Aaron Blaise (born February 17, 1968) is an American painter, animator, film director and art instructor. He is known for his work on ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine T ...

'' (1991), ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part o ...

'' (1992) and ''

Brother Bear ''Brother Bear'' is a 2003 American animated musical fantasy comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 44th Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Aaron Blaise and Robert ...

'' (2003). He was nominated for Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film for the ''Brother Bear''.

Life and work

Aaron Blaise was born on February 17, 1968, in Burlington, Vermont. He graduated from Ringling College of Art and Design in 1989 as an illustrator. In 1989 he started working as an animator and supervising animator at

Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fro ...

for 8 years on such films as ''

The Rescuers Down Under ''The Rescuers Down Under'' is a 1990 American animated adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 29th Disney animated feature film and the second movie to be produced during the Disney Re ...

'', ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance, ...

'', ''

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter o ...

'', and '' Mulan''. Starting in 1997, he worked as a director for 12 years, and co-directed ''

'', a nominee for the 76th Academy Award for Animated Feature. After its release he relocated to Disney's Burbank animation studios where he developed several projects. On March 11, 2007, his wife passed away and he left Disney. In 2013, he worked at

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

for less than a year as a visual development artist. From 2010 to 2014 he worked at Tradition Studios as a director on '' The Legend of Tembo'' but the company went bankrupt. In 2012, with his business partner, Nick Burch, he started CreatureArtTeacher, offering lessons and tutorials based on Blaise's long career.

Filmography

Animation department

Director

Art department

References

External links

Official website
* American animators Walt Disney Animation Studios people Living people 1968 births People from Vermont Ringling College of Art and Design alumni {{US-animator-stub