Dean Wellins

Dean Wellins (born March 24, 1971) is an American film director, storyboard artist, screenwriter, and animator. He is best known for his work at Walt Disney Animation Studios, including directing the short film Tick Tock Tale, co-directing the feature film Raya and the Last Dragon (2021), and directing several episodes of the streaming series Baymax! (2022).

Early life Dean Wellins was born in Zaragoza, Spain, on March 24, 1971. In 1994, he worked at Renegade Animation as a character animator on Gargoyles: The Game (1995). However, in October 2008, it was reported that he had left the film as director, but remained as a story artist, prior to pitching "three new ideas for one of [Disney's] future feature projects". In August 2020, Disney announced that Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada replaced Wellins and Briggs as directors on the film, retitled Raya and the Last Dragon (2021), with Wellins and Briggs demoted to co-directors. Story writer John Ripa later replaced Wellins as a co-director, with Wellins only credited as a story writer in the final film. In 2022, he made his directorial debut when he directed 3 episodes of the Disney+ streaming series Baymax!.

In the same year, he left Disney to join The SPA Studios where he would serve as co-director and head of story on Sergio Pablos' feature film Ember, to be released by Netflix. By 2023, Wellins moved to PaperGames Animation where he would direct an upcoming feature film based on the Nikki Nuannuan video game series.

Filmography Feature films Year Title Director Story Artist Story Writer Animator Other Notes Ref(s) 1994 The Pagemaster Character breakdown artist 2004 Fat Albert 2005 Chicken Little 2008 Bolt 2010 Tangled Replaced during development

Television Year Title Director Story Artist Other Notes Ref(s) 1997 What a Cartoon! Composer and animation consultantEpisode: "Strange Things" 101 Dalmatians: The Series Character designerEpisode: "Artist Formerly Known as Spot" / "Nose Knows"

Accolades Award Date Category Title Result Ref(s) Annie Awards November 6, 1999 Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Feature Production The Iron Giant February 4, 2017 Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in a Feature Production Zootopia Children's and Family Emmy Awards December 16–17, 2023 Outstanding Directing for an Animated Program Baymax! Visual Effects Society Awards February 19, 2011 Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Short Tick Tock Tale