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Dean Wellins

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Dean Wellins
Born
Dean Wellins

(1971-03-24) March 24, 1971 (age 54)[1]
Zaragoza, Spain[2]
NationalityAmerican
Alma materCalArts[3][4]
Occupations
  • Film director
  • Storyboard artist
  • Screenwriter
  • Animator
Years active1990−present
Employers

Dean Wellins (born March 24, 1971) is an American film director, storyboard artist, screenwriter, and animator. He is best known for his work at Walt Disney Animation Studios, including directing the short film Tick Tock Tale (2010), co-directing the feature film Raya and the Last Dragon (2021), and directing several episodes of the streaming series Baymax! (2022).

Early life

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Dean Wellins was born in Zaragoza, Spain, on March 24, 1971.[2][1] From 1990 to 1992, he was enrolled at CalArts.[3]

Career

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In 1990, he began his career at Turner Feature Animation's internship program as a character breakdown artist for The Pagemaster (1994).[3] In 1994, he worked at Renegade Animation as a character animator on Gargoyles: The Game (1995).[3][5] In 1996, he moved to Warner Bros. Animation where he worked as an animator on The Iron Giant (1999), which got him nominated at the 27th Annie Awards for "Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Feature Production" and "Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in a Feature Production".[6] In 1999, he served as a supervising animator on Osmosis Jones (2001) and Duck Dogers (2003).[3]

In August 2000, he moved to Walt Disney Animation Studios where he served as a character animator on Treasure Planet (2002) and a story artist on Chicken Little (2005).[3][7] In 2006, he served as a story artist on Bolt (2008).[8] In April 2007, he signed on to direct the Disney animated film Tangled (2010), alongside Glen Keane.[6] However, in October 2008, it was reported that he had left the film as director, but remained as a story artist, prior to pitching "three new ideas for one of [Disney's] future feature projects".[9][10] By 2009, he directed the short film Tick Tock Tale (2010) and served as a character animator on The Princess and the Frog (2009).[8][11]

During the 2010s, he served as a story artist on several Disney films, including Wreck-It Ralph (2012), Frozen (2013), Tomorrowland (2015), Big Hero 6 (2014), Zootopia (2016), Moana (2016), and Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018).[12][7][10][11] In October 2018, he was set to direct a film titled Dragon Empire, alongside Paul Briggs.[10][13][14] In August 2020, Disney announced that Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada replaced Wellins and Briggs as directors on the film, retitled Raya and the Last Dragon (2021), with Wellins and Briggs demoted to co-directors.[15] In 2022, he made his directorial debut when he directed 3 episodes of the Disney+ streaming series Baymax!.[16][17] In the same year, he left Disney to join SPA Studios where he worked on an undisclosed feature film.[18][19][20] By 2023, he moved to PaperGames where he would direct an upcoming feature film based on the Nikki Nuannuan video game series.[21][20][22][23]

Filmography

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Feature films

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Year Title Director Story Artist Story Writer Animator Other Notes/Ref(s)
1994 The Pagemaster No No No No Yes Character breakdown artist[3]
1998 The Iron Giant No Yes No Character Yes Music: "Duck and Cover"[6]
2001 Osmosis Jones No No No Character No "Thrax"[3]
2002 Treasure Planet No No No Character No "Jim Hawkins"[3]
Eight Crazy Nights No No No Yes No [12]
2004 Fat Albert No No No Yes No [24]
2005 Chicken Little No Yes No No No [7]
2008 Bolt No Yes No No No [8]
2009 The Princess and the Frog No No Additional story material Character No "Dr. Facilier"[11]
2010 Tangled Replaced Yes Additional story material No No Replaced during development[9][10]
2012 Wreck-It Ralph No Yes No No No [12]
2013 Free Birds No No No No Yes Character designer[7]
Frozen No Yes No No No [11]
2014 Big Hero 6 No Yes No No Yes Creative leadership[16]
2015 Tomorrowland No Yes No No No [7]
2016 Zootopia No Yes No No No [10]
Moana No Yes No No Yes Creative leadership[7]
2018 Ralph Breaks the Internet No Yes No No Yes Additional voices
Creative leadership[7]
2021 Raya and the Last Dragon Co-Director No Yes No Yes Replaced during production
Studio & creative leadership[15][12]
Encanto No No No No Yes Creative leadership[12]
TBA Untitled Nikki Nuannuan film Yes TBA TBA TBA TBA In production[21][22][23]

Short films

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Year Title Director Animator Writer Voice Role Notes/Ref(s)
1997 Pullet Surprise No Yes Story — [6]
2010 Tick Tock Tale Yes No Yes Thief / Bobby [8]

