Chris Wedge
Chris Wedge | |
---|---|
Born | John Christian Wedge March 20, 1957 Binghamton, New York, U.S. |
Nationality | American |
Education | Fayetteville-Manlius High School |
Alma mater | State University of New York at Purchase Ohio State University |
Occupation | Film director, film producer, screenwriter, cartoonist, voice actor |
Years active | 1982–present |
Notable work | Bunny Ice Age Robots Epic Monster Trucks |
Spouse(s) | Jeanne Markel[1] |
Children | 2 |
John Christian Wedge (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, writer, cartoonist, and voice actor, whose films include Ice Age (2002), Robots (2005), Epic (2013) and Monster Trucks (2016). He is a co-founder of the now-defunct animation studio Blue Sky Studios and voiced the character Scrat in the Ice Age franchise.
Early life[]
Wedge was born in Binghamton, New York.[2] He became interested in animation when he was 12 years old: "Back then, there was a TV special about kids making cut-out animation in a workshop—as I recall it was Yellow Ball Workshop—it was a clear technique to follow and I followed it. That fascinated me and it got me started. It was so simple, effective and magical in outcome and I stuck with creating things throughout my childhood, teenage years and then college."[3]
He attended Fayetteville-Manlius High School, graduating in 1975.[4] He received his BFA in Film from State University of New York at Purchase in Purchase, New York in 1981, and subsequently earned his MA in computer graphics and art education at the Ohio State University. He has taught animation at the School of Visual Arts in New York City where he met his future film directing partner, Carlos Saldanha.
Career[]
In 1982, Wedge worked for MAGI/SynthaVision, where he was a principal animator on the Disney film Tron, credited as a scene programmer. Some of his other works include Where the Wild Things Are (1983), George Shrinks, The Brave Little Toaster (1987), and Santa Calls.
Wedge is the co-founder of the now defunct Blue Sky Studios, once one of the premier computer animation studios, and was its Vice President of Creative Development until the studio was closed by The Walt Disney Company in 2021. He is the owner of WedgeWorks, a film production company founded by Wedge.
In the 1990s, he and his studio worked on CGI effects for the movies Alien Resurrection and Titan A.E.
In 1998, he won an Academy Award for the short animated film, Bunny. In 2002, Wedge directed Blue Sky Studios' first computer-animated film Ice Age and served as a producer for its sequels. He also voiced Scrat in the film series, performing the character's "squeaks and squeals."[5] In 2005, Wedge directed Robots, based on a story he created with William Joyce. In 2013 followed Epic, loosely based on Joyce's book, The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs.[6]
In 2007, it was announced that Wedge would direct Hugo though he was subsequently replaced by Martin Scorsese.[7] In 2009, it was reported that Wedge would direct an animated feature film adaptation of Will Wright's Spore, but since then there has been no further news about the film.[8]
Wedge directed the science fiction/action film Monster Trucks (2016), with a $100 million budget, and starring Lucas Till and Jane Levy.[9] Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger wrote the script for the film,[9] produced by Mary Parent.[10]
Personal life[]
Wedge lives in Katonah, New York[3] with his wife Jeanne Markel.[1] They have a daughter and a son, Sarah and Jack.[11]
Filmography[]
Feature Films[]
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer |
Other | Voice Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1982 | Tron | No | No | No | Yes | Scene Programmer: MAGI Synthavision (as "Christian Wedge") | |
1996 | Joe's Apartment | No | No | No | Yes | Animation Director | |
1997 | A Simple Wish | No | No | No | Yes | Executive Creative Supervisor: Blue Sky Studios | |
Alien Resurrection | No | No | No | Yes | Creative Supervisor: Blue Sky Studios Senior Staff | ||
2002 | Ice Age | Yes | No | No | Yes | Dodo/Scrat | |
2005 | Robots | Yes | No | No | Yes | Wonderbot/Phone Booth | |
2006 | Ice Age: The Meltdown | No | No | Yes | Yes | Scrat | |
2008 | Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! | No | No | Yes | No | ||
2009 | Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | No | No | Yes | Yes | Scrat | |
2011 | Rio | No | No | Yes | No | ||
2012 | Ice Age: Continental Drift | No | No | Yes | Yes | Scrat | |
2013 | Epic | Yes | Story | No | No | Scrat (Blue Sky Logo) | |
2014 | Rio 2 | No | No | Yes | No | ||
2015 | The Peanuts Movie | No | No | No | No | ||
2016 | Ice Age: Collision Course | No | No | Yes | Yes | Scrat | |
2017 | Monster Trucks | Yes | No | No | No | ||
Ferdinand | No | No | Yes | No | Scrat (Blue Sky Logo) | ||
2019 | Spies in Disguise | No | No | Yes | Yes | Scrat (Blue Sky Logo) | |
2022 | Ice Age: Adventures of Buck Wild | No | No | Yes | Yes | Scrat |
Short Films[]
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Animator | Producer | Other | Voice Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1985 | Tuber's Two-Step | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | ||
1987 | Balloon Guy | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | ||
1990 | The Mind's Eye | No | No | No | Yes | No | ||
1998 | Bunny | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | ||
2002 | Gone Nutty | No | No | No | Executive | Yes | Scrat | |
2005 | Aunt Fanny's Tour of Booty | No | No | No | Executive | Yes | Hacky | |
2006 | No Time for Nuts | No | No | No | Executive | Yes | Scrat | |
2008 | Surviving Sid | No | No | No | Executive | Yes | Scrat | |
2011 | Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas | No | No | No | Executive | Yes | Scrat | TV Special |
