Stephen J. Anderson Bio
Stephen J. Anderson is an up-and-coming animator who has worked on Disney releases like Tarzan, Brother Bear, and The Emperor’s New Groove, though he’s probably best known for directing Meet the Robinsons and co-directing Winnie the Pooh.
Obsessed with Disney
Born and raised in Plano, Texas, Stephen J. Anderson spent a good chunk of his youth watching (and re-watching) such classic Disney cartoons as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Peter Pan, and Sleeping Beauty.
“I had two dreams when I was growing up,” Stephen said during an interview with The Dove Foundation, “I wanted to work in animation at Disney and I wanted to direct a Disney film.” To that end, Stephen began working diligently to perfect his drawing style and enrolled in a series of art classes throughout his high school years.
CalArts Bound
When the time came to begin his post-secondary educational career, Stephen knew that there was just one place that he wanted to study: California School of the Arts. CalArts has been home to many of today’s top animators, including John Lasseter, Brad Bird, and Tim Burton, and Stephen relished the opportunity to learn the ropes from some of the industry’s brightest minds. (In fact, Stephen enjoyed his time at CalArts so much that he stayed on for five years after his graduation as a story instructor.)
Hollywood Awaits
In 1991, Stephen made his professional debut on the Rodney Dangerfield comedy Rover Dangerfield, where he worked as an additional animator.
From there, Stephen built up his resume with animator jobs on projects like the 1992 Jim Carrey short The Itsy Bitsy Spider and the 1992 Paramount Pictures release Bébé's Kids. Stephen’s growing esteem in the industry eventually led to an offer from Disney, as the Mouse House wanted him to help contribute to the story for 1999’s Tarzan adaptation.
A New Direction
Tarzan’s success paved the way for further opportunities within Disney’s hallowed walls, and Stephen worked on both 2000’s The Emperor’s New Groove and 2003’s Brother Bear as a story supervisor. Stephen’s big break was just around the corner, however, as the up-and-coming animator was asked to make his directorial debut on Disney’s 2007 release, Meet the Robinsons. Stephen not only directed the film and contributed to its screenplay, but he also provided the voice of the movie’s central villain, Bowler Hat Guy. (Stephen had developed the voice during the storyboarding phase and everyone eventually agreed that he should play the role in the final product.)
Primed for Pooh
Despite his growing success, Stephen continued to assist his Disney colleagues on their own movies – as he worked as an additional story artist on the 2008 release Bolt. (He also lent his voice to a handful of background characters in that film.) It was around that time that Stephen was invited to co-direct Disney’s reboot of A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh, with the film marking a return to traditional animation for the studio after such computer-animated fare as 2005’s Chicken Little and 2010’s Tangled.
Obsessed with Disney
Born and raised in Plano, Texas, Stephen J. Anderson spent a good chunk of his youth watching (and re-watching) such classic Disney cartoons as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Peter Pan, and Sleeping Beauty.
“I had two dreams when I was growing up,” Stephen said during an interview with The Dove Foundation, “I wanted to work in animation at Disney and I wanted to direct a Disney film.” To that end, Stephen began working diligently to perfect his drawing style and enrolled in a series of art classes throughout his high school years.
CalArts Bound
When the time came to begin his post-secondary educational career, Stephen knew that there was just one place that he wanted to study: California School of the Arts. CalArts has been home to many of today’s top animators, including John Lasseter, Brad Bird, and Tim Burton, and Stephen relished the opportunity to learn the ropes from some of the industry’s brightest minds. (In fact, Stephen enjoyed his time at CalArts so much that he stayed on for five years after his graduation as a story instructor.)
Hollywood Awaits
In 1991, Stephen made his professional debut on the Rodney Dangerfield comedy Rover Dangerfield, where he worked as an additional animator.
From there, Stephen built up his resume with animator jobs on projects like the 1992 Jim Carrey short The Itsy Bitsy Spider and the 1992 Paramount Pictures release Bébé's Kids. Stephen’s growing esteem in the industry eventually led to an offer from Disney, as the Mouse House wanted him to help contribute to the story for 1999’s Tarzan adaptation.
A New Direction
Tarzan’s success paved the way for further opportunities within Disney’s hallowed walls, and Stephen worked on both 2000’s The Emperor’s New Groove and 2003’s Brother Bear as a story supervisor. Stephen’s big break was just around the corner, however, as the up-and-coming animator was asked to make his directorial debut on Disney’s 2007 release, Meet the Robinsons. Stephen not only directed the film and contributed to its screenplay, but he also provided the voice of the movie’s central villain, Bowler Hat Guy. (Stephen had developed the voice during the storyboarding phase and everyone eventually agreed that he should play the role in the final product.)
Primed for Pooh
Despite his growing success, Stephen continued to assist his Disney colleagues on their own movies – as he worked as an additional story artist on the 2008 release Bolt. (He also lent his voice to a handful of background characters in that film.) It was around that time that Stephen was invited to co-direct Disney’s reboot of A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh, with the film marking a return to traditional animation for the studio after such computer-animated fare as 2005’s Chicken Little and 2010’s Tangled.