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Byron Howard

{{short description|American film director and animator}}

{{For|the fictional character|Byron Howard (Haven)}}

{{distinguish|Ron Howard}}

{{pp-sock|small=yes}}

{{Infobox person

|name = Byron Howard

|image = Byron Howard.jpg

|caption = Howard at the 2015 Annecy International Animated Film Festival

|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1968|12|26}}

|birth_place = Misawa, Aomori, Japan

|birth_name =

|nationality = American

|alma_mater = Evergreen State College

|years_active = 1994–present

|occupation = {{flat list|

  • Animator
  • character designer
  • story artist
  • film director
  • film producer
  • screenwriter

}}

|notable_works = Bolt
Tangled
Zootopia
Encanto

|signature = Byron Howard Signature.svg

| employer = Walt Disney Animation Studios (1994–present)

|signature_size = 80px

}}

Byron P. Howard (born December 26, 1968){{cite tweet|user=ByronPHoward|author=Byron Howard|number=680824096167333889|date=26 December 2015|title=#Zootopia birthday wishes <3 thank you, my talented friend @LePrinceKido Can't wait to see you in Paris soon!}}/photo/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.

Early life and education

Howard was born in Misawa, Japan, and raised in both the outskirts of Philadelphia and Issaquah, Washington, United States, in a middle-class family. He attended Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.Ally Sikora, [http://www.sptimes.com/2003/09/15/Xpress/A_long__drawn_out_pro.shtml "A long, drawn-out process,"] St. Petersburg Times, September 15, 2003.

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, working as an animator on films including Pocahontas, Mulan, Lilo & Stitch and Brother Bear.Ramin Zahed, [http://www.animationmagazine.net/features/byron-howard-to-direct-new-disney-feature/ "Byron Howard to Direct New Disney Feature,"] Animation Magazine, May 6, 2013.Borys Kit, [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/disney-tangled-director-plot-new-451665/ "Disney, 'Tangled' Director Plot New Animated Feature With Jason Bateman,"] The Hollywood Reporter, May 3, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2022 He was nominated for a 2003 Annie Award for Character Animation for Brother Bear.[http://annieawards.org/31st-annie-awards "31st Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners,"] annieawards.org, 2003.

The first film Howard directed was the animated Disney film Bolt, which was nominated for the 2008 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.Ellen Wolff, [https://variety.com/2009/film/awards/animated-oscar-noms-took-long-road-1117999618/ "Animated Oscar noms took long road,"] Variety, February 5, 2009. In his role as co-director of the film with Chris Williams, Howard focused on character design and animation. Howard went on to direct the animated Disney films Tangled (2010, co-directed with Nathan Greno) and Zootopia (2016, co-directed with Rich Moore).Peter Debruge, [https://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/zootopia-film-review-1201703504/ "Film Review: 'Zootopia',"] Variety, February 12, 2016.Dan Sarto, [http://www.awn.com/animationworld/byron-howard-and-rich-moore-talk-zootopia "Byron Howard and Rich Moore Talk 'Zootopia',"] Animation World Network, December 4, 2015.Christina Radish, [http://collider.com/zootopia-rich-moore-byron-howard-interview-disney/ "'Zootopia': Rich Moore, Byron Howard on Their Animated World, Frank Capra Influences,"] Collider, January 20, 2016. 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.Noelene Clark, [http://herocomplex.latimes.com/movies/tangled-ever-after-disney-lets-its-hair-down/ "'Tangled Ever After': Disney lets its hair down,"] Los Angeles Times, January 15, 2012.

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.”{{Cite web |last=Flores |first=Terry |date=2016-08-04 |title='Zootopia' Co-Director Byron Howard Among View Conference Keynote Speakers |url=https://variety.com/2016/biz/global/zootopia-byron-howard-view-conference-speaker-1201830032/ |access-date=2023-10-17 |website=Variety |language=en-US}} After his work on Zootopia, Howard worked with Lin-Manuel Miranda on Encanto.{{cite web|last1=Buchanan|first1=Kyle|title=Lin-Manuel Miranda Reveals He's Making a Secret Disney Film|url=http://www.vulture.com/2016/11/lin-manuel-miranda-making-a-secret-disney-film.html|publisher=Vulture|access-date=November 16, 2016|date=November 15, 2016}} 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.{{cite web|last=Evans|first=Greg|title=Lin-Manuel Miranda Confirms New Disney Animated Movie Set In Colombia|url=https://deadline.com/2020/06/lin-manuel-miranda-new-disney-animated-movie-colombia-good-morning-america-1202966143/|date=June 22, 2020|website=Deadline Hollywood|access-date=June 22, 2020}} 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.{{cite tweet | number=1837122971544019149 | user=thejaredbush | title=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!!!!! | access-date=September 20, 2024 | newspaper=Twitter | date=September 20, 2024}}

In 2009, Howard became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.Andrew Stewart, [https://variety.com/2009/film/markets-festivals/ampas-invites-134-to-join-ranks-1118005544/ "AMPAS invites 134 to join ranks,"] Variety, June 30, 2009.

Personal life

In the Fusion documentary Imagining Zootopia, Howard mentioned he is openly gay and has been married since 1988.{{Cite web |title=Imagining Zootopia - Part 7: Zootopia and Us |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_4LhiX8ha0?t=18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/-_4LhiX8ha0 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}

Filmography

=Feature films=

class="wikitable"

! rowspan="2"|Year

! rowspan="2"|Film

! colspan="8"|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}}

| {{Yes|Supervising}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| Supervising Animator: Cobra Bubbles
Character Design

2003

| Brother Bear

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes|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}}

|

| rowspan="5"| Disney Story Trust - uncredited{{cite news|last1=Goldman|first1=Eric|title=How Disney's Story Trust Helped Change Big Hero 6, Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph and More|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2016/02/18/how-disneys-story-trust-helped-change-big-hero-6-frozen-wreck-it-ralph-and-more|work=IGN|date=February 18, 2016|access-date=February 2, 2021}}

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}}

| {{Yes|Additional}}

| {{No}}

|

2013

| Frozen

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

2014

| Big Hero 6

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| rowspan="5"| Creative Leadership

rowspan="2"| 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}}

|

rowspan="2"| 2021

| Raya and the Last Dragon

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| Additional Story, Creative Leadership

Encanto

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| rowspan="3"| 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}}

| {{Yes|Directing}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| Additional Story, Creative Leadership

2025

| Zootopia 2

| {{Yes}}

| {{TBA}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{TBA}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| Creative Leadership

==Short films and series==

class="wikitable"
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

;Golden Globe Award

;Academy Award

See also

References

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

External links

{{commons category|Byron Howard}}

  • {{IMDb name|0397174}}

{{Navboxes

|title = Awards for Byron Howard

|list =

{{Academy Award for Best Animated Feature}}

{{Annie Award for Directing in a Feature Production}}

{{Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Animated Feature}}

{{Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film}}

}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Byron}}

Category:1968 births

Category:Living people

Category:People from Misawa, Aomori

Category:Walt Disney Animation Studios people

Category:LGBTQ animators

Category:American animated film directors

Category:American gay writers

Category:American LGBTQ screenwriters

Category:American male screenwriters

Category:American male voice actors

Category:Evergreen State College alumni

Category:Film directors from Pennsylvania

Category:Film directors from Washington (state)

Category:Directors of Best Animated Feature Academy Award winners

Category:Artists from Aomori Prefecture

Category:American LGBTQ film directors

Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people

Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people

Category:Children's and Family Emmy Award winners