2016 | Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade | No | No | No | Executive | Yes | Scrat | TV Special |
Television[]
Year | Title | Art department | Voice Actor | Voice Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1996 | Quack Pack | Yes | No | Character designer, Prop designer | |
2006 | Family Guy | No | Yes | Scrat | Episode: "Sibling Rivalry" |
2015 | The Simpsons | No | Yes | Episode: "Treehouse of Horror XXVI" (as Chris "Scrat" Wedge) |
Video Games[]
Year | Title | Voice Role |
---|---|---|
2006 | Ice Age 2: The Meltdown | Scrat |
2009 | Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | |
2012 | Ice Age: Continental Drift - Arctic Games | |
2015 | Ice Age Avalanche | |
2019 | Ice Age: Scrat's Nutty Adventure |
Special Thanks[]
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
2011 | Adventures in Plymptoons! | Documentary |
2020 | Sonic The Hedgehog |
Critical reception[]
Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | IMDb |
---|---|---|---|
Overall | |||
Ice Age (2002) | 77%[12] | 60%[13] | 7.5[14] |
Robots (2005) | 64%[15] | 64%[16] | 6.3[17] |
Epic (2013) | 64%[18] | 52%[19] | 6.7[20] |
Monster Trucks (2016) | 31%[21] | 41%[22] | 5.4[23] |
Awards and nominations[]
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1996 | Ottawa International Animation Festival Award | Best Production Under 10 Minutes in Length | Joe's Apartment | Won |
1999 | Academy Award | Best Animated Short Film | Bunny | Won |
Drama International Short Film Festival Award | Special Prize for Animation | Won | ||
Nashville Film Festival Award | Best Animation | Won | ||
Jury Award | Best Short | Nominated | ||
Oberhausen International Short Film Festival Award | Prize of the Children's Short Film Competition | Won | ||
2003 | Academy Award | Best Animated Feature | Ice Age | Nominated |
Annie Award | Outstanding Directing in an Animated Feature Production Shared with Carlos Saldanha (co-director) |
Nominated | ||
DVD Exclusive Award | Best Audio Commentary, New Release Shared with Carlos Saldanha (co-director) |
Nominated | ||
ShoWest Convention Award | Animation Director of the Year | Won | ||
2013 | Behind the Voice Actors Award | Best Vocal Ensemble in a Feature Film Shared with Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, Keke Palmer, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck, Wanda Sykes, Jennifer Lopez, Alan Tudyk, Joy Behar, Patrick Stewart, Simon Pegg & Rebel Wilson |
Ice Age: Continental Drift | Nominated |
2014 | Annie Award | Outstanding Achievement in Directing in an Animated Feature Production | Epic | Nominated |
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Staudter, Thomas (March 21, 1999). "'Bunny' From Harrison Competes for Oscar". The New York Times. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
- ^ "Behind The Voice Actors - Chris Wedge". Retrieved April 14, 2014.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Buchman, Lisa (September 12, 2012). "Meet Chris Wedge, 'Ice Age' Creator, Katonah Resident". Patch. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
- ^ "Chris Wedge, Class of 1975, Inducted in 2000". Fayetteville-Manlius Hall of Distinction. Fayetteville-Manlius Schools. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
- ^ LaRue, William (November 2, 2006). "'Ice Age' director gives students a look into animation". The Syracuse Post-Standard. Syracuse.com. Retrieved January 27, 2007.[dead link]
- ^ Schneider, Karl (August 24, 2006). "Chris Wedge to direct THE LEAF MEN AND THE BRAVE GOOD BUGS". Movie News, Mania.com. Mania Entertainment, LLC., citing The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved January 27, 2007.
- ^ Siegel, Tatiana (May 5, 2008). "Chris Wedge to direct 'Hugo Cabret'". Variety. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
- ^ Graser, Marc (October 1, 2009). "EA sets up 'Spore' at Fox". Variety. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Paramount Animation Plans 'Monster Trucks' Live Action-Toon Franchise: In Final Talks With Blue Sky's Chris Wedge To Direct". deadline.com. July 31, 2013. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
- ^ "Paramount Animation Planning Live Action/Animated Franchise 'Monster Trucks' With Blue Sky's Chris Wedge". indiewire.com. August 1, 2013. Archived from the original on May 21, 2014. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
- ^ "Chris Wedge Acceptance Speech". The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
And so to my beautiful wife and family, Jean*, Sarah and Jack...
- ^ "Ice Age (2002) - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
- ^ "Ice Age Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
- ^ "Ice Age (2002) - IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
- ^ "Robots (2005) - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
- ^ "Robots Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
- ^ "Robots (2005) - IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
- ^ "Epic (2013) - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
- ^ "Epic Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
- ^ "Epic (2013) - IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
- ^ "Monster Trucks (2017) - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
- ^ "Monster Trucks Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
- ^ "Monster Trucks (2016) - IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chris Wedge. |
- Animators from New York (state)
- American animated film directors
- American animated film producers
- Animation screenwriters
- Ohio State University alumni
- Artists from Binghamton, New York
- State University of New York at Purchase alumni
- 1957 births
- Living people
- Fayetteville-Manlius High School alumni
- People from Manlius, New York
- Directors of Best Animated Short Academy Award winners
- Blue Sky Studios people
- People from Katonah, New York
- Film directors from New York (state)