Tony Bancroft
Tony Bancroft is an American animator and film director who frequently collaborates with Disney. He is founder and owner of Christian animation company Toonacious Family Entertainment. Tony currently serves as the Executive VP Creative Development and Production for DivideNine Animation Studios.
Life and career
A native Californian, Bancroft grew up in Orange County. After a two-year stint at Cypress College, he enrolled in the character animation program at CalArts. This led to a summer job as a production assistant with filmmaker Ralph Bakshi and ultimately to an internship in California with Disney Feature Animation followed by a full-time position at the new Florida animation facility. Bancroft (along with this twin brother) was selected to be among the first group of animators to work at the Disney-MGM Studios. During his one-year stay in Florida, he had his first official assignment as an assistant clean-up animator on Roger Rabbit in Roller Coaster Rabbit (1990). This was followed by a credit as animating assistant on The Rescuers Down Under (1990) working on the character of "Frank the frill-necked lizard".
In 1990, he returned to California and worked as a character animator on Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Aladdin (1992) before being promoted to supervising animator role on The Lion King (1994). After working on the character design and some preliminary animation for the gargoyle characters in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), he was tapped to join Barry Cook as a director on Mulan (1998).
He was animation supervisor on Stuart Little 2 at Sony Pictures Imageworks during 2002, and founded Toonacious that same year. Bancroft also served as English voice director on Hayao Miyazaki's Porco Rosso in 2003.
In May 2008, it was announced that Bancroft would co-direct, along with Jim Rygiel, visual effects supervisor on The Lord of the Rings (film series), an animated folk tale titled Bunyan and Babe.[1]
Personal life
Bancroft and his wife, Rene, have three daughters, Caitlin, Savannah, and Sierra. They returned to Los Angeles after living in Florida during the production of Mulan. He has a twin brother named Tom who is also an animator.[2]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Notes | Characters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures (TV Series) | Production Coordinator - 6 Episodes | |
| 1990 | Roller Coaster Rabbit (Short) | Assistant Animator | |
| The Rescuers Down Under | Animating Assistant | ||
| 1991 | Beauty and the Beast | Animator | Cogsworth |
| 1992 | Off His Rockers (Short) | Visual Development Artist | |
| Aladdin | Animator | Iago | |
| 1993 | Bonkers (TV Series) | Character Animation - 1 Episode | |
| 1994 | The Lion King | Supervising Animator | Pumbaa |
| Animated Storybook: The Lion King (Video Game) | Animator | ||
| 1996 | The Hunchback of Notre Dame | Additional Animator | |
| 1998 | Mulan | Director | |
| 2000 | The Emperor's New Groove | Supervising Animator | Kronk |
| 2002 | Stuart Little 2 | Animation Supervisor | |
| 2003 | Lenny & Sid | Creator / Director / Character Design | |
| 2004 | One by One (Video short) | Animator | |
| 2005 | The Origin of Stitch (Video short) | Animator | |
| 2008 | Wild About Safety: Timon and Pumbaa Safety Smart at Home! (Short) | Animator | |
| 2009 | Wild About Safety: Timon and Pumbaa Safety Smart Goes Green! (Video short) | Animator | |
| Wild About Safety: Timon and Pumbaa Safety Smart In the Water! (Video short) | Animator | ||
| 2011 | The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol (Short) | Animator | |
| Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters | Animator: Duncan Studio Production | ||
| 2016 | Norm of the North | Additional Storyboard Artist | |
| 2017 | Animal Crackers | Director | |
| TBA | Bunyan and Babe | Director |
References
- ↑ "'Bunyan' adds Bancroft, Grammer". The Hollywood Reporter, the Daily from Cannes. Cannes (8): 4. 2008-05-21.
- ↑ L. Carpente, Edwin (March 19, 2013). "The Bancroft Brothers, Former Disney Animators, Talk With Dove". The Dove Foundation. Archived from the original on November 7, 2014. Retrieved November 7, 2014.