Aaron Blaise

Aaron Blaise
Born (1968-02-17) February 17, 1968 (age 56)
EducationRingling College of Art and Design
Known forPainting, animating, illustrating, art education
Notable workBrother Bear (2003)
Websitecreatureartteacher.com

Aaron Blaise (born February 17, 1968) is an American painter, animator, film director and art instructor. He is known for his work on Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992) and Brother Bear (2003). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film for Brother Bear with Robert Walker.[1]

Life and work

Aaron Blaise was born on February 17, 1968, in Burlington, Vermont. He graduated from Ringling College of Art and Design in 1989 as an illustrator. In 1989 he started working as an animator and supervising animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios for 8 years on such films as The Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, and Mulan. Starting in 1997, he worked as a director for 12 years, and co-directed Brother Bear, a nominee for the 76th Academy Award for Animated Feature. After its release he relocated to Disney's Burbank animation studios where he developed several projects.

On March 11, 2007, his wife died, and he left Disney.[2] In 2013, he worked at Paramount Pictures for less than a year as a visual development artist. From 2010 to 2014 he worked at Tradition Studios as a director on The Legend of Tembo but the company went bankrupt.[2] In 2012, with his business partner, Nick Burch, he started CreatureArtTeacher, offering lessons and tutorials based on Blaise's long career.[2]

Filmography

Animation department

Year Title Credits Characters
1990 Roller Coaster Rabbit (Short) Assistant Animator
1990 The Rescuers Down Under Wilbur
1991 Beauty and the Beast Animator Beast
1992 Aladdin Supervising animator Rajah
1993 Trail Mix-Up (Short) Character Animator
1994 The Lion King Supervising Animator Young Nala
The Lion King (Video game)
1995 Pocahontas Animator Pocahontas
1996 Quack Pack (TV Series short) Animation Director - 1 Episode
1998 Mulan Supervising Animator Yao and The Ancestors
2013 John Lewis: The Bear & the Hare (Video short) Supervising Animator, Character Designer
2016 The Dream Catcher (Short) Creature Design
2020 Spread the Love (Short) Animator Bear Hugs

Director

Year Title
1999 How to Haunt a House (Short)
2003 Brother Bear
TBA Art Story (pre-production)

Art department

Year Title Credits
2017 Mum (Short) Illustration / Painter
2020 Wolfwalkers Concept Artist / Visual Development

References

  1. ^ "76th Academy Awards Nominees". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 4 October 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Aaron Blaise reveals why he quit his dream job at Disney". creativebloq.com. 18 February 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.