Kyle Balda
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Balda in 2015.
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| Born | (1971-03-09) March 9, 1971 (age 53)
Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
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| Alma mater | California Institute of the Arts |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1994–present |
| Employer(s) | Pixar Animation Studios (1996-2002) Illumination (2010—present) |
Kyle Balda (born March 9, 1971) is an American animator and film director, best known for co-directing the Illumination films The Lorax (2012), with Chris Renaud; Minions (2015) and Despicable Me 3 (2017), with Pierre Coffin; and Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022), with Brad Ableson and Jonathan del Val. He previously worked as an animator for Industrial Light & Magic before moving to Pixar where he worked on three of their films.
Balda was born in Tucson, Arizona, to a Maltese mother.[1] He studied at the California Institute of the Arts in the early 1990s and dropped out after two years for a job he was offered.[1][2][3]
During his time at CalArts, Balda was hired by LucasArts as an intern to create the animated opening credit sequence for the graphic adventure game Day of the Tentacle.[4]
He started his career as an animator by working at Industrial Light & Magic, in films including The Mask as graphics animator, Jumanji as animation supervisor, and Mars Attacks! as character animator.[2] He also worked at Weta Digital once in New Zealand, on the 1996 film The Frighteners, animating the character of the Grim Reaper for the film.[2] Later Balda started working at Pixar; where he was credited as an additional animator in A Bug's Life, as directing animator in Toy Story 2, and as animator in Monsters, Inc..[2] In 2010, he joined Illumination Entertainment in Paris, and worked in Despicable Me as the head of layout. Balda has also directed several short films and lectured at different animation schools.[2]
In 2012, Balda made his directorial debut at Illumination as co-director of The Lorax, along with Chris Renaud.[3][5] The film was released domestically on March 2, 2012, by Universal Pictures and grossed over $348 million with a budget of $70 million.[6]
In 2015, Balda directed another Illumination animated film, Minions, this time alongside Pierre Coffin.[5][7][8] The film was released domestically on July 10, 2015, by Universal and has grossed over $1.1 billion.[9]
In 2017, Balda co-directed Despicable Me 3. In his role as co-director he pushed for the film to have a more vibrant color palette than its predecessors.[10]
On June 7, 2024, it was announced Balda would make his live-action directorial debut with Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Movie, a film adaptation of Leonie Swann's book of the same name, set to be produced by Amazon MGM Studios.[11]
Balda currently resides in the Oregon coast.[12]
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | The Mask | Graphics animator |
| 1995 | Jumanji | Animation supervisor |
| 1996 | Mars Attacks! | Character animator |
| 1996 | The Frighteners | |
| 1998 | A Bug's Life | Additional animator |
| 1999 | Toy Story 2 | Directing animator |
| 2001 | Monsters, Inc. | Animator |
| 2010 | Despicable Me | Layout supervisor |
| 2012 | The Lorax | Co-director |
| Forces of Nature | Director | |
| 2015 | Minions | |
| Competition | ||
| 2016 | Weenie | |
| 2017 | Despicable Me 3 | |
| 2022 | Minions: The Rise of Gru | |
| 2026 | Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Movie |
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Films directed by Kyle Balda
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