Chris Buck

American film director

For the photographer, see Chris Buck (photographer).

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|

Chris Buck

Buck in 2015

Born|

Christopher James Buck

(1958-02-24) February 24, 1958 (age 65)

Wichita, Kansas, U.S.

Education| El Dorado High School
Alma mater| California Institute of the Arts
Employer(s)| Walt Disney Animation Studios (1978-2004; 2008–present)
Sony Pictures Animation (2004-2008)
Known for| Film direction, screenwriting
Notable work| Tarzan
Surf's Up
Frozen
Frozen Fever
Frozen II
Spouse|

Shelley Rae Hinton

(m. 1989)​

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-directing Tarzan (1999), Surf's Up (2007) (which was nominated for the 2007 Oscar for Best Animated Feature), Frozen (2013), which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2014, and Frozen II (2019). He also worked as a supervising animator and story artist on Pocahontas (1995) and Home on the Range (2004).

He has won for one Academy Award, Annie Award and BAFTA Award, and has been nominated for two Academy, two BAFTA and five Annie Awards.[1]

## Life and career[edit]

A native of Wichita, 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 to Placentia, California, where he graduated from El Dorado High School.[3]

Buck studied character animation for two years at CalArts, where he also taught from 1988 to 1993. At CalArts, Buck became friends with both John 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 on Tarzan, Buck's other credits at Disney also include the 1995 animated feature Pocahontas, where he oversaw the animation of three central characters: Percy, Grandmother Willow, and Wiggins. Buck also helped design characters for the 1989 animated feature The Little Mermaid, performed experimental animation for The Rescuers Down Under (1990) and Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), and was an animator on The Fox and the Hound (1981) and The Black Cauldron (1985).[4]

Buck helped develop several films at Hyperion Pictures and served as a directing animator on the feature Bébé's Kids. He storyboarded Tim Burton's live-action featurette Frankenweenie (1984) and worked with Burton again as directing animator on the Brad Bird-directed Family Dog episode of Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories and as director of the subsequent primetime animated series.

Buck's credits include a number of animated commercials (including some with the Keebler Elves) for such Los Angeles-based production entities as FilmFair, Kurtz & Friends, and Duck Soup.

Buck went on to co-direct Surf's Up at Sony Pictures Animation, which was released in June 2007.[5]

Buck with Frozen co-director Jennifer Lee and producer Peter Del Vecho

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 of The 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 title Frozen, 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 the Annie Award for Best Production Design in an Animated Feature Production.

In September 2014, it was announced that Buck and Lee would co-direct a short film based on the Frozen characters called Frozen Fever. It was released in March 2015, alongside Cinderella.[9]

On March 12, 2015, Disney announced that Buck and Lee would co-direct Frozen II, the sequel to Frozen.[10] It was released in November 2019.

As of September 2022 Buck is directing Wish, scheduled for release in November 2023.[11]

## Personal life[edit]

Buck is married to Shelley [12] Rae Hinton Buck, an Emmy and Oscar Award winner in sound editing. They have 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 on the Glendale Freeway.[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 a Stage 4 testicular cancer.[12] On March 2, 2014, upon accepting the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for co-directing Frozen at the 86th Academy Awards, Buck dedicated the award to his son Ryder.[12] The tragedy was an inspiration for the song "The Next Right Thing" in Frozen II, as well as a character named "Ryder."[14]

Reed lent his voice to Arnold, a little penguin from Surf's Up, directed by his father.[15]

## Filmography[edit]

### Feature films[edit]

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  | Bébé's Kids | No  | No  | No  | No  | No  | Yes  | Animation Director
1995  | Pocahontas | No  | No  | 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 II | 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  | No  | No  | No  | No  | Yes

#### Short films[edit]

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

#### Television[edit]

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

#### Documentaries[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role

|
|

2014  | The Story of Frozen: Making a Disney Animated Classic | Himself
2020  | Into the Unknown: Making Frozen II | Himself; Special Thanks

## Accolades[edit]

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 Film of the Year  | 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  | Best Animated Feature Film of the Year  | 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

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b "Chris Buck". IMDb. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
2. ^ a b King, Susan (December 10, 2013). "Walt Disney Animation Studios turns 90 in colorful fashion". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
3. ^ Howmann, Anders (October 10, 2014). "'Frozen' treat for 50". Orange County Register. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
4. ^ http://www.cataroo.com/hbuck.html
5. ^ Orange, B. Alan (June 6, 2007). "Chris Jenkins, Ash Brannon, and Chris Buck Are Creating Waves in Their New Film 'Surf's Up'". MovieWeb. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
6. ^ a b c Solomon, Charles (2013). The Art of Frozen. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-1-4521-1716-4.
7. ^ "The Lion King Goes 3D". ComingSoon. June 22, 2010. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
8. ^ Sciretta, Peter (December 22, 2011). "Walt Disney Animation Gives 'The Snow Queen' New Life, Retitled 'Frozen' – But Will It Be Hand Drawn?". SlashFilm. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
9. ^ Gettell, O. (September 3, 2014). "Disney short 'Frozen Fever' coming in spring 2015, with new song". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
10. ^ Graser, M. (March 12, 2015). "Disney Announces 'Frozen 2'". Variety. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
11. ^ Hall, Maragret (September 10, 2022). "Ariana DeBose to Star in New Disney Film Wish". Playbill. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
12. ^ a b c d Walker, Chris (February 6, 2014). "The Tragic Death of Local Musician Ryder Buck, and His Uplifting Story". LA Weekly. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
13. ^ Wexler, David (January 22, 2014). "Ryder Buck: 'Live and Love. We're Only Here Once'". Janglin Souls. Retrieved March 7, 2014. "The band performed alongside Ryder's band, and brothers Woody and Reed."
14. ^ Cohn, Gabe (November 29, 2019). "How to Follow Up 'Frozen'? With Melancholy and a Power Ballad". The New York Times. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
15. ^ Armstrong, Josh (June 11, 2007). "Directors Buck and Brannon on Surf's Up". Animated Views. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
16. ^ "Ariana DeBose to Star in Disney Movie 'Wish' From 'Frozen' Team". The Hollywood Reporter. September 9, 2022. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
17. ^ a b c Simon, Ben (December 27, 2012). "Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 2". Animated Views. Retrieved February 26, 2017.

