# Jared Bush

Jared Bush (born June 12, 1974) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director, who has served as the chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios since 2024. He is best known for co-writing and co-directing the Walt Disney Animation Studios film Zootopia (2016) and its upcoming sequel Zootopia 2 (2025), writing the film Moana (2016), its sequel Moana 2 (2024) and the 2026 upcoming live-action remake, and writing, directing, and winning an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for the film Encanto (2021), besides co-creating and executive producing the Disney XD animated series Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero. Bush is a graduate of Harvard University.

## Career

Bush was originally hired by Walt Disney Animation Studios on a "provisional eight-week contract". He joined the Zootopia project early on, before it evolved from a spy film into a police procedural; he was excited to work on a spy film because both his father and grandfather had worked for the Central Intelligence Agency. Several months after joining Disney, he had to personally pitch Zootopia to Disney chief executive officer Bob Iger.
He went on to write the screenplays for the films Moana and its sequel Moana 2.
Bush co-created the animated television series Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero. In 2021, Bush directed Encanto about a Colombian magical family alongside Byron Howard with Charise Castro Smith as co-director. Bush also co-wrote the screenplay alongside Castro Smith.
On September 19, 2024, Disney Animation announced that chief creative officer Jennifer Lee was stepping down from that position to direct and write Frozen 3 and to write and executive produce Frozen 4. Bush was named as her successor.

## Filmography
### Films

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Other | Voice | Note |
| 2000 | What Lies Beneath | No | No | No | Yes | | Assistant: Mr. Rapke |
| 2014 | Big Hero 6 | No | No | No | Yes | | Creative Leadership |
| 2016 | Zootopia | Co-Director | Yes | No | Yes | Pronk Oryx-Antlerson | Creative Leadership |
| 2016 | Moana | No | Screenplay | No | Yes | | Creative Leadership |
| 2018 | Ralph Breaks the Internet | No | No | No | Yes | | Creative Leadership |
| 2019 | Frozen 2 | No | No | No | Yes | | Creative Leadership |
| 2021 | Raya and the Last Dragon | No | No | Yes | Yes | | Creative Leadership |
| 2021 | Encanto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | | Creative Leadership |
| 2022 | Strange World | No | No | No | Yes | | Creative Leadership |
| 2023 | Wish | No | No | No | Yes | | Creative Leadership |
| 2024 | Moana 2 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Creative Leadership |
| 2025 | Zootopia 2 | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | | Creative Leadership |
| 2026 | Moana | No | Screenplay | No | No | | Post-production |

### Television

| Year | Title | Creator | Producer | Writer | Story Editor | Composer |
| 2000 | DAG | No | No | Assistant | No | No |
| 2002 | Baby Bob | No | Co-Producer | Staff | No | No |
| 2003 | Totally Outrageous Behavior | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| 2003 | Dumber and Dumber | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| 2003–04 | Who Wants to Marry My Dad? | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| 2003–07 | All of Us | No | Co-Producer | Yes | Executive | No |
| 2014–17 | Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero | Yes | Executive | Yes | No | Yes |

### Short films

| Year | Title | Executive Producer | Other | Voice | Notes |
| 2022 | Zootopia+ | Yes | Yes | Pronk Oryx-Antlerson | Disney+ Original short films |

### Unrealized projects

* Mancation

## Awards and nominations

| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | For | Recipient(s) | Result |
| BET Comedy Awards | 2005 | Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series | All of Us | Jared Bush, Arthur Harris, Stacy A. Littlejohn, Lori Lakin, Jewel Wormley, Josh Wolf, Demetrius Andre Bady, Byron Hord, Ray Lancon, John Simmons, Rob Rosell, Chad Drew, Betsy Borns | Nominated |
| Seattle Film Critics Award | 2017 | Best Animated Feature | Zootopia | Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Rich Moore | Won |
| Alliance of Women Film Journalists | December 21, 2016 | Best Animated Film | Zootopia | Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Rich Moore | Won |
| Annie Awards | February 4, 2017 | Outstanding Achievement for Writing in an Animated Feature Production | Zootopia | Jared Bush and Phil Johnston | Won |
| Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America | May 20, 2017 | Ray Bradbury Award | Zootopia | Jared Bush and Phil Johnston | Nominated |
| Annie Awards | March 12, 2022 | Best Animated Feature | Encanto | Jared Bush, Byron Howard, and Charise Castro Smith | Nominated |
| British Academy Film Awards | March 13, 2022 | Best Animated Film | Encanto | Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer | Won |
| Academy Awards | March 27, 2022 | Best Animated Feature | Encanto | Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer | Won |
| Hugo Awards | September 4, 2022 | Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form | Encanto | Charise Castro Smith, Jared Bush, and Byron Howard | Nominated |
| Imagen Awards | October 2, 2022 | Best Director – Feature Film | Encanto | Charise Castro Smith, Jared Bush, and Byron Howard | Won |
| Nebula Awards | May 21, 2022 | Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation | Encanto | Charise Castro Smith, Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Jason Hand, Nancy Kruse, and Lin-Manuel Miranda | Nominated |