Chris Buck | |
|---|---|
.JPG) Buck in 2015 | |
| Born | Christopher James Buck (1958-02-24)February 24, 1958 (age 67) Wichita, Kansas, U.S. |
| Alma mater | California Institute of the Arts |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Employers |
|
| Notable work | Tarzan Surf's Up Frozen Frozen Fever Frozen II Wish |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Awards | Academy Award Annie Award BAFTA Award |
Christopher James Buck (born February 24, 1958) is an American film director, animator, and screenwriter known for co-directingTarzan (1999),Surf's Up (2007) (which was nominated for the 2007Oscar forBest Animated Feature),Frozen (2013; which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2014),Frozen II (2019), andWish (2023). He also worked as a supervising animator and story artist onPocahontas (1995) andHome on the Range (2004).
He has won for oneAcademy Award,Annie Award andBAFTA Award, and has been nominated for two Academy, two BAFTA and five Annie Awards.[1]
A native ofWichita, Kansas, Buck was inspired to explore animation by the first film he ever saw in a movie theatre as a child:Pinocchio (1940).[2] His family eventually moved toPlacentia, California, where he graduated fromEl Dorado High School.[3]
Buck studiedcharacter animation for two years atCalArts, where he also taught from 1988 to 1993. At CalArts, Buck became friends with bothJohn Lasseter[2] and Michael Giaimo. He began his career as an animator with Disney in 1978.[citation needed]
Besides his work as a co-director onTarzan, Buck's other credits atDisney also include the 1995 animated featurePocahontas, where he oversaw the animation of three central characters:Percy, Grandmother Willow, and Wiggins. Buck also helped design characters for the 1989 animated featureThe Little Mermaid, performed experimental animation forThe Rescuers Down Under (1990) andWho Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), and was an animator onThe Fox and the Hound (1981) andThe Black Cauldron (1985).[4]
Buck helped develop several films atHyperion Pictures and served as a directing animator on the featureBebe's Kids. He storyboardedTim Burton's live-action featuretteFrankenweenie (1984) and worked with Burton again as directing animator on theBrad Bird-directedFamily Dog episode ofSteven Spielberg'sAmazing Stories and as director of the subsequent primetime animated series.
Buck's credits include a number of animated commercials (including some with theKeebler Elves) for such Los Angeles–based production entities asFilmFair,Kurtz & Friends, and Duck Soup.
Buck went on to co-directSurf's Up atSony Pictures Animation, which was released in June 2007.[5]
In 2008, Buck's old friend Lasseter, by then Disney Animation's chief creative officer, persuaded him to come back to Disney from Sony.[6]: 6, 11 Around September 2008, Buck pitched three ideas to Lasseter, one of which was a fairytale musical version ofThe Snow Queen; Lasseter liked the idea and authorized Buck to proceed with development.[6]: 6, 11 After it was put on hold during 2010,[7] the film was officially announced in December 2011 under the titleFrozen, with a release date of November 27, 2013.[8] In turn, Buck persuaded Giaimo to come back to Disney to serve as the film's art director,[6]: 33 for which Giaimo would go on to win theAnnie Award for Best Production Design in an Animated Feature Production.
In September 2014, it was announced that Buck and Lee would co-direct ashort film based on theFrozen characters calledFrozen Fever. It was released in March 2015, alongsideCinderella.[9]
On March 12, 2015, Disney announced that Buck and Lee would co-directFrozen II, the sequel toFrozen.[10] It was released in November 2019.
