Kirk Wise (born August 24, 1963) is an American film director, animator and screenwriter best known for his work at Walt Disney Animation Studios. Wise has directed Disney animated films such as Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire. He also directed the English-language translation of Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away. He frequently works with Gary Trousdale and Don Hahn. Career Wise graduated from Palo Alto High School and went on to study character animation at California Institute of the Arts. Early in his career, Wise worked as an animator on Disney's Sport Goofy in Soccermania (1987), The Great Mouse Detective (1986) and The Brave Little Toaster (1987), as well as Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories episode "Family Dog". Returning to Walt Disney Feature Animation, he began work on The Great Mouse Detective (1986) as an assistant animator, but eventually joined the story department, where he was reunited with former CalArts classmate, Gary Trousdale. After working as storyboard artists on The Rescuers Down Under and The Prince and the Pauper, Wise and Trousdale were responsible for helming the celebrated Beauty and the Beast (1991), the first animated feature to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. Filmography Collaborations Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise have cast certain actors in more than one of their films. References External links Kirk Wise at Filmbug 1963 births Living people Animators from California American storyboard artists American animated film directors American animated film producers Animation screenwriters California Institute of the Arts alumni Walt Disney Animation Studios people Film directors from San Francisco Palo Alto High School alumni American voice directors