Kirk Wise

Kirk Wise is an American film director, animator and screenwriter best known for his work at Walt Disney Animation Studios. Wise has directed Disney animated films such as Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), and Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001). He also directed the English-language translation of Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away (2001). He frequently works with Gary Trousdale and Don Hahn.

Career Wise graduated from Palo Alto High School and went on to study character animation at California Institute of the Arts. Early in his career, Wise worked as an animator on Disney's Sport Goofy in Soccermania (1987), The Great Mouse Detective (1986) and The Brave Little Toaster (1987), as well as Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories episode "Family Dog".

Returning to Walt Disney Feature Animation, he began work on The Great Mouse Detective (1986) as an assistant animator, but eventually joined the story department, where he was reunited with former CalArts classmate, Gary Trousdale.

After working as storyboard artists on The Rescuers Down Under and The Prince and the Pauper, Wise and Trousdale were responsible for helming the celebrated Beauty and the Beast (1991), the first animated feature to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

Wise, a known fan of Hayao Miyazaki, was brought in by Disney to supervise the North America release of Spirited Away along with John Lasseter.

Filmography Title Year Role The Great Mouse Detective 1986 Assistant animator Amazing Stories 1987 Principal animator (1 episode) Sport Goofy in Soccermania Animator The Brave Little Toaster Animation director (development) Oliver & Company 1988 Writer, animating assistant Cranium Command 1989 Voice of Hypothalamus, opening sequence director The Rescuers Down Under 1990 Storyboard artist The Prince and the Pauper Beauty and the Beast 1991 Director, creative consultant (uncredited) Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey 1993 Executive producer The Lion King 1994 Additional story material The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1996 Director Atlantis: The Lost Empire 2001 Director, story Spirited Away 2002 Director, ADR Director (U.S. production) Open Season 2006 Special thanks Oceans 2009 Executive Producer: Disneynature Waking Sleeping Beauty Himself, caricaturist 2012 Disney History Connections: Colonial America 2012 Director (short) Chimpanzee Creative consultant Aldabra: Once Upon an Island 2015 Beauty and the Beast 2017 Bobbleheads: The Movie 2020 Director Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank 2022 Additional voices