John Christian Wedge (born March 20, 1957) is an American animator, designer, film director, voice actor, film producer, screenwriter, and cartoonist. He is known for directing the films ''
Ice Age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...
'' (2002), ''
Robots "\n\n\n\n\nThe robots exclusion standard, also known as the robots exclusion protocol or simply robots.txt, is a standard used by websites to indicate to visiting web crawlers and other web robots which portions of the site they are allowed to visi ...
'' (2005), ''
Epic'' (2013), and ''
Monster Trucks
A monster truck is a specialized off-road vehicle with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, large-displacement V8 engines and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock pi ...
'' (2016). He is a co-founder of the now-defunct
animation studio
An animation studio is a company producing animated media. The broadest such companies conceive of products to produce, own the physical equipment for production, employ operators for that equipment, and hold a major stake in the sales or rentals o ...
Blue Sky Studios and voices the character
Scrat
Scrat is a fictional character in the ''Ice Age'' franchise. He is a saber-toothed squirrel who is obsessed with collecting acorns, constantly putting his life in danger to obtain and defend them. Scrat's storylines are mostly independent o ...
in the ''
Ice Age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...
'' franchise since 2002.
Early life
Wedge was born in
Binghamton, New York. During his teenage years, Wedge lived in
Watertown, New York
Watertown is a city in, and the county seat of, Jefferson County, New York, United States. It is approximately south of the Thousand Islands, along the Black River about east of where it flows into Lake Ontario. The city is bordered by th ...
which was rumored to be the inspiration for the town where his film "
Robots "\n\n\n\n\nThe robots exclusion standard, also known as the robots exclusion protocol or simply robots.txt, is a standard used by websites to indicate to visiting web crawlers and other web robots which portions of the site they are allowed to visi ...
" takes place, however he later dismissed this in an interview. 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
Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great de ...
and art education at the
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
. He has taught animation at the
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design.
History
This school was started by ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
where he met his future film directing partner,
Carlos Saldanha
Carlos Saldanha (; born 24 January 1965) is a Brazilian animator, director, producer, and voice actor of animated films who worked with Blue Sky Studios until its closure in 2021. He was the director of '' Ice Age: The Meltdown'' (2006), '' Ice A ...
.
Career
In 1982, Wedge worked for
MAGi/SynthaVision, where he was a principal animator on the
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
film ''
Tron
''Tron'' (stylized as ''TRON'') is a 1982 American science fiction action- adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer ...
'', credited as a scene programmer. Some of his other works include ''
The Brave Little Toaster
''The Brave Little Toaster'' is a 1987 American animated musical film directed by Jerry Rees. It is based on the 1980 novella of the same name by Thomas M. Disch. The film stars Deanna Oliver, Timothy E. Day, Jon Lovitz, Tim Stack, and Thu ...
''.
Wedge is the co-founder of the now defunct
Blue Sky Studios, once one of the premier computer animation studios, and was its Vice President of Creative Development until the studio was closed by
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
in 2021. He is the owner of WedgeWorks, a film production company founded by Wedge.
In the 1990s, he and his studio worked on CGI effects for the movies ''
Alien Resurrection
''Alien Resurrection'' is a 1997 American science fiction horror film, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, written by Joss Whedon, and starring Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder. It is the fourth installment of the ''Alien'' franchise, and wa ...
'' and ''
Titan A.E.
''Titan A.E.'' is a 2000 American animated science fiction film directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, and starring Matt Damon, Bill Pullman, John Leguizamo, Nathan Lane, Janeane Garofalo and Drew Barrymore. Its title refers to the spacecraft ...
''
In 1998, he won an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for the short animated film ''
Bunny
Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit sp ...
''. Wedge later directed Blue Sky Studios' first computer-animated film, 2002's ''
Ice Age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...
'', and served as a producer for its sequels. He also voices
Scrat
Scrat is a fictional character in the ''Ice Age'' franchise. He is a saber-toothed squirrel who is obsessed with collecting acorns, constantly putting his life in danger to obtain and defend them. Scrat's storylines are mostly independent o ...
in the film series, performing the character's "squeaks and squeals."
In 2005, Wedge directed ''
Robots "\n\n\n\n\nThe robots exclusion standard, also known as the robots exclusion protocol or simply robots.txt, is a standard used by websites to indicate to visiting web crawlers and other web robots which portions of the site they are allowed to visi ...
'', based on a story he created with
William Joyce
William Brooke Joyce (24 April 1906 – 3 January 1946), nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, was an American-born fascist and Nazi propaganda broadcaster during the Second World War. After moving from New York to Ireland and subsequently to England, ...
. In 2013 followed ''
Epic'', loosely based on Joyce's book, ''The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs''.
In 2007, it was announced that Wedge would direct ''
Hugo
Hugo or HUGO may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese
* Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback
* Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on ...
'', though he was subsequently replaced by
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, inclu ...
. 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
A monster truck is a specialized off-road vehicle with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, large-displacement V8 engines and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock pi ...
'' (2016).
Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger
Jonathan Robert Aibel (born August 6, 1969 in Demarest, New Jersey) and Glenn Todd Berger (born August 26, 1969 in Smithtown, New York) are American screenwriters and producers, who are best known for writing the ''Kung Fu Panda
''Kung Fu Pa ...
wrote the script for the film,
produced by
Mary Parent
Mary Parent (born 1968) is an American film producer, and former studio executive. In February 2011, she co-founded Disruption Entertainment, a company with a first-look deal at Paramount Pictures. She was formerly the Chairperson of Metro Goldw ...
.
Wedge reprised the role of Scrat in a series of shorts for
Disney+
Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...
titled ''
Ice Age: Scrat Tales'', in addition to serving as an executive producer. The shorts premiered on the streaming platform on April 13, 2022.
Personal life
Wedge lives in
Katonah, New York
Katonah is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the town of Bedford, Westchester County, in the U.S. state of New York. The Katonah CDP had a population of 1,679 at the 2010 census.
History
Katonah is named for Chief Katonah, an ...
with his wife Jeanne Markel.
They have a daughter and a son, Sarah and Jack.
Filmography
Feature Films
Short Films
Television Episodes and Specials
Video Games
Special Thanks
Critical reception
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
IGN interviewBBC interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wedge, Chris
Animators from New York (state)
American animated film directors
American animated film producers
Animal impersonators
Animation screenwriters
Ohio State University alumni
Artists from Binghamton, New York
State University of New York at Purchase alumni
1957 births
Living people
Fayetteville-Manlius High School alumni
People from Manlius, New York
Directors of Best Animated Short Academy Award winners
Blue Sky Studios people
People from Katonah, New York
Film directors from New York (state)