Animator/director Ron Clements was born in Sioux City, Iowa, on this day in 1953, and 10 years later, after viewing Pinocchio, began to show a strong interest in animation. As a teenager, he began making animated movies using a super-8 camera, and after graduating from high school, Clements headed to Southern California in search of his big break. He landed a job as an animator for Hanna-Barbera, while taking night classes at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. After graduating from Disney’s Talent Development Program, he served a two-year apprenticeship with Disney’s renowned animator Frank Thomas, and then began his career as a feature film animator on The Rescuers and Pete’s Dragon (1977). Soon after, he began working with John Musker, another Disney animator, and the two worked on The Black Cauldron (1985) before making their directorial debut, along with Dave Michener and Burny Mattinson, on The Great Mouse Detective. Clements and Musker next co-directed The Little Mermaid (1989), a huge hit, and then wrote, directed, and produced Aladdin (1992), another enormous hit. In 2010, they were nominated for an Academy Award® for their work on The Princess and the Frog.
