Christopher John "Chris" Williams is an American film director, screenwriter, storyboard artist, animator, and voice actor working at Walt Disney Animation Studios. The young filmmaker is perhaps most known for the Oscar nominated 2008 animated feature film Bolt, but he has also worked on several other projects, including but not limited to Mulan, The Emperor's New Groove, and Brother Bear. He also voiced Oaken in the 2013 Disney animated feature film Frozen and its subsequent sequels and co-directed the 2014 Disney animated feature film Big Hero 6.
History[]
Williams was born in Missouri and spent the first 25 years in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, where his father taught psychology courses at the University of Waterloo. After graduating from the animation program at Sheridan College, he was recruited by Disney and moved to Los Angeles.
Williams previously worked in the story department for Mulan, The Emperor's New Groove, Brother Bear, and Bolt, in which he later directed with Byron Howard, both of them replacing Chris Sanders as the original director. Williams co-directed (with Don Hall) the animated film Big Hero 6, inspired by the Marvel Comics of the same name.
He was set to direct the upcoming animated feature film King of the Elves, based on the story by Philip K. Dick, before it was cancelled.
Working on Bolt[]
Chris Williams started working on the feature film Bolt in 2007 with Byron Howard, shortly after that, Chris Sanders had been released and John Lasseter had taken over the project. During the production of Bolt, Chris Williams focused mostly on the story whereas the other director, Byron Howard, was mostly concerned with the design and animation. Both Chris Williams and Byron Howard worked very closely with John Lasseter at the time, and the movie, which marked a milestone in Disney Animation as the first critically acclaimed animated feature from the studio in almost ten years, was released on November 24, 2008.
Feature Film Filmography[]
| Year | Film | Position | Company |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Mulan | Story | Walt Disney Animation Studios |
| 2000 | The Emperor's New Groove | Story/Story Artist | |
| 2002 | Lilo & Stitch | Story Supervisor | |
| 2003 | Brother Bear | Additional Story/Additional Story Material | |
| 2005 | Chicken Little | Story Artist | |
| Kronk's New Groove | Characters (Uncredited) | Disneytoon Studios | |
| 2007 | Meet the Robinsons | Additional Story Artist | Walt Disney Animation Studios |
| 2008 | Bolt | Director/Screenplay/Additional Voices | |
| 2009 | G-Force | Additional Story | |
| 2010 | Tangled | Additional Story Artist | |
| 2012 | Wreck-It Ralph | ||
| 2013 | Frozen | Story Artist/Voice Actor (Oaken) | |
| 2014 | Big Hero 6 | Director/Creative Leadership: Walt Disney Animation Studios | |
| 2016 | Zootopia | Additional Story Artist | |
| Moana | Co-Director/Story | ||
| 2018 | Ralph Breaks the Internet | Executive Producer/Additional Story Artist | |
| 2019 | Frozen II | Story Artist/Voice Actor (Oaken) |
Animated Shorts Filmography[]
| Year | Film | Position | Company |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Glago's Guest | Writer/Director | Walt Disney Animation Studios |
| 2009 | Super Rhino | Executive Producer | |
| Prep & Landing | Based on a Story/Executive Producer | ||
| 2012 | Paperman | Special Thanks | |
| 2015 | Frozen Fever | Voice Actor (Oaken) | |
| 2017 | Gone Fishing | Co-Director | |
| Olaf's Frozen Adventure | Voice Actor (Oaken) | ||
| 2018 | Cycles | Voice Actor (Young Bert) | |
| 2020 | Once Upon a Snowman | Voice Actor (Oaken) |
Roles[]
Gallery[]
External links[]
