Disney is getting a much-needed revamp. Jennifer Lee has officially been named chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Deadline confirms. The news comes following the announcement that Disney’s animation chief, John Lasseter will be exiting by the end of the year in the wake of misconduct accusations. “Inside Out” co-writer and director Pete Docter will take over as creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios.
Best known as the Oscar-winning screenwriter and co-director of “Frozen,” Lee joined Walt Disney Animation Studios in 2011. She was initially brought on as a co-writer for “Wreck-It Ralph.” She was also a “key member on the story team for the Oscar-winner ‘Zootopia’ and is currently in production on ‘Frozen 2,’ due out in November 2019,” the source summarizes. Lee’s most recent screenplay credit is Ava DuVernay’s “A Wrinkle in Time.” She co-wrote the adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s beloved fantasy novel.
“Frozen” took in over $1.2 billion worldwide and currently ranks as the 12th highest-grossing film ever. The musical about sisters also inspired a record-breaking Broadway show of the same name.
“Animation is the most collaborative art form in the world, and it is with the partnership of my fellow filmmakers, artists, and innovators that we look ahead to the future,” Lee said in a statement. “My hope is to support the incredible talent we have, find new voices, and work together to tell original stories. The great films of Disney Animation — the films I loved as a kid and my daughter has grown up loving — are magical, timeless, and full of heart, and it is our goal to create films that carry on and grow this 95-year legacy for future generations.”
The source rightly notes that Lee “joins an exclusive club of female executives who head animation studios, long a male-dominated field.” It’s not just exec positions where women are underrepresented in animation, though. Women accounted for just 19 percent of those working in animated features in 2017, according to research from Dr. Martha Lauzen and the Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film.
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival recently signed a pledge to promote gender equality and committed to being more transparent about their selection and programming committees.
