The Directors . Anim

1. Carlos Saldanha

Director | Rio

Carlos Saldanha is a Brazilian director of animated films. He was the director of Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) and Rio (2011), and the co-director of Ice Age (2002) and Robots (2005).

Saldanha was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He left his hometown in 1991 to ...

2. Katsuhiro Ôtomo

Writer | Akira

Katsuhiro Ôtomo is a Japanese manga artist, screenwriter and film director. He is best known as the creator of the manga Akira and its animated film adaptation.

In 1979, after writing multiple short-stories for the magazine Action, Otomo created his first science-fiction work, titled Fireball. ...

3. Takeshi Koike

Director | Redline

Takeshi Koike was born on January 26, 1968 in Kaminoyama, Yamagata, Japan. He is a director, known for Redline (2009), Ninja Scroll (1993) and The Animatrix (2003).

4. Yoshiaki Kawajiri

Animation_department | Jûbê ninpûchô

Graduated from Yokohama High School in 1968. After a few years working as animator at Mushi Production Animation, the company went bankrupt in 1972 and he joined Madhouse Studio. In the 70s he was promoted to animation director and finally debuted as film director in 1984's "SF New Century Lensman"...

5. Hayao Miyazaki

Director | Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi

Hayao Miyazaki is 1 of Japan's greatest animation directors. The entertaining plots, compelling characters & breathtaking animation in his films have earned him international renown from critics as well as public recognition within Japan.

He was born on January 5, 1941 in Tokyo. He started his ...

6. Hironobu Sakaguchi

Producer | Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

Hironobu Sakaguchi was born on November 25, 1962 in Hitachi, Ibaraki, Japan. He is a producer and writer, known for Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001), Final Fantasy Chronicles (2001) and Final Fantasy IV (1991).

7. Shinji Aramaki

Director | Kyaputen Hârokku

Shinji Aramaki was born on October 2, 1960 in Fukuoka, Japan. He is a production designer, known for Harlock: Space Pirate (2013), Appleseed: Ex Machina (2007) and Ultraman (2019).

8. Mamoru Oshii

Director | Kôkaku kidôtai

Mamoru Oshii is a Japanese filmmaker, television director and screenwriter. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of popular anime, including Urusei Yatsura (1981-1984), Angel's Egg (1985), Patlabor: The Movie (1989), Ghost in the Shell (1995), and Ghost in ...

9. Brad Bird

Writer | The Incredibles

Phillip Bradley "Brad" Bird is an American director, screenwriter, animator, producer and occasional voice actor, known for both animated and live-action films. Bird was born in Kalispell, Montana, the youngest of four children of Marjorie A. (née Cross) and Philip Cullen Bird. His father worked in...

10. Christian Volckman

Director | The Room

Christian Volckman is a french film director, author, and painter. He is a graduate of Ecole Supérieure d'Arts Graphiques in Paris.

He is mainly known for his motion capture animation feature film Renaissance, with the voices of Daniel Craig, Romola Garai, Jonathan Pryce, and Ian Holm, which won the...

11. Pete Docter

Writer | Up

Pete Docter is the Oscar®-winning director of "Monsters, Inc.," "Up," and "Inside Out," and Chief Creative Officer at Pixar Animation Studios. He is currently directing Pixar's feature film "Soul" with producer Dana Murray, which is set to release June 19, 2020.

Starting at Pixar in 1990 as the ...

12. Hiroyuki Okiura

Animation_department | Jin-Rô

Okiura left high school at the age of 16 and entered the animation industry as a member of the studio Anime R, where he studied under Moriyasu Taniguchi and which Taniguchi superintends.He is known for his detailed effects animation in, for example, the chopper attack scene in Patlabor 2: The Movie...

13. Kevin Seymour

Actor | Jûbê ninpûchô

Kevin Seymour was born on December 25, 1958. He was an actor and casting director, known for Ninja Scroll (1993), Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) and Ghost in the Shell (1995). He died on February 6, 2014.

