Ron Clements

**Ronald Francis "Ron" Clements** (born April 25, 1953) is an American animation director, screenwriter and producer. He often collaborates with fellow director John Musker.

## Life and career

Clements was born in Sioux City, Iowa, the son of Gertrude (née Gereau) and Joseph Clements.

Clements began his career as an animator for Hanna-Barbera. After a few months there, he was accepted into Disney's Talent Development Program, an animator training ground and workshop. After that, he served a two-year apprenticeship with famed animator Frank Thomas, a supervising animator in classic Disney films such as *Peter Pan* (1953), *Lady and the Tramp* (1955), and *The Aristocats* (1970).

Clements made his feature debut as a character animator on *The Rescuers* and *Pete's Dragon* in 1977. In 1981, he became the supervising animator on *The Fox and the Hound*. Future partner John Musker worked as a character animator under him. Clements later teamed up with Musker as story artists on the ambitious animated flop *The Black Cauldron* in 1985. In 1986, Clements made his directorial debut alongside Musker and two other collaborators on the feature *The Great Mouse Detective*. Clements previously made a pre-Disney short based on Sherlock Holmes.

Together, Musker and Clements wrote and directed *The Little Mermaid* in 1989, a touching retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen tale. With Oscar-winning songs by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, the film was a huge success, bringing back critical and commercial clout for feature animation. Later on, the two wrote, directed, and produced *Aladdin* in 1992, which was an even larger success. They also directed *Hercules* in 1997, which was not as successful as the previous two films but was still profitable.

Their next directorial collaboration would be the sci-fi *Treasure Planet* (2002), critics reviews were generally positive but it was unfortunately a commercial failure. The film lacked the songs and colorful characters which were crucial to the success of *Aladdin* and *The Little Mermaid* although he was nominated an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

However, after Disney's acquisition of Pixar in early 2006, the studio has rekindled interest towards 2-D animation thanks to new leaders John Lasseter and Edwin Catmull. A new 2-D animated feature, *The Princess and the Frog* was released in 2009, with Musker and Clements directing and Randy Newman handling the music. The film returns to the Broadway-style musical of *Aladdin*, *The Little Mermaid* and other successful Disney animated films of the late '80s and early '90s.

In late 2012, the duo announced that they will be directing a new film in the future, but they have their lips sealed for the title, the plot, and the animation style. In July 2013, it was revealed that the film, titled *Moana*, would be "a Polynesian tale involving the island folk and the idols made famous the world over," and that it is planned for 2016.

## Credits

* The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977): assistant animator
* The Rescuers (1977): character animator
* The Fox and the Hound (1981): supervising animator for Big Mama
* Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore (1983): story
* The Black Cauldron (1985): additional story contributions
* The Great Mouse Detective (1986): director and story
* The Little Mermaid (1989): director and writer
* Aladdin (1992): director, screenplay, and producer
* Hercules (1997): director, screenplay, and producer
* Treasure Planet (2002): director, story, developer, screenplay, and producer
* Bolt (2008): special thanks
* The Princess and the Frog (2009): director, story, and screenplay
* Big Hero 6 (2014): creative leadership
* Moana (film) (2016): director and story
* Gone Fishing (2017): director
* Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018): creative leadership