Gary Trousdale

Gary A. Trousdale is an American film director. He has directed films like Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Beauty and the Beast and Hunchback of Notre Dame. His work generally has Don Hahn Donald Paul Hahn or ostentatiously known as Don Ha >> Read More... and Kirk Wise. He was born on 8 June 1960 in La Crescenta-Montrose, California, United States of America. He did his schooling from Crescenta Valley High School. After that, he went to Glendale College. He studied animation at California Institute of the Arts also known as CalArts where animators like Selick ("James and the Giant Peach") and John Lasseter John Lasseter is an American animator and the Chie >> Read More... ("Toy Story") had learned the art. Earlier, he wanted to be an architect but went on to learn animation. At CalArts, he studied for three years.

In 1982, he got hired for designing storyboards and other animation work. After that, he went on to design T-Shirts, restaurant menus, flyers etc. for Grand American Fare. He worked at Tom Carter Animation for two years where he storyboarded, animated and designed many TV shows such as ABC’s "Stanley, The Ugly Duckling". In 1985, Walt Disney Feature Animation hired him for effects animator on The Black Cauldron. Disney wanted to lay him off after the work on the film was over but he stayed on because of a series of work pertaining to his job.

Later, he was promoted to the story department of Disney Feature Animation. It was done on the recommendation of Joe Ranft. He was further promoted to the director’s post for Beauty and the Beast. Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale were on this project too as the others (the ones to whom it was assigned) had left the job. He got his breakthrough after the success of his directorial debut, the animated film, named Beauty and the Beast.

The movie received the nomination for the Academy Awards under the category “Best Picture.” It went on to win a Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) Award. After the success of Beauty and the Beast, in 1996, he directed The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In 2001, he worked on Atlantis: The Lost Empire. He also was a storyboarder for the blockbuster films like “The Lion King and “The Little Mermaid.” In 2003, he started working at DreamWorks Animation. He was a writer and director. There, he worked on films such as Shrek the Halls, Scared Shrekless and The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper. In 2014, he directed Rocky & Bullwinkle.