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chris Buck.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Chris Buck.

* Chris Buck at IMDb

Awards for Chris Buck

* v
* t
* e

Academy Award for Best Animated Feature

2000s|

* Shrek – Aron Warner (2001)
* Spirited Away – Hayao Miyazaki (2002)
* Finding Nemo – Andrew Stanton (2003)
* The Incredibles – Brad Bird (2004)
* Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit – Nick Park and Steve Box (2005)
* Happy Feet – George Miller (2006)
* Ratatouille – Brad Bird (2007)
* WALL-E – Andrew Stanton (2008)
* Up – Pete Docter (2009)

2010s|

* Toy Story 3 – Lee Unkrich (2010)
* Rango – Gore Verbinski (2011)
* Brave – Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman (2012)
* Frozen – Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, and Peter Del Vecho (2013)
* Big Hero 6 – Don Hall, Chris Williams, and Roy Conli (2014)
* Inside Out – Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera (2015)
* Zootopia – Byron Howard, Rich Moore, and Clark Spencer (2016)
* Coco – Lee Unkrich and Darla K. Anderson (2017)
* Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord, and Christopher Miller (2018)
* Toy Story 4 – Josh Cooley, Jonas Rivera, and Mark Nielsen (2019)

2020s|

* Soul – Pete Docter and Dana Murray (2020)
* Encanto – Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer (2021)
* Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio – Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar, and Alex Bulkley (2022)

* v
* t
* e

Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Directing in a Feature Production

* John Lasseter (1996)
* Ron Clements and John Musker (1997)
* Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook (1998)
* Brad Bird (1999)
* John Lasseter, Ash Brannon and Lee Unkrich (2000)
* Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson (2001)
* Hayao Miyazaki (2002)
* Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich (2003)
* Brad Bird (2004)
* Nick Park and Steve Box (2005)
* Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick (2006)
* Brad Bird (2007)
* Mark Osborne and John Stevenson (2008)
* Pete Docter (2009)
* Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders (2010)
* Jennifer Yuh Nelson (2011)
* Rich Moore (2012)
* Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee (2013)
* Dean DeBlois (2014)
* Pete Docter (2015)
* Byron Howard and Rich Moore (2016)
* Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina (2017)
* Bob Persichetti, Rodney Rothman and Peter Ramsey (2018)
* Sergio Pablos (2019)
* Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart (2020)
* Mike Rianda and Jeff Rowe (2021)
* Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson (2022)

* v
* t
* e

Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Animated Feature

1990s|

* A Bug's Life – John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton / The Prince of Egypt – Simon Wells, Brenda Chapman, and Steve Hickner (1998)
* Toy Story 2 – John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich, and Ash Brannon (1999)

2000s|

* Chicken Run – Peter Lord and Nick Park (2000)
* Shrek – Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson (2001)
* Spirited Away – Hayao Miyazaki (2002)
* Finding Nemo – Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich (2003)
* The Incredibles – Brad Bird (2004)
* Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit – Nick Park and Steve Box (2005)
* Cars – John Lasseter and Joe Ranft (2006)
* Ratatouille – Brad Bird and Jan Pinkava (2007)
* WALL-E – Andrew Stanton (2008)
* Up – Pete Docter and Bob Peterson (2009)

2010s|

* Toy Story 3 – Lee Unkrich (2010)
* Rango – Gore Verbinski (2011)
* Wreck-It Ralph – Rich Moore (2012)
* Frozen – Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee (2013)
* The Lego Movie – Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (2014)
* Inside Out – Pete Docter and Ronnie del Carmen (2015)
* Zootopia – Byron Howard and Rich Moore (2016)
* Coco – Lee Unkrich (2017)
* Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman (2018)
* Toy Story 4 – Josh Cooley (2019)

2020s|

* Soul – Pete Docter and Dana Murray (2020)
* The Mitchells vs. the Machines – Mike Rianda (2021)
* Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio – Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson (2022)

In 2020, the category was transferred to the Critics' Choice Super Awards.

* v
* t
* e

Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film

2000s|

* Cars – John Lasseter (2006)
* Ratatouille – Brad Bird (2007)
* WALL-E – Andrew Stanton (2008)
* Up – Pete Docter (2009)

2010s|

* Toy Story 3 – Lee Unkrich (2010)
* The Adventures of Tintin – Steven Spielberg (2011)
* Brave – Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman (2012)
* Frozen – Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee (2013)
* How to Train Your Dragon 2 – Dean DeBlois (2014)
* Inside Out – Pete Docter (2015)
* Zootopia – Byron Howard and Rich Moore (2016)
* Coco – Lee Unkrich (2017)
* Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman (2018)
* Missing Link – Chris Butler (2019)

2020s|

* Soul – Pete Docter (2020)
* Encanto – Jared Bush and Byron Howard (2021)
* Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio – Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson (2022)

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Chris Buck

Features|

* Tarzan (1999)
* Surf's Up (2007)
* Frozen (2013)
* Frozen II (2019)
* Wish (2023)

Shorts|

* Frozen Fever (2015)

Authority control

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* France
* BnF data
* Germany
* Israel
* United States
* Czech Republic
* Korea
* Netherlands
* Poland

Other|

* IdRef

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