Byron P. Howard (born December 26, 1968)[1] is an American animator, character designer, story artist, film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known as one of the directors of the Walt Disney Animation Studios films Bolt (2008), Tangled (2010), Zootopia (2016), Encanto (2021), and the upcoming Zootopia 2 (2025). He is the first LGBT director to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature twice for his work on Zootopia and Encanto.
Byron Howard | |
|---|---|
 Howard at the 2015 Annecy International Animated Film Festival | |
| Born | December 26, 1968 Misawa, Aomori, Japan |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Evergreen State College |
| Occupations |
|
| Employer | Walt Disney Animation Studios (1994–present) |
| Notable work | Bolt Tangled Zootopia Encanto |
| Signature | |
 | |
Early life and education
Howard was born in Misawa, Japan, and raised in both the outskirts of Philadelphia[2] and Issaquah, Washington, United States, in a middle-class family. He attended Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.[3]
Career
Howard began his career at Disney as a tour guide at Disney MGM Studios. Howard had dreamed of working for Disney, and had written to Master Animator Frank Thomas, one of Disney's Nine Old Men, as he was growing up. He soon began the Disney Studio Internship and was hired in 1994,[3] working as an animator on films including Pocahontas, Mulan, Lilo & Stitch and Brother Bear.[4][5] He was nominated for a 2003 Annie Award for Character Animation for Brother Bear.[6]
The first film Howard directed was the animated Disney film Bolt, which was nominated for the 2008 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.[7] In his role as co-director of the film with Chris Williams, Howard focused on character design and animation.[7] Howard went on to direct the animated Disney films Tangled (2010, co-directed with Nathan Greno) and Zootopia (2016, co-directed with Rich Moore).[8][9][10] He and Greno also co-directed and wrote the animated short Tangled Ever After, which features supporting characters from Tangled and showed in theaters before the 2012 3D re-release of Beauty and the Beast.[11]
Following the making of Zootopia, Howard was one of the keynote speakers at the 2016 View Conference. He presented on the process behind the making of Zootopia and he taught the skills behind creating characters in a workshop entitled “The DNA of Disney Character Design.”[12] After his work on Zootopia, Howard worked with Lin-Manuel Miranda on Encanto.[13] Howard co-directed the film, alongside Zootopia co-director Jared Bush and Charise Castro Smith, while Miranda wrote songs for the project, which centered on a girl from a magical Colombian family who lacks magic herself.[14] Howard was officially announced as the co-director of Zootopia 2 on September 20, 2024, alongside Jared Bush, who the day before had become Chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios following Jennifer Lee's resignation of the position to direct Frozen 3.[15]
In 2009, Howard became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.[16]
Personal life
In the Fusion documentary Imagining Zootopia, Howard mentioned he is openly gay and has been married since 1988.[2]
Filmography
Feature films
| Year | Film | Credited as | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Story | Executive Producer |
Animator | Visual Development Artist |
Other | Voice Role | Notes | ||
| 1995 | Pocahontas | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | In-between-er | |
| 1998 | Mulan | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Animator: Yao and Fa Family Ancestors | |
| 2002 | Lilo & Stitch | No | No | No | Supervising | No | Yes | Supervising Animator: Cobra Bubbles Character Design | |
| 2003 | Brother Bear | No | No | No | Supervising | No | No | Supervising Animator: Kenai - Bear | |
| 2005 | Chicken Little | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Additional Story Artist | |
| 2008 | Bolt | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Additional Screenplay Material | |
| 2009 | The Princess and the Frog | No | No | No | No | No | No | Disney Story Trust - uncredited [17] | |
| 2010 | Tangled | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Guard 2/Thug 2 | |
| 2011 | Winnie the Pooh | No | No | No | No | No | No | ||
| 2012 | Wreck-It Ralph | No | No | No | No | Additional | No | ||
| 2013 | Frozen | No | No | No | No | No | No | ||
| 2014 | Big Hero 6 | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Creative Leadership | |
| 2016 | Zootopia | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Bucky Oryx-Antlerson/Travis | |
| Moana | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | |||
