James Baxter (animator)

James Baxter
Born	May 1967 (age 44) Bristol, England
Occupation	Animator
Years active	1988-Present

James Baxter (born May 1967) is a British character animator. He was first known for his work on several Walt Disney Animation Studios films, including various characters in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Rafiki in The Lion King, Belle in Beauty and the Beast, and Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

After Notre Dame, Baxter moved over to DreamWorks Animation, where he worked on films such as The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Shrek 2, and Madagascar. Early in 2005, Baxter left DreamWorks and set out on his own as an independent animator. He became the head of his own studio, James Baxter Animation, in Pasadena, California, where he has directed the animation for the 2007 film Enchanted and the opening credits to Kung Fu Panda, for which he received an Annie Award. As of the summer of 2008, James Baxter Animation has closed and Baxter has returned once again to DreamWorks Animation as a supervising animator.

Baxter also worked on Tummy Trouble, Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five and How to Train Your Dragon.

Filmography

• Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) (animator: The Weasels)
• The Little Mermaid (1989) (character animator: Ariel and King Triton)
• The Rescuers Down Under (1990) (character animator:)
• Beauty and the Beast (1991) (supervising animator: Belle)
• The Lion King (1994) (supervising animator: Rafiki)
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) (character designer, supervising animator: Quasimodo)
• The Prince of Egypt (1998) (animator: Moses)
• The Road to El Dorado (2000) (senior supervising animator: Tulio)
• Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) (senior supervising animator: Spirit)
• Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003) (supervising animator: Sinbad)
• Shrek 2 (2004) (supervising animator: Stallion Donkey)
• Madagascar (2005) (additional supervising animator)
• Curious George (2006) (animation supervisor: James Baxter Animation)
• Enchanted (2007) (animation supervisor: James Baxter Animation)
• Kung Fu Panda (2008) (animation director - dream sequence: James Baxter Animation)
• Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) (animator: Ginormica)
• How to Train Your Dragon (2010) (animator: Stoick)

External links

• James Baxter Animation Studios - Site Now Unavailable James Baxter Animation Studios on archive.org
• James Baxter's visit to CalArt's Character Animation Program (Spring '06)
• James Baxter at Internet Movie Database