14. Zack Snyder

Director | 300

Zachary Edward "Zack" Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter, best known for action and science fiction films. Snyder made his feature film debut with the 2004 remake Dawn of the Dead and has gone on to be known for his comic book movies and ...

15. Andrew Stanton

Writer | WALL·E

Andrew Stanton has been a major creative force at Pixar Animation Studios since 1990, when he became the second animator and ninth employee to join the company's elite group of computer animation pioneers. As Vice President, Creative he currently oversees all shorts and feature projects at the ...

16. Rob Minkoff

Director | The Lion King

Rob Minkoff was born on August 11, 1962 in Palo Alto, California, USA. He is a producer and director, known for The Lion King (1994), Stuart Little 2 (2002) and The Forbidden Kingdom (2008). He has been married to Crystal Kung Minkoff since September 29, 2007.

17. Roger Allers

Director | The Lion King

Roger Allers was born in Rye, New York, USA. He is a director and writer, known for The Lion King (1994), Beauty and the Beast (1991) and The Little Mermaid (1989). He has been married to Leslee Hackenson since 1977. They have two children.

18. Masayuki

Animation_department | Evangelion Shin Gekijôban: Jo

Masayuki was born on January 3, 1961 in Nagano, Japan. He is an assistant director, known for Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (2007), Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997) and Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995).

19. Kazuya Tsurumaki

Animation_department | Evangelion Shin Gekijôban: Jo

Kazuya Tsurumaki was born on February 2, 1966 in Gosen, Japan. He is a director, known for Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (2007), Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997) and Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon a Time (2021).

20. Robert Zemeckis

Writer | Back to the Future

A whiz-kid with special effects, Robert is from the Spielberg camp of film-making (Steven Spielberg produced many of his films). Usually working with writing partner Bob Gale, Robert's earlier films show he has a talent for zany comedy (Romancing the Stone (1984), 1941 (1979)) and special effect ...

21. David Silverman

Producer | The Simpsons

David Silverman was born on March 15, 1957 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a producer, known for The Simpsons (1989), The Simpsons Movie (2007) and Monsters, Inc. (2001).

22. Peter Cheung

Editor | Meng long guo jiang

Peter Cheung was born in 1945 in Shanghai, China. He is an editor and actor, known for The Way of the Dragon (1972), Fist of Fury (1972) and Who Am I? (1998).

23. Víctor Maldonado

Writer | Nocturna

Víctor Maldonado was born in 1978 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. He is a writer and director, known for Nocturna (2007), Love, Death & Robots (2019) and Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia (2016).

24. Adrià García

Director | Nocturna

Adrià García was born in 1978 in Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. He is a director and writer, known for Nocturna (2007), No Pets Allowed and El tesoro de Barracuda.

25. Chris Renaud

Actor | Despicable Me 2

Director Chris Renaud has established himself as a heavyweight in the world of animation following the phenomenal box office success of recent movies Despicable Me (2010), Dr. Seuss' The Lorax (2012) and Despicable Me 2 (2013). Along with Pierre Coffin and Eric Guillon, he also co-created the ...

26. Pierre Coffin

Director | Despicable Me 2

Pierre-Louis Padang Coffin is a French animator, voice actor, director, producer, and writer best known for co-directing four films in the Despicable Me franchise and being the voice of the Minions, which won him the Kids Family Award at the 10th Seiyu Awards. Coffin was born in 1967 in France to ...

27. Mark Andrews

Director | Brave

Mark Andrews was born on September 12, 1968 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. He is a director and writer, known for Brave (2012), John Carter (2012) and Circle of Stone (2020).

28. Fuminori Kizaki

Director | Ningen shikkaku

Fuminori Kizaki is known for Human Lost (2019), Afro Samurai: Resurrection (2009) and Bayonetta: Bloody Fate (2013).

