Quick Facts
Biography
John Christian "Chris" Wedge (born March 20, 1957) is an American director, producer and voice actor of animation, best known for the films Ice Age (2002), Robots (2005), and Epic (2013).
Early life
Wedge was born in Binghamton, New York. He became interested in animation when he was 12 years old: "Back then, there was a TV special about kids making cut-out animation in a workshop—as I recall it was Yellow Ball Workshop—it was a clear technique to follow and I followed it. That fascinated me and it got me started. It was so simple, effective and magical in outcome and I stuck with creating things throughout my childhood, teenage years and then college."
He attended Fayetteville-Manlius High School, graduating in 1975. He received his BFA in Film from State University of New York at Purchase in Purchase, New York in 1981, and subsequently earned his MA in computer graphics and art education at the Ohio State University. He has taught animation at the School of Visual Arts in New York City where he met his future film directing partner, Carlos Saldanha.
Career
In 1982, Wedge worked for MAGI/SynthaVision, where he was a principal animator on the Disney film Tron, credited as a scene programmer. Some of his other works include Where the Wild Things Are (1983), Dinosaur Bob, George Shrinks, and Santa Calls.
Wedge is co-founder and Vice President of Creative Development at Blue Sky Studios, one of the premier computer animation studios and producer of Wedge's films. He is the owner of WedgeWorks, a film production company founded by Wedge.
In 1998, he won an Academy Award for the short animated film, Bunny. In 2002, Wedge directed Blue Sky Studios' first computer-animated film, Ice Age. He also voiced Scrat in the film and its following sequels, performing the character's "squeaks and squeals." In 2005, Wedge directed Robots, based on a story he created with William Joyce. In 2013 followed Epic, loosely based on Joyce's book, The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs.
In 2009, it was reported that Wedge would direct an animated feature film adaptation of Will Wright's Spore, but since then there has been no further news about the film.
Wedge directed the science fiction/action film Monster Trucks (2016), with a $100 million budget, and starring Lucas Till and Jane Levy. Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger wrote the script for the film, produced by Mary Parent.
Personal life
Wedge lives in Katonah, New York with his wife Jeanne Markel. They have a daughter and a son, Sarah and Jack.
Filmography
Director
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Tuber's Two-Step | Short film |
| 1987 | Balloon Guy | Short film |
| 1998 | Bunny | Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film Also writer |
| 2002 | Ice Age | Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature |
| 2005 | Robots | |
| 2013 | Epic | |
| 2016 | Monster Trucks |
Producer
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | The Mind's Eye | Short film |
| 2002 | Gone Nutty | Executive producer |
| 2006 | Ice Age: The Meltdown | Executive producer |
| No Time for Nuts | Executive producer | |
| 2008 | Horton Hears a Who! | Executive producer |
| Surviving Sid | Short film Executive producer | |
| 2009 | Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | Executive producer |
| 2011 | Rio | Executive producer |
| 2012 | Ice Age: Continental Drift | Executive producer |
| 2014 | Rio 2 | Executive producer |
| 2016 | Ice Age: Collision Course | Executive producer |
Actor
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Ice Age | Scrat, Dodo | |
| Gone Nutty | Scrat | Short film | |
| 2005 | Robots | Wonderbot, Phone Booth | |
| Aunt Fanny's Tour of Booty | Hacky | Short film | |
| 2006 | Ice Age: The Meltdown | Scrat | |
| No Time for Nuts | Short film | ||
| Family Guy | Episode "Sibling Rivalry" | ||
| 2008 | Surviving Sid | Short film | |
| 2009 | Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | ||
| 2011 | Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas | TV Special | |
| 2012 | Ice Age: Continental Drift | ||
| 2015 | The Simpsons | Episode: "Treehouse of Horror XXVI" | |
| 2016 | Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade | TV Special | |
| Ice Age: Collision Course |
Critical reception
| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | IMDb |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | |||
| Ice Age (2002) | 77% | 60% | 7.6 |
| Robots (2005) | 64% | 64% | 6.3 |
| Epic (2013) | 64% | 52% | 6.7 |
| Monster Trucks (2016) | 33% | 41 | 5.4 |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Ottawa International Animation Festival Award | Best Production Under 10 Minutes in Length | Joe's Apartment | Won |
| 1999 | Academy Award | Best Animated Short Film | Bunny | Won |
| Drama International Short Film Festival Award | Special Prize for Animation | Won | ||
| Nashville Film Festival Award | Best Animation | Won | ||
| Jury Award | Best Short | Nominated | ||
| Oberhausen International Short Film Festival Award | Prize of the Children's Short Film Competition | Won | ||
| 2003 | Academy Award | Best Animated Feature | Ice Age | Nominated |
| Annie Award | Outstanding Directing in an Animated Feature Production Shared with Carlos Saldanha (co-director) | Nominated | ||
| DVD Exclusive Award | Best Audio Commentary, New Release Shared with Carlos Saldanha (co-director) | Nominated | ||
| ShoWest Convention Award | Animation Director of the Year | Won | ||
| 2013 | Behind the Voice Actors Award | Best Vocal Ensemble in a Feature Film Shared with Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, Keke Palmer, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck, Wanda Sykes, Jennifer Lopez, Alan Tudyk, Joy Behar, Patrick Stewart, Simon Pegg & Rebel Wilson | Ice Age: Continental Drift | Nominated |
| 2014 | Annie Award | Outstanding Achievement in Directing in an Animated Feature Production | Epic | Nominated |