Buck directedWish, which was released in November 2023.[11]
Buck is married to Shelley[12] Rae Hinton Buck, an Emmy and Oscar Award winner in sound editing. They had three sons, Ryder, Woody, and Reed.[13]
Their oldest son, Ryder, died at age 23 on October 27, 2013, in a car collision, when he was hit by two cars after his car broke down onthe Glendale Freeway just one month beforeFrozen was released.[12] Ryder was a singer and songwriter performing in his band Ryder Buck and the Breakers, and was recovering from a year-long battle with aStage 4testicular cancer.[12] On March 2, 2014, upon accepting theAcademy Award for Best Animated Feature for co-directingFrozen at the86th Academy Awards, Buck dedicated the award to his son Ryder.[12] The tragedy was an inspiration for the song "The Next Right Thing" inFrozen II, as well as a character named "Ryder."[14]
Reed lent his voice to Arnold, a little penguin fromSurf's Up, directed by his father.[15]
| Year | Film | Credited As | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | Animator | Character Designer | Visual Development | Other | Notes | ||
| 1981 | The Fox and the Hound | No | No | Character | No | No | No | |
| 1985 | The Black Cauldron | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | (Uncredited) |
| 1987 | The Brave Little Toaster | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | |
| 1988 | Oliver & Company | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | |
| 1989 | The Little Mermaid | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | |
| 1990 | The Rescuers Down Under | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 1992 | Bebe's Kids | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Animation Director |
| 1995 | Pocahontas | No | Story | Supervising | Yes | Yes | No | Storyboard Artist / Supervising Animator: Percy/Grandmother Willow/Wiggins |
| 1999 | Tarzan | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
| 2004 | Home on the Range | No | No | Supervising | No | No | No | Supervising Animator: Maggie |
| Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Animation Consultant; Direct-To-Video | |
| 2006 | Open Season | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Special Thanks |
| 2007 | Surf's Up | Yes | Screenplay | No | No | No | Yes | Voice of Filmmaker #2 |
| 2013 | Frozen | Yes | Story | No | No | No | No | |
| 2014 | Big Hero 6 | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Creative Leadership |
| 2016 | Zootopia | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
| Moana | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2018 | Ralph Breaks the Internet | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 2019 | Frozen 2 | Yes | Story | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 2021 | Raya and the Last Dragon | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
| Encanto | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2022 | Strange World | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
| 2023 | Wish[16] | Yes | Story | No | No | No | Yes | |
| Year | Film | Credited As | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | Animator | Other | Notes | ||||
| 1979 | Doctor of Doom | No | No | No | Yes | Voice of Pepe | ||
| 1982 | Fun with Mr. Future | No | No | Yes | No | |||
| 1984 | Frankenweenie | No | No | No | Yes | Special Thanks | ||
| 1987 | Sport Goofy in Soccermania | No | No | Supervising | No | |||
| 1988 | Winter[17] | No | No | No | Yes | Special Thanks | ||
| The Thing What Lurked in the Tub | No | No | No | Yes | ||||
| 1989 | Palm Springs[17] | No | No | No | Yes | |||
| 1990 | Next Door[17] | No | No | No | Yes | |||
| 1991 | Box-Office Bunny | No | No | Key | No | |||
| 2010 | Not Your Time | No | No | Yes | Yes | Himself | ||
| 2015 | Frozen Fever | Yes | Story | No | No | |||
| 2017 | Olaf's Frozen Adventure | No | No | No | Yes | Special Thanks | ||
| 2018 | A Bug in the Room | No | No | No | Yes | |||
| 2020 | Once Upon a Snowman | No | No | No | Yes | Creative Consultant | ||
| Year | Title | Credited As | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Animation department | Character Designer | Notes | |||||
| 1987 | Amazing Stories | No | Supervising | No | Animation Supervisor - 1 Episode | |||
| 1990 | Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures | No | No | Yes | Character Designer - 13 Episodes | |||
| 1993 | Family Dog | Yes | No | No | Series Director | |||
| 1996 | Quack Pack | No | No | Yes | Character Designer - 1 Episode | |||
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | The Story of Frozen: Making a Disney Animated Classic | Himself |
| 2020 | Into the Unknown: Making Frozen II | Himself; Special Thanks |
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Annie Awards | Best Individual Achievement for Animation | Pocahontas | Nominated | [1] |
| 1999 | Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production | Tarzan | Nominated | ||
| 2000 | Sierra Award | Best Animated Film | Nominated | ||
| 2008 | Academy Awards | Best Animated Feature | Surf's Up | Nominated | |
| Annie Awards | Best Directing in an Animated Feature Production | Nominated | |||
| Best Writing in an Animated Feature Production | Nominated | ||||
| 2013 | EDA Award | Best Animated Feature Film | Frozen | Nominated | |
| AFCA Award | Best Animated Film | Won | |||
| Dubai International Film Festival | People's Choice Award | Won | |||
| SLFCA Award | Best Animated Film | Won | |||
| 2014 | Academy Awards | Academy Award for Best Animated Feature | Won | ||
| BAFTA Film Award | Best Animated Featured Film | Won | |||
| BAFTA Children's Award | BAFTA Kids Vote - Feature Film | Won | |||
| Best Feature Film | Nominated | ||||
| Annie Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Directing in an Animated Feature Production | Won | |||
| Gold Derby Award | Animated Feature | Won | |||
| Hugo Awards | Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form | Nominated | |||
| International Online Cinema Awards (INOCA) | Best Animated Feature | Won | |||
| Italian Online Movie Awards (IOMA) | Best Animated Feature Film (Miglior film d'animazione) | Nominated | |||
| Seattle Film Critics Award | Best Animated Feature | Won | |||
| VES Award | Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture | Won | |||
| 2015 | Tokyo Anime Award | Grand Prize, Feature Film | Won | ||
| 2019 | Seattle Film Critics Award | Best Animated Feature | Frozen II | Nominated | |
| 2020 | BAFTA Film Award | Best Animated Featured Film | Nominated | ||
| Annie Awards | Outstanding Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production | Nominated | |||
| Golden Globe award | Best Animated Feature Film | Nominated | |||
| LEJA Award | Best Animated Feature | Nominated | |||
| OFTA Film Award | Best Animated Picture | Nominated |
The band performed alongside Ryder's band, and brothers Woody and Reed.
