| Nehal Mohsen |
Christopher James Buck was born in Witchita, Kansas, USA. His three sons are Ryder who was a songwriter and singer in his own band (Ryder Buck and the Breakers), Woody, and Reed who gave a voice-over to a little penguin in the animation, Surf’s Up (2007), which was co-directed by his father.
As a child, Buck was inspired to explore animation by the first Disney film he ever saw in the cinema, Pinocchio. His family moved from Kansas to Placentia, California, and after completing his high school education, he studied character animation for two years at the California Institution of the Arts (CalArts). His talent was discovered by Walt Disney’s widow, Lillian Disney, after which he joined Disney as an animator in 1978. In addition, he taught at CalArts from 1988-1993.
He was a character designer for The Brave Little Toaster (1987) and the animated blockbuster, The Little Mermaid (1989), and was an animator for the animated drama film, The Fox and the Hound (1981). Additionally, Buck performed experimental animation for The Rescuers Down Under (1990) and Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). He was a key animator for Box Office Bunny (1990). In 1995, Buck oversaw the animation of three Pocahontas characters: Percy, Grandmother Willow, and Wiggins.
As his work progressed from animator to director, Chris Buck found it important to preserve Disney’s entertainment philosophy in all the work he developed with his teams. He understood the power of animation’s messages and morals in shaping children’s feelings and perceptions, and he took it with him while co-directing Tarzan (1999) and as directing animator for Bebe’s Kids (1992), and the animated TV series, Family Dog (June-July, 1993), at Hyperion Pictures production company. He was a supervising Animator in Home on the Range (2004) and was an animation consultant for Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (2004).
At Sony Pictures Animation Inc., Buck co-directed a computer-animated comedy mockumentary (documentary of fictional events) called Surf’s Up (2007).
Buck returned to Disney in 2008 and started developing a fairytale musical film in which he would redefine the concept of real love between siblings instead of the conventional fairytale princess getting rescued by a prince. The film was named Frozen (2013) which Buck co-directed and grossed over US$ 1.6 billion at the box office worldwide.
In 2014, Buck co-directed a short film based on Frozen characters, Frozen Fever (2015). He also co-directed Frozen’s sequel, Frozen II (2019).
In 2014, Buck won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for co-directing Frozen at the 86th Academy Awards, which he dedicated to his late son, Ryder.
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