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Name: Chris Sanders (III)
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Date of Birth:
March 15, 1960
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Place of Birth:
Colorado, USA
Mini-bio:
American film animator and voice actor best known for co-directing the Disney animated feature Lilo & Stitch, and providing the voice of Experiment 626 from Lilo & Stitch and Leroy from Disney's Leroy...( read more) & Stitch.
A 1984 graduate of the California Institute of the Arts, Sanders began his career as a character designer for Muppet Babies. He also served as a storyboard artist, artistic director, and character designer on Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Mulan.
On December 16, 2006 several internet animation fan sites, including AnimatedNews.com, reported that Sanders had been removed as the director of the upcoming Disney animated film Bolt by John Lasseter. AnimatedNews.com and JimHillMedia.com (among others) speculated that Sanders was removed as director of Bolt allegedly because Lasseter thought Sander's take on the film was "too quirky for its own good."As of December 19, 2006 there has been no confirmation of this by Disney Feature Animation or John Lasseter. According to a February 8, 2007 story in Variety, Sanders has left Disney and directing duties on Bolt were given over to Chris Williams, a Disney writer.
In March 2007, Variety reported that Chris Sanders had moved to DreamWorks and had then taken over as director on Crood Awakening, a project previously with Aardman Studios before their departure from Dreamworks.