John Sanford (animator)

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John Sanford is a storyboard artist at Pixar & former animator/director at Disney. Sanford is also creator of the webcomic "Chippy & Loopus".

Born in Denver, Colorado, Sanford attended Denver East High, where he regularly drew witty cartoons for the school newspaper. After graduating in 1986, he attended the Rocky Mountain School of Art and Design. He went on to study animation at CalArts (The California Institute of the Arts) from 1990-93.

In 1993, Sanford's student film caught the attention of directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale (the duo responsible for "Beauty and the Beast," "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," etc.), who hired him as a story trainee at Walt Disney Feature Animation. Within a year, he was promoted to story artist on "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." This was followed by a stint on "Mulan," and a promotion to head of story on "Atlantis: The Lost Empire." He worked on the story team for "Lilo & Stitch," before being asked to direct "Home on the Range" in September 2000.

Sanford's favorite Disney films are "101 Dalmatians" and "Dumbo." His favorite westerns are "Unforgiven," "High Plains Drifter," and "The Shootist."

Sanford lives in northern California with his wife Sara.

He was a storyboard artist for The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Mulan.

He was also head of story for Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

In 2004 Sanford made his directorial debut on Home on the Range.