Ruben A. Aquino

Ruben Azama Aquino is an American Disney animator who formerly worked at Walt Disney Animation Studios. His work has included several Disney characters, including Maurice in Beauty and the Beast, Simba as an adult in The Lion King, Chief Powhatan in Pocahontas, Li Shang and Fa Li in Mulan, Pleakly and David Kawena in Lilo & Stitch, Denahi in Brother Bear, Mildred and Mr. Willerstein in Meet the Robinsons and Eudora and James in The Princess and the Frog. His style is easily recognized by his powerful figures and his extremely geometric facial movements.

Professional career From 1975 to 1979, Ruben worked as a graphic artist in Honolulu, Hawaii. He worked for Farmhouse Films as a trainee, which was his first job in animation.

After moving to Los Angeles in 1980, he worked for Hanna-Barbera in visual development, character design, and layout. He was laid off after a year.

Months later, he was able to enter Walt Disney Feature Animation's clean-up training program and after completing it, he worked on a 30-second animation test of Fflewddur Fflam in The Black Cauldron and submitted it to the review board. He was promoted to animating assistant and worked for Disney from 1982 until 2013.

Filmography Year Title Credits Characters Notes 1981 Laverne & Shirley in the Army (TV series) Character Designer - 1 Episode End Credited and Known as Ruben AquinoThe Fonz and the Happy Days Gang (TV series) Character Designer - 11 Episodes 1985 The Black Cauldron Animator 1986 The Great Mouse Detective Character Animator 1987 Oilspot and Lipstick (Short) Animator 1988 Mac and Me Alien Designer End Credited and Known as Ruben AquinoOliver & Company Supervising Animator 1989 The Little Mermaid End Credited and Known as Ruben Aquino 1990 The Rescuers Down Under 1991 Beauty and the Beast Maurice 1994 The Lion King Adult Simba End Credited and Known as Ruben AquinoThe Lion King (video game) Special Thanks 1995 Pocahontas Supervising Animator Chief Powhatan 1996 The Hunchback of Notre Dame Additional Animator 1998 Mulan Supervising Animator Li Shang And Fa Li 1999 Tarzan Additional Animator 2000 Fantasia 2000 2002 Lilo & Stitch Supervising Animator Pleakly And David Kawena 2003 Brother Bear Denahi 2007 Meet the Robinsons Mildred and Mr. Willerstein End Credited and Known As Ruben Azama Aquino 2009 The Princess and the Frog Eudora And James 2011 The Ballad of Nessie (short) Animator Winnie the Pooh End Credited and Known as Ruben Azama Aquino 2013 Wild About Safety: Timon and Pumbaa Safety Smart Honest & Real! (short) Frozen Additional Visual Development Artist 2015 Pups of Liberty: The Dog-claration of Independence (Short) Supervising Animator 2016 The Land Before Time: Journey of the Brave (Video) Character Designer / Character Animator 2018 Curious George (TV Series) Additional Character Designer - 1 episode 2019 Curious George: Royal Monkey (Video) Character Designer End Credited and Known as Ruben Aquino2023 Once Upon a Studio (Short) Animator