Chris Sanders

Chris Sanders (birthname: Christopher Michael Sanders) is most renowned as the American animation filmmaker who created and voiced the character of Stitch in Lilo & Stitch (2002), on which Sanders was story writer, character designer as well as co-director and co-writer with Dean DeBlois, and which co-starred the voices of Daveigh Chase, Tia Carrere, Ving Rhames and David Ogden Stiers, and grossed a strong $273 million for Disney.

Sanders began his feature animation career with Disney as a story writer and visual development artist on Beauty and the Beast (1991); as a story writer on Aladdin (1992); as a story writer and production designer on The Lion King (1994); as co-screenwriter and story supervisor on Mulan (1998); and as concept writer for the “Pines of Rome” segment of Fantasia 2000 (1999).

Sanders reunited with DeBlois as co-writer (with Will Davies) and co-director of DreamWorks Animation’s beloved fantasy How to Train Your Dragon (2010), with the voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Kristen Wiig, and grossing a solid return of $495 million (against $165 million costs) and earning two Oscar nominations, including best-animated feature.

Sanders’ second feature for DreamWorks Animation was as co-writer and co-director (with Kirk DeMicco) of the caveman comedy, The Croods (2013), starring the voices of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Cloris Leachman, and Clark Duke, and delivering a terrific $587 million gross for 20^th Century Fox after premiering at the Berlin Film Festival and then earning a best animated feature Oscar nomination.

Chris Sanders made his debut as a solo director on his first live-action feature, the adaptation of Jack London’s novel, The Call of the Wild (2020), starring Harrison Ford, Omar Sy, Dan Stevens, Karen Gillan, and Bradley Whitford, losing over $50 million for 20^th Century Studios.

Sanders returned to animated features as solo writer-director of DreamWorks Animation/Universal Pictures’ sci-fi adventure based on writer-illustrator Peter Brown’s book series, The Wild Robot (2024), with the voices of Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Catherine O’Hara and Ving Rhames, and premiering to rave reviews at the Toronto Film Festival followed by three Oscar nominations for Best Animated Feature, Best Original Score and Best Sound.

Sanders has also delivered voice performances in Mulan, Tarzan (1999), Lilo & Stitch, The Croods, Penguins of Madagascar (2014), and The Croods: A New Age (2020). Sanders revived his most famous character, playing Stitch in Disney’s live-action/CGI remake of Lilo & Stitch (2025), with Zach Galifianakis, Billy Magnusson, Tia Carrere, and Courtney B. Vance under Dean Fleischer Camp’s direction.