John Musker

John Musker (born November 8, 1953 in Chicago, Illinois, USA) is an American animation director. Musker is one half of America's leading contemporary animation team with Ron Clements. He first met Clements during the production of The Fox and the Hound (1981), where he worked as a character animator under Clements. Musker later worked with Clements again on the ambitious animated flop The Black Cauldron (1985). In 1986 he made his directorial deb... more

John Musker (born November 8, 1953 in Chicago, Illinois, USA) is an American animation director. Musker is one half of America's leading contemporary animation team with Ron Clements. He first met Clements during the production of The Fox and the Hound (1981), where he worked as a character animator under Clements. Musker later worked with Clements again on the ambitious animated flop The Black Cauldron (1985). In 1986 he made his directorial debut with Clements and two other collaborators on the feature The Great Mouse Detective. Together, Musker and Clements wrote and directed The Little Mermaid (1989), a touching retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen tale. With Oscar-winning songs by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, the film was a huge success, bringing back critical and commercial clout for feature animation. Later on, the two wrote, directed, and produced Aladdin (1992), which was an even larger success. They also directed Hercules (1997), which was not as successful as the... less