener was brought in as an additional director. Due to a shortened production schedule and multiple story rewrites,Roy E. Disney assigned Mattinson to serve as director/producer while Ron Clements was brought in as another director.[6]
While working onThe Great Mouse Detective, newly appointed Disney CEO and chairmanMichael Eisner andJeffrey Katzenberg issued invitations to the animation staff for their first held "gong show" session. Demanding only five new ideas, Clements pitched an adaptation ofHans Christian Andersen'sThe Little Mermaid and ahigh-concept idea ofTreasure Island in Space, which were both rejected by Katzenberg and Eisner. The next morning, Katzenberg approached Clements and asked him to expand his initialtreatment.[7][8]
WithThe Little Mermaid in production in 1986, Musker joined Clements in expanding the original treatment into a twenty-page rough script, eliminating the role of the mermaid's grandmother and expanding the roles of the Merman King and the sea witch,[9] and were later joined byOff-Broadway musical composersHoward Ashman andAlan Menken who collaborated on the song and musical score.[10] Released in November 1989,The Little Mermaid was praised as a milestone in rebirth of Disney animation by film critics and collected a domestic gross of $84 million,[11] cumulatively receiving $184.2 million worldwide.[12]
When work onThe Little Mermaid was wrapped, Clements and Musker re-developed their idea forTreasure Planet,[13] but the studio still expressed disinterest. Instead, the two directors were offered three projects in development:Swan Lake,King of the Jungle, andAladdin.[14] The directors eventually chose the latter, desiring a wacky, faster-paced, and more contemporary mood separate from the previous Disney animated films.[15][8]
Working from Ashman and Menken's treatment and musical score, the two delivered astory reel to Katzenberg in April 1991, which was strongly disapproved.[15] Jettisoning multiple characters and story ideas and addingTed Elliott andTerry Rossio as co-screenwriters, the production team restructured the entire story in eight days.[16] Released in November 1992,Aladdin received positive reviews from critics, and became the first animated film to gross over $200 million domestically.[17]
Following work onAladdin, Clements, along with Musker, resumed their work onTreasure Planet, which was again turned down by Katzenberg in 1993, who disapproved of setting the adaptation of a classic adventure tale in outer space.[13] A deal was struck with the two directors to create another commercial film before he would approveTreasure Planet. Rejecting projects in development such asDon Quixote,The Odyssey, andAround the World in Eighty Days, they were later informed of animator Joe Haidar's pitch for aHercules feature, and signed onto the project.[18]
During production onHercules, in 1995, Clements and Musker signed a seven-year contract deal with the studio which stipulated followingHercules, the studio would produceTreasure Planet or another project of their choosing.[13]
WithTreasure Planet completed in 2002, Clements and Musker later inheritedFraidy Cat, which was originally a project developed by Dutch animation director Piet Kroon.[19]Fraidy Cat, however, never saw its light of day, asDavid Stainton, then-president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, refused to green-light the project.[20] It was soon followed with Clements and Musker's resignation from Walt Disney Feature Animation in September 2005.[21]
WhenJohn Lasseter was appointedchief creative officer over Walt Disney Feature Animation in February 2006, he invited Clements and Musker back to Disney to oversee production onThe Frog Princess,[22][8] and were officially confirmed as directors in the following July.[23] Later re-titledThe Princess and the Frog, the film received positive reviews and grossed $267 million worldwide.[24]
After directingThe Princess and the Frog, Clements and Musker started working on an adaptation ofTerry Pratchett'sMort,[25] but obtaining thefilm rights prevented them from continuing with the project.[26] To avoid similar problems, they pitched three new ideas, where by 2011, the two directors started developing the film based on an original idea.[26] In late 2012, the duo announced that they will be directing a new film in the future, but they have their lips sealed for the title, the plot, and the animation style.
In July 2013, it was revealed that the film, titledMoana, would be "a Polynesian tale involving the island folk and the idols made famous the world over".[27] On November 10, 2014, Disney confirmedMoana would be released on November 23, 2016.[28]
In March 2018, having worked at Disney for 40 years, Musker announced his retirement from Walt Disney Animation Studios.[29] In 2023 he released his short filmI'm Hip which he animated by hand.[8]
Musker is married to Gale.[30] They have twin sons, Jackson and Patrick, and a daughter, Julia.[30] He also has sisters by the names of Patricia, Colleen, Kathleen, Maureen, and Terri, and two younger brothers, Robert and Martin.
| Year | Film | Credited as | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | Producer | Animator | Other | Notes | ||
| 1981 | The Fox and the Hound | No | No | No | Character | No | |
| 1985 | The Black Cauldron | No | No | No | No | Yes | Additional Story Contributor |
| 1986 | The Great Mouse Detective | Yes | Story | No | No | No | Developer - Uncredited |
| 1989 | The Little Mermaid | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| 1992 | Aladdin | Yes | Screenplay | Yes | No | No | |
| 1997 | Hercules | Yes | Screenplay | Yes | No | No | |
| 2002 | Treasure Planet | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Developer - uncredited |
| 2008 | Bolt | No | No | No | No | Yes | Special Thanks |
| 2009 | The Princess and the Frog | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Additional Voices |
| 2012 | Wreck-It Ralph | No | No | No | No | Yes | Additional Visual Development Artist |
| 2014 | Big Hero 6 | No | No | No | No | Yes | Creative Leadership |
| 2016 | Zootopia | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
| Moana | Yes | Story | No | No | No | ||
| 2018 | Ralph Breaks the Internet | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 2019 | Aladdin | No | No | No | No | Yes | "Based on" credit |
| 2023 | The Little Mermaid | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
| Year | Film | Credited as | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Other | Notes | ||||||||
| 1982 | Luau | No | Yes | Role: Businessman | ||||||
| 2008 | Jack's Gift | No | Yes | Role: Doctor 1 | ||||||
| 2017 | Gone Fishing[31] | Yes | No | |||||||
| 2019 | Mel | No | Yes | Special Thanks | ||||||
| 2023 | I'm Hip | Yes | No | |||||||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | The Pixar Story | Himself | |
| 2009 | Waking Sleeping Beauty | caricaturist | |
| 2018 | Howard |
| Ceremony | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edgar Allan Poe Award | Best Motion Picture | Nominated | |
| Best Animated Film | Won | ||
| Won | |||
| Annie Awards | Best Individual Achievement: Directing in a Feature Production | Won | |
| Best Individual Achievement: Producing in a Feature Production | Won | ||
| Best Animated Feature | Nominated | ||
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award | Best Animated Film | Won | |
| Academy Awards | Best Animated Feature | Nominated | |
| The Princess and the Frog | Nominated | ||
| African-American Film Critics Association Award | Best Screenplay | Won | |
| Academy Awards | Best Animated Feature | Nominated | |
| Alliance of Women Film Journalists | Best Animated Feature | Nominated | |
| Seattle Film Critics Awards | Best Animated Feature | Nominated |
John Musker andRon Clements have cast certain actors in more than one of their films.
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