Jennifer Lee Steps Down As Disney Animation’s Chief Creative Officer, Jared Bush Takes Over
After a tumultuous six-year run as Walt Disney Animation Studio’s chief creative officer, Jennifer Lee is stepping down from the role. Her replacement is Academy Award-winning filmmaker Jared Bush, who has been involved in many of the studio’s non-Frozen hits over the last decade.
As CCO, Bush will oversee the creative output of WDAS, including its films, series, and associated projects. Bush won the Academy Award in 2022 for Encanto, for which he was both director and a writer, in the same year in which he was executive producer for the Oscar-nominated Raya and the Last Dragon. Bush was also co-director/co-writer on Zootopia, writer of Moana, and received an Emmy Award for his work on the short-form series Zootopia+. He is a writer and executive producer on the upcoming Moana 2 and is directing and writing Zootopia 2, which will release fall 2025.
Bush will report to Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman, who said in a statement, “Jared Bush is an incredible filmmaker and a talented executive who’s been a prominent creative force at Disney Animation for the past decade, and I am thrilled that he’ll be taking the reins of this storied studio.”
Bush himself said in a statement:
I am so deeply grateful to Bob Iger and Alan Bergman for their faith in me, and thankful to Jennifer for her leadership and for her generous support as she embarks on the next chapters of Frozen. Disney Animation is home to some of the greatest stories and characters of the past century, and I’m so excited to work with all of our filmmakers, artists, and Disney Animation team members as we shape the future of this legendary studio together.
Lee, who assumed the creative officer role from John Lasseter in 2018, was the studio’s first woman creative chief. She will remain at the studio to work on the Frozen franchise, for which she is currently writing and directing Frozen 3 and writing Frozen 4 with Marc Smith, the latter of which she will executive produce. Lee said in a statement:
I am so grateful to Bob and Alan for supporting my decision to return to filmmaking full time. Every day working with them is a master class in creativity, business, community, and integrity. I’ve always believed in Jared’s incredible talent and can’t wait to see, with his passion and dedication to animation, what he brings to the CCO role. For me, getting to collaborate with this studio of artists, animators, and storytellers is such a privilege, and I look forward to all we will create together.
Bergman added:
I also want to thank Jennifer Lee for her passionate leadership of the studio over the past several years — she’s made an indelible mark on both Disney Animation and the industry. I know she has so many more stories to tell, and there is truly no one better suited to oversee the continuation of the beloved story of Frozen.
Clark Spencer will continue in his role as president of Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Cartoon Brew’s Take: We first learned that Lee had signed an exit deal at Disney earlier this spring, and questioned Disney about it, but the company denied that Lee was leaving.
We understand that the decision to transition Lee back into a filmmaking role has been in the works for a long time. Her departure was all but assured after Wish underperformed at the box office last winter. The financial disappointment of that film, which was intended to celebrate the company’s 100th anniversary, came on the heels of another bomb, Strange World, which was the biggest Hollywood flop of 2022, losing the studio around $200 million.
Our U.S. Animation Industry Power List, published in July, hinted at the uncertainty in Disney’s creative leadership structure by placing Lee (and president Spencer) in the #10 spot. Bush, who had been recognized within the studio as a creative talent with leadership capabilities, was widely anticipated to be the new chief creative officer, hence his position at #18 on the Power List.
