Chris Sanders

Christopher Sanders came into animation at a glorious time, joining Disney right as the company was resurrecting itself in animation with such classics as "Aladdin" (1992) and "The Lion King" (1994). Sanders also transitioned well into the age of computer and 3D animation with the crowd-pleasing hit "How to Train Your Dragon" (2010). Sanders was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He became fascinated with animation when he was ten years old, and once he came of age, Sanders attended the legendary Cal Arts school, which at the time also had Tim Burton among its students. Sanders graduated from the famous CalArts art school in 1984. Sanders first went to work for Marvel Comics, and he also drew characters for the "Muppet Babies" (CBS 1984-1991) children's show. Working his way into Disney, Sanders did some work on "The Rescuers Down Under" (1990), then moved up to the films that revitalized Disney animation, "Beauty and the Beast" (1991), "Aladdin" (1992) and "The Lion King" (1994). While these movies created new modern classics for families and made Disney a major force in animation again, Sanders eventually left Disney when DreamWorks Animation made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Although Sanders made DreamWorks his new home, he returned to Disney to write and direct the alien comedy "Lilo and Stitch" (2002), which was another success for the studio. Sanders also made the transition into computer drawn 3D animation when he co-wrote and co-directed "How to Train Your Dragon" (2010). "Dragon" proved a very successful movie for DreamWorks and two sequels went into development. Sanders followed up "Dragon" with another potential franchise, the caveman family adventure "The Croods" (2013).