Chris Sanders

Christopher Michael "Chris" Sanders is an American filmmaker, animator, illustrator, and voice actor.
For Disney, he wrote and directed the 2002 animated feature film Lilo & Stitch alongside Dean DeBlois, as well as provided the voice of Stitch in mostly all Western areas of the franchise and the upcoming live-action adaptation. He also voiced 627 in Lilo & Stitch: The Series and Leroy in Leroy & Stitch. Additionally, he provided the voice of Little Brother from Mulan.
==Early life==
Sanders was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, into an artistic family and is the middle of three children. As a child, he was completely surrounded by art. His family used to paint together and encourage drawing. Sanders, however, also enjoyed writing short stories and sharing them with his family. At age ten, he became interested in animation after seeing Ward Kimball animated shorts on The Wonderful World of Disney. While attending Arvada High School, his storytelling skills enabled him to serve as the school newspaper cartoonist.
It wasn't until Sanders heard about the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) that he considered art as a means of making a living. After applying to CalArts' Animation Program, he was accepted to the program and majored in character animation. Sanders completed his education at CalArts and graduated in 1984.
==Career==
Sanders began his career as a character designer for . He also served as a storyboard artist, artistic director, production designer, and character designer for Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Mulan before ultimately bringing to life Lilo & Stitch.
On December 16, 2006, several Internet animation fan sites, including AnimatedNews.com, reported that Sanders had been removed as the director of the upcoming Disney animated film American Dog by John Lasseter. A interview with Lasseter later revealed that Sanders was negotiating his exit from Disney. After the departure of Sanders from Disney, directing duties were handed to Chris Williams and the film was retitled Bolt. Sanders has since worked for , directing (2010) and (2013), as well as serving as an executive producer for (2014) and (2019). Sanders worked for 20th Century Studios on a film adaptation of The Call of the Wild, which was released in February 21, 2020. Due to Disney's official acquisition of Fox in March 2019, the film marks the first time since the 2000s that Sanders directed a film under the Walt Disney Company. However, his return was only under the circumstances of the acquisition and not intended to be permanent, as he was hired by the suggestion of one of the film’s producers, making it his first freelance directorial gig as a Indepedent filmmaker. he would return to DreamWorks to work on an animated film adaptation of , unknownly at the same time that Lilo And Stitch is being filmed in Hawaii for the remake.
Despite his departure from Disney, Sanders still reprises the voice of Stitch in new Disney projects when needed. However, he did not voice the character in either Stitch! or Stitch & Ai, both of which were produced in East Asia, despite the latter Chinese series having American animators contribute to its production. Ben Diskin replaced Sanders as the English voice of Stitch for these shows. This is likely due to Sanders being only signed to Disney Character Voices to reprise his role of Stitch in media outside of film and television, as Disney had to negotiate with him to reprise the role for the live-action film.
==Roles==
Disney-Princess-Wallpaper-2.png|Little Brother(Mulan)
Stitch OfficialDisney.jpg|Stitch(Lilo & Stitch franchise)
Profile - Stitch 2025.png|Stitch(Lilo & Stitch;2025 live-action adaptation)
Profile - 627.png|627(Lilo & Stitch: The Series)
Profile - Leroy.png|Leroy(Leroy & Stitch)
Tarzan 361.jpg|Baby Baboon(Tarzan: Activity Center)
==Gallery==
Chris Sanders behind the scenes L&S.jpg|Chris Sanders behind the scenes of Lilo & Stitch.	
Chris Sanders & Kirk DeMicco Croods premeire.jpg|Chris Sanders with Kirk DeMicco at the premiere of in March 2013.
==Trivia==
*The main reason behind Lilo & Stitch featuring songs of Elvis Presley came from Chris Sanders being a fan of Elvis himself.
==References==
==External links==
*
*
*
*chrissandersart.com
*magweb.com/chris sanders
*
*
*
pt-br:Chris Sanders
Category:Storyboard artists
Category:Directors
Category:Voice actors
Category:1960s births
Category:Animators
Category:Character Designers
Category:Actors
Category:Annie Award Winner
Category:Annie Award Nominated
Category:Disney Renaissance
Category:Males
Category:American people
Category:People from Colorado
Category:Fantasia
Category:Beauty and the Beast
Category:Aladdin
Category:The Lion King
Category:Mulan
Category:Lilo & Stitch
Category:Kingdom Hearts
Category:Disney Infinity
Category:Disney Dreamlight Valley
Category:Touchstone Pictures
Category:Screenwriters
Category:Kinect: Disneyland Adventures
Category:Tomorrowland
Category:Magic Kingdom
Category:Video game voice actors
Category:Disney Channel Actors and Actresses
Category:Fox
Category:Muppet Babies
Category:The Muppets
Category:Tarzan
Category:20th Century Studios
Category:The Call of the Wild
Category:Disney Speedstorm