LOS ANGELES - Oscar-nominated animation director Chris Bailey has joined Cinesite Hollywood (www.cinesite.com) in the newly created role of director of animation. He will work to expanded the facility's 3D character animation portfolio. Previously director of animation at Dream Quest Images, Bailey supervised animation for the features Inspector Gadget, Mighty Joe Young and Hocus Pocus. He also executive produced/directed Kim Possible, a traditionally-animated series set to debut on the Disney Channel in June.
Bailey studied character animation at the California Institute of the Arts. He began his career at Digital Productions and later became an animator at Walt Disney Studios from the mid 1980s to the early 1990s, where he worked on Hocus Pocus, Hercules, The Lion King, Rescuers Down Under, The Little Mermaid, Runaway Brain, Deep Rising, Mighty Joe Young and Inspector Gadget. He also directed theme park films including It's Tough to be a Bug for Disney's California Adventure Park and Disney's Animal Kingdom.
Bailey's own recently animated short, Major Damage, has compiled an array of awards this year, including Best Animated Short at The Crossroads Film Festival, the Magnolia Independent Film Festival and the Winchester County Film Festival. He earned an Academy Award nomination in 1996 for his animated short feature, Runaway Brain, which was also featured at the Cannes International Film Festival.