Animation Legend Ron Clements Is Coming Out of Retirement and Returning to Disney
Few individuals have been more essential to the Disney animated canon than Ron Clements.
After participating in the Disney Talent Development Program under legendary animator Frank Thomas, Clements joined Walt Disney Animation in the early 1970s. Eventually, he would serve as a character animator on Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, The Rescuers, and Pete’s Dragon before being elevated to supervising animator on The Fox and the Hound.
Clements then contributed to The Black Cauldron before moving to the director’s chair of The Great Mouse Detective.
Photo: D23
While the animator’s contributions in the 1970s and 1980s would have been noteworthy by themselves, Clements was just getting started.
The Disney Renaissance
With frequent collaborator Jon Musker, Clements would serve as the writer and director of 1989’s The Little Mermaid. The film’s success would usher in what would eventually be known as the Disney Renaissance.
Clements and Musker eventually directed, produced, and wrote Aladdin, Hercules, The Princess and the Frog, and Moana.
However, after the release of Moana, Clements retired as Disney continued to move away from traditional hand-drawn animation.
Annecy Honors Clements
Today, at the Annecy International Film Festival, Clements was inducted into the Annecy Walk of Fame. It was a fitting honor for a towering figure in animation history.
Photo: Rotoscopers
“This is so cool,” Clements said. “It’s such an honor to be memorialized this way. Unbelievable. So thank you. Thank you with all my heart. I am very, very appreciative.”
Coming Home to Disney
After Clements was bestowed with Annecy’s honor, Walt Disney Animation’s CCO Jared Bush returned to the stage to announce that the Disney legend was returning to the company.
Photo: D23
“I’ve actually unretired a very important person here, Ron Clements, who’s coming back to the studio. Ron is one of the reasons that I do what I do… The legacy he helped build is the foundation we walk on,” Bush said.
In his new role at Disney, Clements will be mentoring young animators.
“I really have been enjoying retirement,” he said, “but I’m excited about just returning to kind of mentor… There aren’t as many old people around as there used to be, and there certainly are so many young people who want to work in animation.”
Photo: X
During a conversation with Bush, Clements recalled the moment that he knew he wanted to be a Disney animator.
“I was nine years old… and I saw a reissue of ‘Pinocchio’ in our local theater. And I couldn’t get it out of my mind… I decided at that point that I wanted to be an animator, and I wanted to work for Walt Disney.”
Ron Clements
Both Disney and the animation industry as a whole are better off with Ron Clements back in the fold.
