Richard L. Moore[1] (born May 10, 1963)[2] is an American film and television animation director, screenwriter and voice actor. He is best known for serving as a director on primetime animated television series such as The Simpsons, The Critic and Futurama as well as directing the films Wreck-It Ralph (2012), Zootopia (2016) and Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) for Walt Disney Animation Studios. He is a two-time Emmy Award winner, a three-time Annie Award winner and an Academy Award winner.
Rich Moore
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Moore in 2012
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| Born | Richard L. Moore (1963-05-10) May 10, 1963 (age 61)
Oxnard, California, U.S.
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| Alma mater | California Institute of the Arts |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1986–present |
| Employer(s) | Klasky Csupo (1989–1992) Film Roman (1992–1995) Rough Draft Studios (1995–2008) Walt Disney Animation Studios (2008–2019) Sony Pictures Animation (2019–2022) Skydance Animation (2022–present) |
| Notable work | The Simpsons The Critic Futurama Wreck-It Ralph Zootopia Ralph Breaks the Internet |
Moore was born and raised in Oxnard, California.[2][3] He studied film and video at the California Institute of the Arts, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1987.[4] While there, he narrated Jim Reardon's 1986 student film Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown.[4] Included in his CalArts class were famous filmmakers such as Andrew Stanton, Brenda Chapman, and Jim Reardon.
After graduating from CalArts, Moore worked for Ralph BakshionCBS's Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, co-writing all 13 season 1 episodes in 1987.[5][6] Moore was one of the original three directors of The Simpsons, directing 17 episodes in the first 5 seasons from 1990 to 1993,[7] including the episodes: "Flaming Moe's", "Itchy and Scratchy: The Movie", and "Marge vs. the Monorail".[8][9] He won a 1991 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program for The Simpsons: Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment,[10] and later return as one of the sequence directors on The Simpsons Movie in 2007.[11]
In 1994, Moore became a producer and supervising director for the animated series The Critic.[7] He then oversaw the creative development and production of Futurama as the show's supervising director. He also directed several episodes of the animated series from 1999 to 2001, including the classic "Roswell That Ends Well",[7][8] for which he won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program.[12]
Moore's other television animation directing credits include Comedy Central's Drawn Together and "Spy vs. Spy" for MADtv.[7] He served as supervising director on the 2009 animated Fox television series Sit Down, Shut Up.[13]
In 2004, Moore directed the Warner Bros. animated short film Duck Dodgers in Attack of the Drones.[7] In 2008, he was invited by John Lasseter to join Walt Disney Animation Studios as a director, with the suggestion that he develop a story set in the world of video games.[14] This would become the 2012 animated feature Wreck-It Ralph, Moore's feature directing debut, and a box office and critical success.[7][8] Moore also supplied the voices for the film's characters Sour Bill and Zangief.[15] Wreck-It Ralph won five Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature and a Best Director award for Moore,[16] and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.[17]
Moore's next animated feature film was Disney's Zootopia, which he directed alongside Byron Howard and co-director Jared Bush. The film, released on March 4, 2016, became the second highest-grossing animated feature film of 2016 with a worldwide box office gross of over $1.023 billion.[18] The film also won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.[19]
After Zootopia, Moore returned to direct Ralph Breaks the Internet, the sequel to Wreck-It Ralph, with fellow filmmaker Phil Johnston.[20] The film was a financial success, outgrossing the original film with over $529.3 million worldwide.[21] It was also nominated for multiple awards in the Best Animated Feature category, including the Academy Awards,[22] Annie Awards,[23] and Golden Globe Awards.[24]
On April 8, 2019, Moore revealed that he had left Disney to join Sony Pictures Animation, where he would direct and produce original animated films for the studio, and ultimately produced the film Vivo.[25]
On March 16, 2022, Moore revealed that he has entered into an exclusive, multi-year overall deal with Skydance Animation.[26] On October 18, 2023, it was revealed that Moore is directing an untitled Jack and the Beanstalk project at Skydance.[27]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Other | Voice Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | The Simpsons Movie | No | No | No | Yes | Sequence Director | |
| Futurama: Bender's Big Score | No | No | Animation Executive |
No | Direct-to-video | ||
| 2008 | Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! | No | No | No | Yes | Additional Story Artist | |
| Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs | No | No | Animation Executive |
No | Direct-to-video | ||
| Futurama: Bender's Game | No | No | Animation Executive |
No | Direct-to-video | ||
| 2009 | Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder | No | No | Animation Executive |
No | Direct-to-video | |
| 2012 | Wreck-It Ralph | Yes | Story | No | Yes | Sour Bill and Zangief | |
| 2016 | Zootopia | Yes | Story | No | Yes | Doug and Larry | Creative Leadership |
| 2018 | Ralph Breaks the Internet | Yes | Story | No | Yes | Sour Bill, Zangief, and Stormtrooper | Song Producer: "A Place Called Slaughter Race", Creative Leadership |
| 2021 | Vivo | No | No | Yes | Yes | Iguana | |
| TBA | Untitled Jack and the Beanstalk project | Yes | No | No | No | [27] |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Other | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Somewhere in the Arctic[28] | No | No | Yes | Dohk | |
| Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown | No | No | Yes | Charlie Brown / Narration | Aided and abetted by | |
| Snookles | No | No | Yes | Dragon | Special thanks | |
| 1988 | Christmas in Tattertown | No | No | Yes | Character color designer | |
| Technological Threat | No | Story | Yes | Character animator Designer | ||
| 1989 | Hound Town | No | No | Yes | Animation director Story artist | |
| 1993 | Inland Empire | No | No | Yes | Harper Brackman | |
| 2004 | Duck Dodgers in Attack of the Drones | Yes | No | No | ||
| 2009 | The Affliction | No | No | Yes | Production assistant | |
| 2013 | Garlan Hulse: Where Potential Lives | Yes | No | Yes | Rich Moore | |
| 2024 | Dust Monster | No | No | Yes | Special thanks |
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | A Story[28] | Thanks |
| 2003 | The Simpsons: Hit & Run | Special Thanks |
| 2008 | Bolt | Disney Story Trust – uncredited [29] |
| 2009 | The Princess and the Frog | |
| 2010 | Tangled | |
| 2011 | Winnie the Pooh | |
| 2013 | Get a Horse! | Additional Thanks |
| Frozen | Disney Story Trust – uncredited [30] | |
| 2014 | Feast | Special Thanks |
| Big Hero 6 | Creative Leadership | |
| 2016 | Finding Dory | Special Thanks |
| Moana | Creative Leadership | |
| 2019 | Frozen II |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Wreck-It Ralph | Won Best Animated Feature at Annie Awards, Critics' Choice Movie Awards, National Board of Review Awards Nominated for Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film |
| 2016 | Zootopia | Won Best Animated Feature at Critics' Choice Movie Awards, Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, Best Animated Feature at Annie Awards, Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film |
| 2018 | Ralph Breaks the Internet | Nominated for Best Animated Feature at Critics' Choice Movie Awards, Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, Best Animated Feature at Annie Awards, Academy Award for Best Animated Feature |
