Chris Sanders

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Christopher Michael Sanders (born March 12, 1962) is an American animation director, film director, screenwriter, producer, illustrator and voice actor.

He is best known for co-writing and directing Disney's Lilo & Stitch (2002) and DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon (2010), both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with Dean DeBlois, and for creating and voicing Stitch in Lilo & Stitch and every Western-produced work in its franchise.

He also served as director and co-writer on The Croods, along with Kirk DeMicco.

Early life

Sanders was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He went to Arvada High School in Arvada, Colorado. He is a 1984 graduate of the California Institute of the Arts.

Personal life

Sanders is married to Jessica Steele-Sanders. Together, they wrote an illustrated novel, titled Rescue Sirens: The Search for the Atavist (2015). Sanders also draws the webcomic Kiskaloo.

According to Phineas and Ferb co-creator Dan Povenmire, Sanders has a daughter named Nicole.

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Career

Sanders began his career as a Muppet Babies character designer. He was hired as the head storyboard artist for Walt Disney Feature Animation straight away. He has worked as a storyboard artist, creative director, and character designer on Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Mulan.

Sanders invented "Stitch" for a failed children's book pitch in 1985. In the aftermath of a string of high-profile and high-budget Disney animated films in the mid-1990s, Sanders, then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner, decided that the studio might try a smaller and less costly film. Thomas Schumacher came up with a pitch for Chris Sanders, and Sanders revived the "Stitch" character he came up with. Sanders chose Kauai as the location for the story line because it was located in a remote, non-urban area. Stitch appeared in the 2002 film Lilo & Stitch, which Sanders co-directed and co-wrote with Dean DeBlois. Sanders would also be voicing the character he created for the film. Sanders reprised his role as Stitch in the original 2002-06 franchise due to the film's commercial and critical success. Or the Chinese-language-produced Chinese animated film Stitch & Ai, with Ben Diskin taking over the role for both series and several other Disney crossover films, including Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Kinect: Disneyland Adventures, and the Disney Infinity series.

Sanders created The Big Bear Aircraft Company in the late 1980s, with the subheading "A book for the big retreat" announcing that it was intended for a Disney offsite event. The Big Bear Aircraft Company is a thinly disguised copy of Disney's, and the book suggests that the company's creative process, which includes "big plans," "don't look the same as the ones that were] built before, becomes uncomfortable." After giving each suggestion to a writer who "likes airplanes" but "has actually never been on one before" and "can't tell you for certain what makes one fly," the author says. In the end, the company's founder, Big Bear, will have an airplane that is "a lot like last year's; not particularly inspiring and not very memorable." People bought it before, and it's likely that they'll buy it again. He's insured his company's longevity by playing it safe." However, because the airline is not the only aircraft manufacturer, these measures are likely to make the company more competitive, especially with more well-known competitors. Big Bear should instead give the graphic designers "the two things they need to do their jobs," according to the tale, to encourage smaller, more innovative ideas to flourish. Sanders wrote about his dissatisfaction with "the increasing complexity of our films and what I saw as an emerging pattern among them," citing the example that during Mulan's story development, one of the biggest worries was the villain's death rather than the villain's death. This inspired him to create Lilo & Stitch, which he described as "a tale about a villain who becomes a hero."

Sanders was fired as the producer of the forthcoming Disney animated film American Dog by John Lasseter by December 2006. Sanders had been discussing his exit from Disney by March 2007. After Sanders' departure from Disney, directing duties were given to Chris Williams and Byron Howard, and Bolt was retitled Bolt. Despite his release from Disney, Sanders continues to play Stitch in the majority of official Disney media (except for the aforementioned Eastern-produced shows).

Sanders had joined DreamWorks Animation and was hired as director on Crood Awakening (later renamed to The Croods), a project that was co-produced with Aardman Animations before being fired from DreamWorks. Chris had this to say about the move: "I've been so excited to start working on it," he said at the time, and I've talked to a lot of people... DreamWorks' animation style is appealing to me. Animation still has a number of spots to explore, and I don't want to miss out on a chance to try some new things with it."

Sanders and DeBlois will be screenwriting and directing How to Train Your Dragon for DreamWorks Animation on September 24, 2008. Critics lauded the film's reception on March 26, 2010. It earned over $500 million in the United States. At the 83rd Academy Awards, it was nominated for the Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score. The film also received ten Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature.

Chris returned to The Croods, which was released on March 22, 2013. Sanders had a hand in directing and writing with Kirk DeMicco, who had been involved in the production process. The film was a huge success, grossing over $500 million. Sanders and DeMicco appeared on The Croods sequel for three and a half years before it was cancelled in late 2016. However, the sequel was revived in September 2017, but with Joel Crawford replacing both Sanders and DeMicco as director. Sanders and DeMicco were both blamed for the story after the sequel was released, while Sanders reprised his role as Belt.

Sanders would produce a new film adaptation of the 1903 Jack London book The Call of the Wild for twentieth Century Fox in October 2017. In February 2020, the film, his live-action and solo directorial debut, was released. The film received mixed critical reception, with a 62% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the lowest-received film in Sanders' directorial career to date, and it grossed $107.6 million, becoming Sanders' first directorial box-office bomb.

Sanders would reprise his voice role of Stitch in a live action version of Lilo & Stitch in February 2020.

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