Chris Renaud (ice Hockey)
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Chris Renaud (born December 1966) is an American filmmaker, designer, storyboard artist, and voice actor. He is best known for his work at Illumination, including directing the company's animated films such as the
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,
second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...
, and fourth films in the ''
Despicable Me ''Despicable Me'' is an American media franchise created by Sergio Pablos, Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. It centers on a supervillain turned secret agent named Gru, his adoptive daughters, Margo, Edith, and Agnes, and his yellow-colored Minions ...
'' franchise (2010–present), the first two of which he co-directed with
Pierre Coffin Pierre-Louis Padang Coffin (born 16 March 1967) is a French animator, director, producer, writer, and voice actor. He is best known for co-directing the first four installments in the Despicable Me, ''Despicable Me'' franchise and being the prima ...
, ''
The Lorax ''The Lorax'' is a children's literature, children's book written by Dr. Seuss and published in 1971. It chronicles the plight of the Biophysical environment, environment and the Lorax, the main character, who "speaks for the trees" and confront ...
'' (2012), ''
The Secret Life of Pets ''The Secret Life of Pets'' is a 2016 American animated comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment, and distributed by Universal. It was directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Yarrow Cheney, and produced by Chr ...
'' (2016) and its sequel ''
The Secret Life of Pets 2 ''The Secret Life of Pets 2'' is a 2019 American animated comedy film, directed by Chris Renaud and written by Brian Lynch. It is the second feature film in the ''Secret Life of Pets'' franchise. The film features the voices of Patton Oswalt ...
'' (2019). He also voiced the Minions in the first two films in the ''Despicable Me'' franchise and Norman in ''
The Secret Life of Pets ''The Secret Life of Pets'' is a 2016 American animated comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment, and distributed by Universal. It was directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Yarrow Cheney, and produced by Chr ...
'' franchise, the former which he co-created with Coffin. Renaud received nominations for two
Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...
for the ''
Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...
'' short film ''
No Time for Nuts ''No Time for Nuts'' is a 2006 American animated short film from Blue Sky Studios, starring Scrat from ''Ice Age''. Directed by Chris Renaud and Mike Thurmeier, it was debuted on November 21, 2006, on the DVD and Blu-ray release of '' Ice Age: Th ...
'' (2006) and ''
Despicable Me 2 ''Despicable Me 2'' is a 2013 American animated comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment, and distributed by Universal. It is the sequel to '' Despicable Me'' (2010) and the second installment in the '' Despi ...
'' (2013).


