Jared Bush (born June 12, 1974) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director, who has served as the chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios since 2024.[1] He is best known for co-writing and co-directing the Walt Disney Animation Studios film Zootopia (2016) and its upcoming sequel Zootopia 2 (2025), writing the film Moana (2016), its sequel Moana 2 (2024) and the 2026 upcoming live-action remake, and writing, directing, and winning an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for the film Encanto (2021), besides co-creating and executive producing the Disney XD animated series Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero.[2][3]
Jared Bush | |
---|---|
Born | Gaithersburg, Maryland, U.S. | June 12, 1974
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1998–present |
Employer | Walt Disney Animation Studios (2014–present) |
Spouse | Pamela McDonald |
Awards | Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Encanto (2021) |
Career
editBush was originally hired by Walt Disney Animation Studios on a "provisional eight-week contract".[4] He joined the Zootopia project early on, before it evolved from a spy film into a police procedural; he was excited to work on a spy film because both his father and grandfather had worked for the Central Intelligence Agency.[5] Several months after joining Disney, he had to personally pitch Zootopia to Disney chief executive officer Bob Iger.[4]
He went on to write the screenplays for the films Moana and its sequel Moana 2.[4]
Bush co-created the animated television series Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero.[6] In 2021, Bush directed Encanto about a Colombian magical family alongside Byron Howard with Charise Castro Smith as co-director.[7] Bush also co-wrote the screenplay alongside Castro Smith.
On September 19, 2024, Disney Animation announced that chief creative officer Jennifer Lee was stepping down from that position to direct and write Frozen 3 and to write and executive produce Frozen 4.[1] Bush was named as her successor.[1]
Filmography
editFilms
editYear | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer |
Other | Voice | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | What Lies Beneath | No | No | No | Yes | Assistant: Mr. Rapke | |
2014 | Big Hero 6 | No | No | No | Yes | Creative Leadership | |
2016 | Zootopia | Co-Director | Yes | No | Yes | Pronk Oryx-Antlerson | |
Moana | No | Screenplay | No | Yes | |||
2018 | Ralph Breaks the Internet | No | No | No | Yes | ||
2019 | Frozen 2 | No | No | No | Yes | ||
2021 | Raya and the Last Dragon | No | No | Yes | Yes | ||
Encanto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |||
2022 | Strange World | No | No | No | Yes | ||
2023 | Wish | No | No | No | Yes | ||
2024 | Moana 2[8] | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
2025 | Zootopia 2[9] | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ||
2026 | Moana | No | Screenplay | No | No | Post-production |
Television
editYear | Title | Creator | Producer | Writer | Story editor | Composer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | DAG | No | No | Assistant | No | No |
2002 | Baby Bob | No | Co-Producer | Staff | No | No |
2003 | Totally Outrageous Behavior | No | No | Yes | No | No |
2003 | Dumber and Dumber | No | No | Yes | No | No |
2003–04 | Who Wants to Marry My Dad? | No | No | Yes | No | No |
2003–07 | All of Us | No | Co-Producer | Yes | Executive | No |
2014–17 | Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero | Yes | Executive | Yes | No | Yes |
Short films
editYear | Title | Executive Producer |
Other | Voice | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2022 | Zootopia+ | Yes | Yes | Pronk Oryx-Antlerson | Disney+ Original short films |
Unrealized projects
edit- Mancation[10]
Awards and nominations
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c McClintock, Pamela (September 19, 2024). "Disney Animation Shake-Up: Jennifer Lee Exiting as Chief Creative Officer, Jared Bush Takes Over". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
- ^ "D23 Expo: Disney Reveals Animated 'Zootopia' for 2016". Variety. August 9, 2013. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
- ^ "Walt Disney Animation Studios Reveals New Zootopia Concept Art". comingsoon.net. March 3, 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
- ^ a b c Grimes, Christopher (December 1, 2024). "Disney Animation's new CCO Jared Bush: 'The goal is to make a timeless film — that's the bar'". Financial Times.
- ^ Julius, Jessica (2016). The Art of Zootopia. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-4521-5405-3. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
- ^ Siegel, Lucas (March 27, 2015). "Penn Zero: Become A Part-Time Hero with Sam Levine, Jared Bush, and Balls". ComicBook. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- ^ Evans, Greg (June 22, 2020). "Lin-Manuel Miranda Confirms New Disney Animated Movie Set In Colombia". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
- ^ "Jared Bush Named Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios". TheWaltDisneyCompany.com. September 19, 2024. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
- ^ Dunn, Jack (August 9, 2024). "'Zootopia 2' Casts Ke Huy Quan, First Sequel Footage Introduces Reptiles and New Animals". Variety. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
- ^ McNary, Dave (April 17, 2007). "New Line, Bush take a Mancation". Variety. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
- ^ Merin, Jennifer (December 16, 2016). "2016 AWFJ EDA | Award Nominees". Alliance of Women Film Journalists. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
- ^ McCue, Michelle (December 16, 2016). "'Arrival', 'La La Land', 'Hell or High Water' Among The Nominees for the 2016 AWFJ EDA Awards". We Are Movie Geeks. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
- ^ "Nebula Awards Nominees and Winners: Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation". Nebula Awards. Archived from the original on May 1, 2017. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
- ^ Hipes, Patrick (March 13, 2022). "BAFTA Film Awards: The Power of The Dog Named Best Film; Dune Leads with Five Wins and Dominates Crafts – Full Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on March 14, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
- ^ Nordyke, Kimberly (March 27, 2022). "Oscars: Full List of Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 28, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
- ^ Codega, Linda (September 6, 2022). "The 2022 Hugo Award Winners Are Here". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on September 6, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
- ^ Nordyke, Kimberly (October 2, 2022). "Imagen Awards: Encanto, Love, Victor Top Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 3, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
- ^ "2021 Nebula Awards Winners". Locus. May 21, 2022. Archived from the original on May 23, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
External links
edit- Jared Bush at IMDb
- Jared Bush on Twitter