Stephen Michael Martino (born July 21, 1959) is an American designer and film director. He is best known for directing the

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 ...

films ''

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 ...

'' (2008), '' Ice Age: Continental Drift'' (2012), and ''

The Peanuts Movie ''The Peanuts Movie'' (known in some countries as ''Snoopy and Charlie Brown: A Peanuts Movie'') is a 2015 American animated comedy film based on Charles M. Schulz's comic strip ''Peanuts'', produced by 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky ...

'' (2015).

Early life

Martino went to

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

, where he studied design. After graduation, he heard computer animation pioneer Chuck Csuri speak. "I was absolutely blown away. No one was doing what he was showing us. I hadn't seen images like that anywhere before," Martino said. He returned to the university and earned in 1989 a master's degree, studying at the Computer Graphics Research Group (later renamed to Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design), founded by Csuri.

Career

After graduation, Martino went to Los Angeles, where he worked in animation and visual effects. In 2001, he joined

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

-based

. There he co-directed the animated films ''

'' (2008) and '' Ice Age: Continental Drift''. He also directed ''

'' (2015), an animated feature film adaptation of Charles M. Schulz's US comic strip ''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' (briefly subtitled ''featuring Good ol' Charlie Brown'') is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run ext ...

''. In February 2018, it was reported that Martino and Karen Disher would direct the animated fantasy musical, under the working title ''Foster'', for Blue Sky Studios. The film was originally scheduled for release on March 5, 2021. However, following Disney's acquisition of Fox, it was removed from the release schedule. The production studio was closed in 2021. In November 2023,

WildBrain Studios WildBrain Studios is the in-house television studio arm of Canadian entertainment company WildBrain based in Vancouver, British Columbia, which was established in 2016 as DHX Studios. History In January 2016, DHX Media announced that they woul ...

announced that Martino will direct an animated ''Peanuts'' film for

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...

Filmography

Director

Film * '' Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!'' (2008) * '' Ice Age: Continental Drift'' (2012) * ''

'' (2015) * Untitled ''Peanuts'' film (TBA) Short film * ''Scrat's Continental Crack-up'' (2010) * ''Scrat's Continental Crack-up - Part 2'' (2011)

Art director

Film * ''

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'' (2005) Short Films * '' Gone Nutty'' (2002) Television * ''World of Discovery'' (1990) (Main title designer)

Other roles

* '' Ice Age: The Meltdown'' (2006) (Pre-Production Consultant) * ''

Spies in Disguise ''Spies in Disguise'' is a 2019 American animated spy comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Loosely inspired by the 2009 animated short ''Pigeon: Impossible'' by Lucas Martell, the film is directed by T ...

'' (2019) (Senior Creative Team) * ''Nimona'' (2023) (Special Thanks)

Critical reception

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* American animated film directors Living people Blue Sky Studios people 1959 births People from Dayton, Ohio Film directors from Ohio Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni {{US-film-director-1950s-stub