Life and career

Chris Renaud was born in 1966 in
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
. At age 15, he moved to
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton and Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Bethle ...
when his father, who worked for
Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Until its closure in 2003, it was one of the world's largest steel-producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its success ...
, was transferred to their corporate headquarters. Renaud has said he had mixed feelings with the move, saying it upset him but it was also one of the best things in his life because it showed him "that there was a great, big world out there". He was the artist for the high school yearbooks and newspaper and had aspirations of creating comic books. He graduated Parkland High School in
Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...
in 1985 and attended
Baum School of Art The Baum School of Art is a non-profit community art school located in Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvan ...
in Allentown, where he received a $1,000 scholarship. After graduating from
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
with an illustration degree in 1989, Renaud began work as a
graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...
in the sports entertainment industry. He has created
logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...
s and
mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...
s for NFL Properties, the NBA, and Foot Locker. After working as a designer and illustrator for a variety of publications and agencies, Chris began drawing and writing
comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
s. Working for both
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
and
DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
, his projects included illustrating Marvel's ''
Starfleet Academy Starfleet is a fictional organization in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Within this fictional universe, Starfleet is a uniformed space force maintained by the United Federation of Planets ("the Federation") as the principal means for condu ...
'' and pitching the story concept that evolved into ''Batman: Cataclysm'' which depicted a devastating earthquake hitting Gotham City. This yearlong tale across all Batman-related comics resulted in increased sales and visibility for the renowned character and set up the acclaimed "''No Man's Land''" storyline that followed. As the production designer on the Disney Channel's ''
The Book of Pooh ''The Book of Pooh'' is an American preschool educational children's television series that aired on the Playhouse Disney block on the Disney Channel. It is the third television series to feature the characters from the Disney franchise based ...
'', Renaud transitioned into the world of children's television. Since that groundbreaking project, he has been able to design virtual sets and puppet characters for ''
Bear in the Big Blue House ''Bear in the Big Blue House'' is an American children's television series created by Mitchell Kriegman and produced by Jim Henson Television for Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney preschool television block. Debuting on October 20, 1997, it a ...
'', ''
LazyTown ''LazyTown'' () is an Icelandic children's educational musical television series created by aerobics champion Magnús Scheving. Originally produced in English, it has been broadcast in dozens of languages globally. Designed to encourage health ...
'', Curious Pictures and
Sony Pictures Animation Sony Pictures Animation Inc. (also referred to as Sony Animation Studios and abbreviated to SPA) is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and found ...
. With ''
It's a Big Big World ''It's a Big Big World'' is an American children's television series that aired on PBS Kids from January 2, 2006, to January 8, 2010. The series was created by Mitchell Kriegman, the creator of the Muppet television series ''Bear in the Big Bl ...
'', which aired from 2006 to 2010 on
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
, he took the lead in visual development and design of every aspect of this Emmy-nominated children's program. Renaud worked for
Blue Sky Studios Blue Sky Studios, Inc. was an American visual effects and computer animation animation studio, studio, which was active from 1987 to 2021. It was based in Greenwich, Connecticut, and was founded on February 22, 1987, by Chris Wedge, Michael F ...
as a story artist on the films ''
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'', '' Ice Age: The Meltdown'', and the Dr. Seuss adaptation ''
Horton Hears a Who! ''Horton Hears a Who!'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Theodor Seuss Geisel under the pen name Dr. Seuss. It was published in 1954 by Random House. This book tells the story of Horton the Elephant and his adventures saving Who ...
''. He wrote and co-directed the animated short ''
No Time for Nuts ''No Time for Nuts'' is a 2006 American animated short film from Blue Sky Studios, starring Scrat from ''Ice Age''. Directed by Chris Renaud and Mike Thurmeier, it was debuted on November 21, 2006, on the DVD and Blu-ray release of '' Ice Age: Th ...
'', which received an
Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in American cinema and television. Origina ...
and a 2007 Oscar nomination for animated short film. It was also included in the Animation Show of Shows in 2006. Renaud moved to
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
to work for Illumination Entertainment. While directing ''
Despicable Me ''Despicable Me'' is an American media franchise created by Sergio Pablos, Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. It centers on a supervillain turned secret agent named Gru, his adoptive daughters, Margo, Edith, and Agnes, and his yellow-colored Minions ...
'' (2010), Renaud, along with his directing partner
Pierre Coffin Pierre-Louis Padang Coffin (born 16 March 1967) is a French animator, director, producer, writer, and voice actor. He is best known for co-directing the first four installments in the Despicable Me, ''Despicable Me'' franchise and being the prima ...
, began to develop Gru's famous henchmen, the Minions. Initially, there were discussions about making the creatures robots. Then Renaud hit upon the notion that they could be mole people and slapped goggles on them. "I did a very rough, ugly, little sketch combining some elements into a mole person and sent it to Pierre, who then discussed it with Eric Guillon, who was the art director and final designer of the Minions, and they took some of those ideas and together we came up with what the Minions look like". The more the filmmakers worked on the little guys, the more yellow and more cylindrical they became. "Eric continued to refine the idea and made he Minionscloser to children. He made them funnier and simpler and a brighter color". Among the inspirations for the Minions were the
Oompa-Loompas The Oompa-Loompas are a fictional race of people in the ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' franchise based on the original book by Roald Dahl. In all versions of the story, they are depicted as little people who form the workforce of Willy ...
from ''
Willy Wonka Willy Wonka is a fictional character appearing in British author Roald Dahl's 1964 children's novel ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' and its 1972 sequel '' Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator''. He is the eccentric founder and proprieto ...
'' and the Jawas from ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'', as well as silent screen stars
Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently ...
and
Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...
, and Warner Bros. cartoon characters. In a four-picture directing deal, he directed ''
Despicable Me ''Despicable Me'' is an American media franchise created by Sergio Pablos, Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. It centers on a supervillain turned secret agent named Gru, his adoptive daughters, Margo, Edith, and Agnes, and his yellow-colored Minions ...
'' (2010), '' Dr. Seuss' The Lorax'' (2012), ''
Despicable Me 2 ''Despicable Me 2'' is a 2013 American animated comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment, and distributed by Universal. It is the sequel to '' Despicable Me'' (2010) and the second installment in the '' Despi ...
'' (2013), and ''
The Secret Life of Pets ''The Secret Life of Pets'' is a 2016 American animated comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment, and distributed by Universal. It was directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Yarrow Cheney, and produced by Chr ...
'' (2016), in which two pet dogs, Max and Duke, have to put their quarrels behind when they find out that a bunny, Snowball, is building an army of abandoned pets to take revenge on all pet owners and their pets. Renaud signed a new contract with Illumination Entertainment in 2013, saying: "I love working with Illumination. They've given me an unparalleled opportunity to keep directing one movie after another. Very often animation directors make one movie and then spend the next five years developing another one. But I'm in the unique position of being able to keep working and keep making movies... So I feel very fortunate." In a 2012 interview, he mentioned that he read
Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel ( ;"Seuss"
'' Renaud executive-produced '' Minions'' in 2015, ''
Despicable Me 3 ''Despicable Me 3'' is a 2017 American animated comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination, and distributed by Universal. It is the sequel to '' Despicable Me 2'' (2013), the third main installment, and the fourth overall ent ...
'' in 2017, and ''
The Grinch The Grinch is a character created by children's author and cartoonist Dr. Seuss. He is best known as the titular main protagonist of the 1957 children's book ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' He has been portrayed and voiced by many actors, i ...
'' in 2018, and produced '' Minions: The Rise of Gru'' in 2022. He returned to direct the sequels ''
The Secret Life of Pets 2 ''The Secret Life of Pets 2'' is a 2019 American animated comedy film, directed by Chris Renaud and written by Brian Lynch. It is the second feature film in the ''Secret Life of Pets'' franchise. The film features the voices of Patton Oswalt ...
'' in 2019 and ''
Despicable Me 4 ''Despicable Me 4'' is a 2024 American animated comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination, and distributed by Universal. The sequel to '' Despicable Me 3'' (2017), it is the fourth main installment and sixth overall entry in t ...
'' in 2024.


Personal life

Renaud has lived since 2008–2009 in Paris, France with his wife, Lauren, and their two children, John and Kiely.


Filmography


Film


Television


References


External links

*
DC Comics profile
;Interviews
2007 interview
with animatedviews.com
2012 interview
with boxoffice.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Renaud, Chris 1966 births Living people American animated film directors American graphic designers American storyboard artists Animators from Maryland Blue Sky Studios people Illumination (company) people Parkland High School (Pennsylvania) alumni People from Baltimore People from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Syracuse University alumni