Bruce W. Smith
Bruce Wayne Smith (born September 6, 1961 in Los Angeles, California) is an American character animator, film director, and television producer, best known as the creator of Disney Channel's The Proud Family, and as the supervising animator of Kerchak in Tarzan, Pacha in The Emperor's New Groove, Dr. Facilier in The Princess and the Frog, and Piglet, Kanga, and Roo in Winnie the Pooh.
Smith studied animation in the Character Animation program at the California Institute of the Arts. He joined the Walt Disney Studios an animator on Who Framed Roger Rabbit and various other Roger Rabbit shorts that the studio produced. Soon after, Smith was handpicked by producer/director Reginald Hudlin (House Party, Boomerang) to direct the Paramount Pictures animated film BeBe’s Kids.
Smith also served as co-director on the Warner Bros. live action/animated film Space Jam before returning to Disney as supervising animator on such films as Tarzan (Kerchak and Baboons) and Emperors New Groove (Pacha).
While working animation on the feature film side, Smith started feeding into his love of television animation and created The Proud Family for the Disney Channel. He co-founded Jambalaya Studio for the production of the series and crafted over 50 episodes of the hit series along with The Proud Family TV movie. Smith then rejoined the Walt Disney Studios to supervise animation on The Princess and the Frog (Dr. Facilier) and the Winnie the Pooh Movie (Piglet, Kanga and Roo) and as the lead animator on the short Tangled Ever After. Smith's knack for unique character design led him into the visual development of other projects at the studio such as Wreck-it-Ralph and Frozen.
Smith grew up in Los Angeles, California.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Credits | Characters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Garfield in the Rough (TV Short) | Key Assistant Animator | |
| 1985 | ThunderCats (TV Series) | Writer - 2 Episodes | |
| 1986 | SilverHawks (TV Series) | Writer - 5 Episodes | |
| 1987 | Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night | Animator | |
| 1988 | Who Framed Roger Rabbit | Animator: Additional Animation | |
| 1989 | Back to Neverland (Short) | Key Animator | |
| Tummy Trouble (Short) | Animator | ||
| Vytor: The Starfire Champion (TV Movie) | Animator | ||
| 1990 | Happily Ever After | Animator | |
| 1991 | Michael & Mickey | Animator | |
| Rover Dangerfield | Storyboard Artist / Character Designer / Character Animator / Sequence Director | ||
| Rock-A-Doodle | Character Animator | ||
| 1992 | Bébé's Kids | Director / Principal Character Designer | |
| 1993 | A Cool Like That Christmas (TV Movie) | Character Designer | |
| 1994 | The Pagemaster | Supervising Animator | |
| 1995 | Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (TV Series) | Director - 12 Episodes / Character Designs - 2 Episodes/ Character Designer - 12 Episodes | |
| A Goofy Movie | Character Designer | ||
| 1996 | C Bear and Jamal (TV Series) | Creative Consultant - 3 Episodes / Character Designer | |
| Quack Pack (TV Series) | Animation Director / Supervising Animator - 1 Episode | ||
| Space Jam | Animation Director | ||
| 1997 | Cats Don't Dance | Character Designer / Supervising Animator | Sawyer and Max |
| 1999 | Tarzan | Supervising Animator | Kerchak, Baboons and Baby Baboons |
| 2000 | The Indescribable Nit (Short) | Animator | |
| The Emperor's New Groove | Supervising Animator | Pacha | |
| 2001 - 2005 | The Proud Family (TV Series) | Director - 1 Episode / Executive Producer / Writer / Creator - 52 Episodes / Developer - 2 Episodes | |
| 2004 | Home on the Range | Supervising Animator | Pearl Gesner |
| One by One (Video short) | Visual Development Artist | ||
| Da Boom Crew (TV Series) | Co-Creator / Executive Producer | ||
| 2005 | The Proud Family Movie | Director / Executive Producer | |
| The Picnic (TV Movie) | Director | ||
| The Beach (TV Movie) | Director | ||
| 2009 | The Princess and the Frog (Video Game) | Voice | |
| The Princess and the Frog | Supervising Animator / Voice | Dr. Facilier | |
| 2011 | Winnie the Pooh | Supervising Animator | Kanga, Roo and Piglet |
| Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters (Video short) | Animator: Duncan Studio Production | ||
| 2012 | Tangled Ever After (Short) | Lead Animator | |
| Wreck-It Ralph | Additional Visual Development | ||
| 2013 | Frozen | Additional Visual Development | |
| 2014 | The Pirate Fairy (Video) | Senior Creative Team | |
| Planes: Fire & Rescue | Senior Creative Team | ||
| 2016 | Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life | Animator: animation sequences | |
| TBA | Hullabaloo | Animator | |
Internet
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Cartoons VS Cancer | Himself |
References
- "Da Boom Crew Rockets into Space," Celebrating Children, www.celebratingchildren.com (April 28, 2005).
- "Disney's The Proud Family Producer, Bruce Smith to present at Animae Caribe 2003," Animae Caribe 2003,
- Bruce W. Smith Biography – Was a Cartoon Fanatic, Formed Jambalaya Studios, Selected works