Chris Williams

Christopher John "Chris" Williams is an American film director, screenwriter, storyboard artist, animator, and voice actor working at Walt Disney Animation Studios. The young filmmaker is perhaps most known for the Oscar nominated 2008 animated feature film Bolt, but he has also worked on several other projects, including but not limited to Mulan, The Emperor's New Groove, and Brother Bear. He also voiced Oaken in the 2013 Disney animated feature film Frozen and its subsequent sequels and co-directed the 2014 Disney animated feature film Big Hero 6.
==History==
Williams was born in Missouri and spent the first 25 years in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, where his father taught psychology courses at the University of Waterloo. After graduating from the animation program at Sheridan College, he was recruited by Disney and moved to Los Angeles.
Williams previously worked in the story department for Mulan, The Emperor's New Groove, Brother Bear, and Bolt, in which he later directed with Byron Howard, both of them replacing Chris Sanders as the original director. Williams co-directed (with Don Hall) the animated film Big Hero 6, inspired by the Marvel Comics of the same name.
He was set to direct the upcoming animated feature film King of the Elves, based on the story by Philip K. Dick, before it was cancelled.
===Working on Bolt===
Chris Williams started working on the feature film Bolt in 2007 with Byron Howard, shortly after that, Chris Sanders had been released and John Lasseter had taken over the project. During the production of Bolt, Chris Williams focused mostly on the story whereas the other director, Byron Howard, was mostly concerned with the design and animation. Both Chris Williams and Byron Howard worked very closely with John Lasseter at the time, and the movie, which marked a milestone in Disney Animation as the first critically acclaimed animated feature from the studio in almost ten years, was released on November 24, 2008.
==Feature Film Filmography==
Year	Film 	Position 	Company
1998	Mulan 	Story 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2000	The Emperor's New Groove 	Story/Story Artist 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2002	Lilo & Stitch 	Story Supervisor 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2003	Brother Bear 	Additional Story/Additional Story Material 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2005	Chicken Little 	Story Artist 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2005	Kronk's New Groove 	Characters (Uncredited) 	Disneytoon Studios
2007	Meet the Robinsons 	Additional Story Artist 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2008	Bolt 	Director/Screenplay/Additional Voices 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2009	G-Force 	Additional Story 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2010	Tangled 	Additional Story Artist 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2012	Wreck-It Ralph 	Additional Story Artist 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2013	Frozen 	Story Artist/Voice Actor (Oaken) 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2014	Big Hero 6 	Director/Creative Leadership: Walt Disney Animation Studios	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2016	Zootopia 	Additional Story Artist 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2016	Moana 	Co-Director/Story 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2018	Ralph Breaks the Internet	Executive Producer/Additional Story Artist 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2019	Frozen II 	Story Artist/Voice Actor (Oaken) 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
==Animated Shorts Filmography==
Year	Film 	Position 	Company
2008	Glago's Guest 	Writer/Director 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2009	Super Rhino 	Executive Producer 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2009	Prep & Landing 	Based on a Story/Executive Producer	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2012	Paperman 	Special Thanks 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2015	Frozen Fever 	Voice Actor (Oaken) 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2017	Gone Fishing 	Co-Director 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2017	Olaf's Frozen Adventure	Voice Actor (Oaken) 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2018	Cycles 	Voice Actor (Young Bert) 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
2020	Once Upon a Snowman 	Voice Actor (Oaken) 	Walt Disney Animation Studios
==Roles==
OakenFrozen.jpg|Oaken(Frozen franchise)
Young Bert Cycles.png|Young Bert(Cycles)
==Gallery==
Byron Howard & Chris Williams Bolt premiere.jpg|Chris Williams and Byron Howard at the premiere of Bolt in November 2008.
Chris Williams NYCC14.jpg|Chris Williams speaks at the 2014 New York Comic Con.
Don Hall & Chris Williams BH6 premiere.jpg|Chris Williams and Don Hall at the premiere of Big Hero 6 in October 2014.
Chris Williams, Don Hall & Roy Conli 87th Oscars.jpg|Chris Williams, Don Hall, and Roy Conli speak onstage at the 87th annual Academy Awards in February 2015.
==External links==
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Category:Males
Category:Animators
Category:Bolt
Category:Mulan
Category:The Emperor's New Groove
Category:Brother Bear
Category:Directors
Category:Frozen
Category:Big Hero 6
Category:Voice actors
Category:Annie Award Winner
Category:Annie Award Nominated
Category:1960s births
Category:American people
Category:Screenwriters
Category:Moana
Category:People from Missouri
Category:Storyboard artists
Category:Disney Renaissance
Category:Actors
Category:Prep & Landing
Category:G-Force
Category:Wreck-It Ralph
Category:Disney+
Category:Marvel people
Category:Chicken Little
Category:Lilo & Stitch
Category:Stargirl
Category:Walt Disney Animation Studios