| 2018 | Ralph Breaks the Internet | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2019 | Frozen II | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2021 | Raya and the Last Dragon | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Additional Story, Creative Leadership | |
| Encanto | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Creative Leadership | ||
| 2022 | Strange World | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2023 | Wish | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2024 | Moana 2 | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | ||
| 2025 | Zootopia 2 | Yes | TBA | No | No | TBA | Yes | ||
Short films and series
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Artistic Supervisor |
Executive Producer |
Other | Voice | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | John Henry | No | No | Yes | No | No | Character Animation | |
| 2009 | Super Rhino | No | No | No | Yes | No | ||
| 2012 | Tangled Ever After | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Lantern Wrangler / Chef | |
| 2022 | Zootopia+ | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Bucky Oryx-Antlerson | Disney+ Original short films |
| 2024 | Iwájú | No | No | No | Yes | No | Disney+ Original long-form limited series |
Awards
- 2008 – Nominated: Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film for Bolt
- 2010 – Nominated: Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film for Tangled[18]
- 2017 – Won: Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film for Zootopia
- 2021 – Won: Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film for Encanto[19]
- 2008 – Nominated: Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for Bolt
- 2017 – Won: Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for Zootopia[20]
- 2021 – Won: Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for Encanto
See also
References
- ^ Byron Howard [@ByronPHoward] (26 December 2015). "#Zootopia birthday wishes <3 thank you, my talented friend @LePrinceKido Can't wait to see you in Paris soon!" (Tweet) – via Twitter./photo/1
- ^ a b "Imagining Zootopia - Part 7: Zootopia and Us". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
- ^ a b Ally Sikora, "A long, drawn-out process," St. Petersburg Times, September 15, 2003.
- ^ Ramin Zahed, "Byron Howard to Direct New Disney Feature," Animation Magazine, May 6, 2013.
- ^ Borys Kit, "Disney, 'Tangled' Director Plot New Animated Feature With Jason Bateman," The Hollywood Reporter, May 3, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2022
- ^ "31st Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners," annieawards.org, 2003.
- ^ a b Ellen Wolff, "Animated Oscar noms took long road," Variety, February 5, 2009.
- ^ Peter Debruge, "Film Review: 'Zootopia'," Variety, February 12, 2016.
- ^ Dan Sarto, "Byron Howard and Rich Moore Talk 'Zootopia'," Animation World Network, December 4, 2015.
- ^ Christina Radish, "'Zootopia': Rich Moore, Byron Howard on Their Animated World, Frank Capra Influences," Collider, January 20, 2016.
- ^ Noelene Clark, "'Tangled Ever After': Disney lets its hair down," Los Angeles Times, January 15, 2012.
- ^ Flores, Terry (2016-08-04). "'Zootopia' Co-Director Byron Howard Among View Conference Keynote Speakers". Variety. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
- ^ Buchanan, Kyle (November 15, 2016). "Lin-Manuel Miranda Reveals He's Making a Secret Disney Film". Vulture. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
- ^ Evans, Greg (June 22, 2020). "Lin-Manuel Miranda Confirms New Disney Animated Movie Set In Colombia". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
- ^ @thejaredbush (September 20, 2024). "Yesterday was a big day @DisneyAnimation! I am so honored to be stepping into this new role with the most talented people in the world and I'm so excited for all that is to come. So let's start with what's next RIGHT NOW: overjoyed to announce we are getting the band back together! Byron Howard will officially be joining me as Director of Zootopia 2!!!!!" (Tweet). Retrieved September 20, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ Andrew Stewart, "AMPAS invites 134 to join ranks," Variety, June 30, 2009.
- ^ Goldman, Eric (February 18, 2016). "How Disney's Story Trust Helped Change Big Hero 6, Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph and More". IGN. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
- ^ Justin Kroll and Rachel Abrams, "Golden Globe Nomination Reactions" Variety, December 14, 2010.
- ^ Ansari, Talal (2022-01-10). "Golden Globe Award Winners 2022: See the Full List, From 'The Power of the Dog' to 'Succession'". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
- ^ Donnelly, Jim. "ZOOTOPIA IS THE 2017 OSCAR WINNER FOR ANIMATED FEATURE FILM". The Oscars. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
External links
- Byron Howard at IMDb