Television

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Year Title Director Story Artist Other Notes/Ref(s)
1997 What a Cartoon! No No Yes Composer and animation consultant
Episode: "Strange Things"[25]
101 Dalmatians: The Series No No Yes Character designer
Episode: "Artist Formerly Known as Spot" / "Nose Knows"[12]
1998–2000 Histeria! No Yes No 12 episodes[12]
2000 Buzz Lightyear of Star Command No Yes No Episode: "Strange Invasion"[12]
2003 Duck Dogers No Yes Yes Additional story material
2 episodes[3]
2022 Baymax! Yes No No 3 episodes[16]

Video games

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Year Title Notes/Ref(s)
1995 Gargoyles: The Game Character animator: "Goliath"[3][5]

Accolades

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Award Date Category Title Result Ref(s)
Annie Awards November 6, 1999 Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Feature Production The Iron Giant Nominated [6]
Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in a Feature Production The Iron Giant Nominated [6]
November 11, 2001 Outstanding Achievement for Character Animation in a Feature Production Osmosis Jones Nominated [26]
February 4, 2017 Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in a Feature Production Zootopia Won [27][28]
Children's and Family Emmy Awards December 16–17, 2023 Outstanding Directing for an Animated Program Baymax! Nominated [29]
Visual Effects Society Awards February 19, 2011 Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Short Tick Tock Tale Nominated [30]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Dean Wellins". Allocine. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Dean Wellins". Movienco. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "A Conversation with Dean Wellins". Fulle Circle Magazine. November 1, 2008. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  4. ^ Sarto, Dan (January 18, 2011). "Newton, Reher and Wellins Talk Disney and Pixar Shorts". Animation World Network. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  5. ^ a b Nasikan, Maxim (September 10, 2022). "Making of Gargoyles: an interview with the creators of the game". VK. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Rapunzel Gets Second Director". The Laughing Place. April 12, 2007. Archived from the original on January 7, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g "Dean Wellins". TCM. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d Desowitz, Bill (August 20, 2010). "Wellins Talks Tick Tock Tale". Animation World Network. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  9. ^ a b "Ain't It Cool News: Glen Keane leaving Disney's RAPUNZEL. Who's stepping up?". AintItCool.com. October 10, 2008. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  10. ^ a b c d e Wiseman, Andreas (October 9, 2018). "Disney Sets Crazy Rich Asians Scribe Adele Lim & Moana Producer Osnat Shurer For Animated Pic". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  11. ^ a b c d Cohen, Corine (September 17, 2015). "Interview with Dean Wellins Director and Writer For Disney Animation". Broadwayshowbiz. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h "Dean Wellins credits". TV Guide. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  13. ^ Scott, Ryan (August 24, 2019). "Disney Animation Announces Raya and the Last Dragon at D23". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on August 25, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  14. ^ Sun, Rebecca (March 3, 2021). "The Resurrection of Kelly Marie Tran: On Surviving Star Wars Bullying, the Pressures of Representation, and Raya and the Last Dragon". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 5, 2021. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  15. ^ a b Thomas, Millicent (August 28, 2020). "Disney changes Raya and the Last Dragon directors, writer, and leading actress". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  16. ^ a b c Milligan, Mercedes (May 20, 2022). "Trailer: 'Baymax' Is Back in New 'Big Hero 6' Series on Disney+". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on June 30, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  17. ^ Reif, Alex (June 17, 2022). "Annecy 2022 Recap: Walt Disney Animation Studios Gives First Look at "Strange World," "Baymax!," and "Zootopia+"". Laughing Place. Archived from the original on June 18, 2022. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
  18. ^ "SPA Studios". danielcrook.org. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  19. ^ "Baymax Production Brief" (PDF). Lumiere. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  20. ^ a b "Dean Wellins". LinkedIn. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  21. ^ a b "Directing in Animation". Bric Foundation. January 30, 2025. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  22. ^ a b deanwellins (September 21, 2024). "We made it! Hello Shanghai! So excited to get this @nikki.nuannuan project into gear! 😃#papergames #nikkiandmomo". Instagram. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  23. ^ a b "8 high-quality CGs in 3 years, Papergames is doing something the industry doesn't understand". Weixin (in Chinese). September 7, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
  24. ^ Shaw, Scott (December 23, 2004). "What Th' Hey, Hey, Hey? This Ain't Your Father's 'Fat Albert'!". Animation World Network. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  25. ^ "What a Cartoon! : No. H00615-94081, Strange Things / Created, Written and Directed by Mike Wellins". United States Copyright Office. Archived from the original on November 3, 2015. Retrieved May 30, 2025.
  26. ^ "29th Annie Awards". Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  27. ^ Giardina, Carolyn (November 28, 2016). "Annie Awards: 'Zootopia,' 'Kubo and the Two Strings' Lead Noms as Indies Prove Strong Competitors". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 6, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  28. ^ Giardina, Carolyn (February 4, 2017). "Annies: 'Zootopia' Wins Big With 6 Awards Including Best Animated Feature". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 26, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  29. ^ "2nd Children's & Family Emmy Awards Announce Nominees". Animation Magazine. November 2, 2023. Archived from the original on November 4, 2023. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  30. ^ "2010 VES Award Nominees". FXGuide. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
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