Richard James Rich is an American director, producer, and screenwriter. Rich is founder and owner of
Crest Animation Productions
Crest Animation Productions (formerly RichCrest Animation Studios, Rich Animation Studios and originally Rich Entertainment) was an Indian-American animation studio located in Burbank, California, United States. The studio's most well known work ...
.
Rich started his career in the mailroom of the
Walt Disney Studios in 1972
and would give piano lessons during lunch breaks. He was chosen by
John Lounsbery
John Mitchell Lounsbery (March 9, 1911 – February 13, 1976) was an American animator and director who worked for Walt Disney Productions. He is best known as one of Disney's Nine Old Men, of which he was the shortest lived as well as the fir ...
to be an assistant director for ''
Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too
''Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too'' is a 1974 animated featurette based on the third chapter of ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' and the fourth and seventh chapters of ''The House at Pooh Corner'' by A. A. Milne. The featurette was directed by John Lounsbery, p ...
'' based on his musical expertise.
He made his directorial debut on ''
The Fox and the Hound
''The Fox and the Hound'' is a 1981 American animated buddy drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and loosely based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Daniel P. Mannix. The 24th Disney animated feature film, the film tells the st ...
''.
After leaving Disney in 1986, Rich established
Rich Animation Studios
Crest Animation Productions (formerly RichCrest Animation Studios, Rich Animation Studios and originally Rich Entertainment) was an Indian-American animation studio located in Burbank, California, United States. The studio's most well known work ...
, later renamed RichCrest. He directed ''
The Swan Princess
''The Swan Princess'' is a 1994 American animated fantasy film based on the ballet ''Swan Lake''. Featuring Michelle Nicastro, Howard McGillin, Jack Palance, John Cleese, Steven Wright, Sandy Duncan, and Steve Vinovich, the film is directed by ...
'' in 1994 which led up to nine sequels since 2012 about fourteen years later since its
second sequel.
Besides feature films, Rich has produced direct-to-video series such as ''Animated Stories from the New Testament'', ''Animated Stories from the Bible'', ''Animated Stories from the Book of Mormon'', ''Animated Hero Classics'', and ''K10C: Kids' Ten Commandments''.
His more recent credits include acting as producer on the
computer-animated
Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...
comedy drama film
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
''
Alpha and Omega
Alpha (Α or α) and omega (Ω or ω) are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, and a title of Christ and God in the Book of Revelation. This pair of letters is used as a Christian symbol, and is often combined with the Cross, Chi-rh ...
'' and as the director/producer of its sequels.
Filmography
See also
*
Don Bluth
Donald Virgil Bluth (; born September 13, 1937) is an American film director, animator, production designer, and animation instructor, best known for his animated films, including ''The Secret of NIMH'' (1982), ''An American Tail'' (1986), ''Th ...
References
External links
*
Living people
American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
American film directors
American film producers
American animators
American animated film directors
American animated film producers
Animation screenwriters
Walt Disney Animation Studios people
Latter Day Saints from California
Latter Day Saints from Utah
Year of birth missing (living people)
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