Jennifer Lee Steps Down As Disney Animation Chief Creative Officer

Posted in: Disney, Movies | Tagged: Jared Bush, jennifer lee

Jennifer Lee Steps Down As Disney Animation Chief Creative Officer

Jennifer Lee has stepped down as Disney Animation's Chief Creative Officer to focus on writing and directing Frozen 3 and 4.

Published Thu, 19 Sep 2024 11:19:08 -0500
by Kaitlyn Booth
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Article Summary

• Jennifer Lee steps down as Disney Animation's Chief Creative Officer to focus on Frozen 3 and 4.
• Jared Bush, known for Encanto and Moana 2, will replace Jennifer Lee as CCO of Disney Animation.
• Alan Bergman praises Bush's talent and Lee's impactful leadership in recent Disney animation success.
• Lee appreciates the support of Disney executives and looks forward to focusing on her filmmaking career.

It sounds like things at Disney are shifting yet again. It's been a weird couple of years for the studio that once seemed too big to fail. Marvel Studios had its first rocky year in 2023 with multiple films that underperformed in several ways, even if circumstances were being held against several of them. 20th Century had some high-profile flops and had difficulty finding its niche and taking advantage of its success stories. Pixar had lost multiple major projects streaming during the pandemic, and its first theatrical run failed, and its second was a slow-burn success with mediocre reviews. Even Disney animation has had a rough time. Encanto did not do well at the box office but turned things around on streaming and became a cultural juggernaut. Wish is the high-profile flop of Disney animation where, much like Lightyear, in an attempt to try and lean on its own legacy too hard, Disney overcomplicated the movie, and no one went to see it.

So it's not surprising there have been some changes. We're getting fewer Marvel movies per year. Someone at 20th Century has finally figured it out because they've had three movies since April. They did well at the box office and critically. Pixar is still a mess, but at least Inside Out 2 did well. Now, they are shifting things at Disney Animation ahead of the release of Moana 2. According to Variety, Jennifer Lee is stepping down as Chief Creative Officer to focus on writing and directing Frozen 3 and Frozen 4. We already know her replacement, Jared Bush, who won an Oscar for Encanto and is writing and producing the upcoming Moana 2, is replacing her.

"Jared Bush is an incredible filmmaker and a talented executive who's been a prominent creative force at Disney Animation for the past decade, and I am thrilled that he'll be taking the reins of this storied studio," said Disney Entertainment co-chair Alan Bergman in a statement. "I also want to thank Jennifer Lee for her passionate leadership of the studio over the past several years – she's made an indelible mark on both Disney Animation and the industry. I know she has so many more stories to tell, and there is truly no one better suited to oversee the continuation of the beloved story of Frozen."

"I am so grateful to Bob and Alan for supporting my decision to return to filmmaking full time," said Lee. "I've always believed in Jared's incredible talent and can't wait to see, with his passion and dedication to animation, what he brings to the CCO role."

Said Bush: "I am so deeply grateful to Bob Iger and Alan Bergman for their faith in me, and thankful to Jennifer for her leadership and for her generous support as she embarks on the next chapters of Frozen," said Bush. "I'm so excited to work with all of our filmmakers, artists, and Disney Animation team members as we shape the future of this legendary studio together."

Moana 2 will be released in November, and Bush is also writing and directing Zootopia 2 for next year. So he's a filmmaker who has been involved with the studio for a while and knows the ropes. It's also not surprising that Disney would let Lee focus on the Frozen films if that's what she wants; those movies were something else, and they want that lightning to strike again. They need her complete focus for that, and now they have it.

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