Bruce Wayne Smith (born September 6, 1961) is an African-American animator, character designer, film director and television producer. He is best known as the creator of Disney Channel's The Proud Family and The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, as well as the supervising animator of Kerchak and Baboons & Baby Baboon 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.
Bruce W. Smith | |
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Born | Bruce Wayne Smith (1961-09-06) September 6, 1961 (age 61) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Occupation | Animator, character designer |
Years active | 1984–present |
Employer | Walt Disney Animation Studios (1996–present) |
Notable work | Bebe's Kids The Proud Family Hair Love |
Smith grew up in Los Angeles, California. At age 10, he made his first animated film based on designs of One Hundred and One Dalmatians.[1]
Smith studied animation in the Character Animation program at the California Institute of the Arts.[2][3] He later stated that while at CalArts he became aware of the lack of Black characters in animated films which motivated him to create his own animated series.[1][4] In 1984, he was the key assistant animator on a TV short of Garfield in the Rough.[5] In the years that followed he would be a writer on episodes of the TV series ThunderCats.[6] In 1987, he would be an animator for Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night.[7][8]
He joined the Walt Disney Studios as an animator on Who Framed Roger Rabbit[9][10] He also worked on various other Roger Rabbit shorts that the studio produced.[3][5] In 2022, Smith said that the "big old tree Afro" with lips is a caricature of himself that he drew while working on the show.[11]
He would also be an animator for the Back to Neverland short,[12] Michael & Mickey,[2] and Rock-A-Doodle.[13] Additionally, he would work on Rover Dangerfield as a storyboarder, character designer, character animator, and sequence director.[5] In 1997, Smith was a scenic artist for the film, The Peacemaker[14] and was an animator for The Indescribable Nth and Garfield in the Rough.[1] He also worked as a character designer for C-Bear and Jamal.[1]
Some years later, Smith was handpicked by producer/director Reginald Hudlin (House Party, Boomerang) to direct the Paramount Pictures animated film Bébé's Kids.[15] In years that followed, he would be a character designer for the A Cool Like That Christmas.[16] and A Goofy Movie television movies,[6][17] supervising animator of The Pagemaster[18] He would also work on the Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child TV Series in various roles.[6][19][20]
Smith also served as co-director on the Warner Bros. live action/animated film Space Jam[21] [22] before returning to Disney as supervising animator on such films as Tarzan (Kerchak and Baboons)[15][23] and The Emperor's New Groove (Pacha).[24][25]
While working animation on the feature film side, Smith started feeding into his love of television animation and created The Proud Family for Disney Channel. He co-founded Jambalaya Studios, with Hyperion Pictures for the production of the series and crafted over 50 episodes of the series along with The Proud Family Movie.[26][15][27] The name of the series, the first venture for Jambalaya Studio, came from something he told his co-founder, Tom Wilhite when he showed him the show's main characters drawn as though they were in a family portrait.[1]
In 2004, he would be the supervising animator for Home on the Range,[28][29] The same year, he be the executive producer and co-creator of the series Da Boom Crew.[30] Smith later described the series as mixing concepts of Star Wars and Boyz-N-The Hood, and argued that the series tries to recreate the "black experience in animated form."[31]
In 2009, Smith rejoined the Walt Disney Studios and Duncan Studio Production to supervise animation on The Princess and the Frog (Dr. Facilier),[6][3] the 2011 Winnie the Pooh movie (Piglet, Kanga and Roo),[32] and as the lead animator on the short Tangled Ever After.[6][33] 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.[6][34]
In 2015, he would be part of the senior creative team of Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast in 2015.[35] In 2018, he would be an animator for Teen Titans Go! To the Movies[36] In 2019, he directed the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film winner Hair Love.[3][37]
He returned to The Proud Family with The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, which began airing on Disney+ starting on February 28, 2022.[38][39] This was spurred by the fact that on January 1, 2020, the original The Proud Family series began streaming on Disney+, and shortly thereafter Disney executives approached Smith and Ralph Farquhar about reviving the series[40] On February 27, 2020, the show was formally ordered on Disney+.[41][42] Smith concurred with Farquhar, saying that the "show never really went away" and called it the "perfect time to bring back this show."[43] Smith also argued that the series is "blazing a path...[in] this animated sphere," saying it has parts of the horror, sci-fi, and Western genres. The show is rated TV-PG making this the first Disney animated series to carry this rating.[44]
In December 2020, he signed an overall deal with Disney with Farquhar.[34]
On April 18, 2022, Disney+ renewed The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder for a second season.[45]
Smith is an animator and member of the production time for an upcoming hand-drawn indie animated steampunk film entitled Hullabaloo.[46][5]
Year | Title | Credits | Characters |
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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) | |||
Happily Ever After | |||
1991 | Michael & Mickey | ||
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 & Baby Baboon |
2000 | The Indescribable Nit (Short) | Animator | |
John Henry | Character Designer & Visual Development Artist | ||
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) | |||
2009 | The Princess and the Frog (Video Game) | Voice | |
The Princess and the Frog | Supervising Animator / Party Guest, Jeremy (voice) | Dr. Facilier | |
2011 | Winnie the Pooh | Supervising Animator | Piglet, Kanga and Roo |
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 Artist | ||
2013 | Frozen | ||
2014 | The Pirate Fairy (Video) | Senior Creative Team | |
Planes: Fire & Rescue | |||
2016 | Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life | Animator: animation sequences | |
2018 | Teen Titans Go! To the Movies | Animator: additional animator | |
The Late Batsby | Storyboard artist | ||
2019 | Hair Love | Director | |
2022–present | The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder | Director / Executive Producer / Writer / Creator | |
TBA | Hullabaloo | Animator | |
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
2016 | Cartoons vs. Cancer | Himself |
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