29. Tetsuya Nomura

Animation_department | Fainaru fantajî sebun adobento chirudoren

Tetsuya Nomura was born on October 8, 1970 in Kochi, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005), Kingdom Hearts III (2019) and Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin (2022).

30. Isao Takahata

Director | Hotaru no haka

Isao Takahata was born on October 29, 1935 in Ise, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Grave of the Fireflies (1988), The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013) and Only Yesterday (1991). He died on April 5, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan.

31. Jennifer Yuh Nelson

Director | Kung Fu Panda 2

Jennifer Yuh Nelson was born on May 7, 1972 in South Korea. She is a director, known for Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011), Love, Death & Robots (2019) and Kung Fu Panda (2008).

32. Dan Scanlon

Writer | Onward

Dan Scanlon joined Pixar Animation Studios in September 2001 as a storyboard artist on Pixar's award-winning feature films "Cars" and "Toy Story 3." During the initial production stages for both films, he worked closely with the directors to bring their ideas to the screen.

Scanlon went on to ...

33. Hideaki Anno

Director | Shin Gojira

Hideaki Anno was born on May 22, 1960 in Ube, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Shin Godzilla (2016), Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (2007) and The Wind Rises (2013). He has been married to Moyoco Anno since March 26, 2002.

34. Kirk DeMicco

Writer | The Croods

Kirk was born in New York City and and raised in Wyckoff, New Jersey. He attended the University of Southern California where he graduated in 1991 with a degree in economics and political science. He then spent three years in Italy as a journalist for an Italian film-business magazine before moving...

35. Chris Sanders

Writer | Lilo & Stitch

Born and raised in Colorado, Chris Sanders fell in love with animation at the age of ten after seeing Ward Kimball animated shorts on 'The Wonderful World of Disney'. He began drawing, and applied to CalArts after his grandmother told him about the animation program at the school. He majored in ...

36. Toyoo Ashida

Director | Hokuto no Ken

Joined Mushi Animation Production in the 60s and was very soon promoted to animation direction of several TV Series including "Moomin" and "Wansa-kun". After his collaboration on the TV series "Space Battleship Yamato" (1974-75), he made his film debut in its theatrical version in 1977. His debut ...

37. Dean DeBlois

Writer | How to Train Your Dragon

Dean DeBlois is a Canadian writer, director, and producer known best for having co-written and co-directed Disney's Lilo & Stitch (2002) and Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon (2010), both Oscar nominated. While working as an assistant animator and layout artist for Hinton Animation Studios ...

38. Gary Trousdale

Director | The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Gary Trousdale was born in La Crescenta, California. His fascination with animation was fostered as a child, where he drew cartoons from an elementary school age. He planned to become an architect, but decided instead to study animation at CalArts, where he studied for three years. He was hired in ...

39. Kirk Wise

Director | Beauty and the Beast

Kirk Wise was born on August 24, 1963 in San Francisco, California, USA. He is a director, known for Beauty and the Beast (1991), Spirited Away (2001) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996).

40. Gore Verbinski

Director | Rango

Gore Verbinski, one of American cinema's most inventive directors who was a punk-rock guitarist as a teenager and had to sell his guitar to buy his first camera, is now the director of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) which made the industry record for highest opening weekend of ...

41. Chris Wedge

Actor | Ice Age

John Christian Wedge was born on March 20, 1957 in Binghamton, New York. After graduating from Fayetteville-Manlius High School, he went to study at the State University of New York at Purchase, where he received a BFA in film, and soon after that he went on to study at Ohio State University, ...

42. Mark Osborne

Director | Kung Fu Panda

Mark Randolph Osborne is an American film director, writer, producer and animator from Trenton, New Jersey who is known for co-directing the Oscar nominated Kung Fu Panda (2008) and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004) (the live-action sequences), as well as directing The Little Prince (2015) ...

43. John Stevenson