---
name: "Chris Sanders"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/chris-sanders"
fi1m_id: "chris-sanders"
imdb_id: "nm0761498"
tmdb_id: 66193
wikidata_id: "Q201641"
roles: ["Writer","Director","Actor"]
born: "12 March 1962"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 17
average_fi1m_score: 83
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-10-05T15:40:27.755475+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Chris Sanders

## Identity

Chris Sanders

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/chris-sanders
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** chris-sanders
- **IMDb ID:** nm0761498
- **TMDB ID:** 66193
- **Wikidata ID:** Q201641
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Sanders, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q201641, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0761498/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/66193

Writer and director. Born 12 March 1962 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer, Director, Actor
- **Born:** 12 March 1962, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
- **Active:** 1991–present
- **Also known as:** Christopher Michael Sanders, Christopher Michael "Chris" Sanders, کریس سندرز
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 17: 4 acting, 5 directing, 4 writing, 3 producing, 1 crew
- **Frequently works with:** [Dean DeBlois](https://film.one/person/dean-deblois.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 4 Oscar nominations
- **Average Fi1m score:** 83, as writer, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 83 (6), 2000s 82 (1), 2010s 70 (5), 2020s 66 (5)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 83 to 76 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Animation 4, Family 4, Adventure 2, Fantasy 2, Romance 2, Drama 1
- **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $1,997m across 4 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Sanders, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q201641, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0761498/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/66193

## Coming up

- *Lilo & Scratch* (2026-11-25), as Stitch (voice)
- *How to Train Your Dragon 2* (2027-06-10), Executive Producer
- *Lilo & Stitch 2* (2028-05-25), Stitch (voice)

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*The Lion King*](https://film.one/film/the-lion-king.md) (84), [*Lilo & Stitch*](https://film.one/film/lilo-and-stitch.md) (82), [*Mulan*](https://film.one/film/mulan.md) (74), [*The Call of the Wild*](https://film.one/film/the-call-of-the-wild.md) (63), [*Lilo & Stitch*](https://film.one/film/lilo-and-stitch-2025.md) (58)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Wild Robot*](https://film.one/film/the-wild-robot.md) (80)
- **Peacock:** [*The Croods: A New Age*](https://film.one/film/the-croods-a-new-age.md) (70)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Chris Sanders

> Chris Sanders writes funny, awkward creatures who need somewhere to belong. We rate his films highly, especially when he trusts behaviour and pictures to explain a friendship without having everyone talk us through it.

Roz folds herself upright on a beach in *The Wild Robot* (2024) and offers assistance to animals who have no use for it. We laughed more than we expected at this helpful machine being knocked into the sea. Sanders lets us laugh at her difficulties before asking us to care about her. The time spent on those failed introductions makes the later tenderness feel earned.

His writing grew out of visual work on *Beauty and the Beast* (1991) and *The Lion King* (1994), followed by story supervision and co-writing on *Mulan* (1998). In *The Lion King*, his production design gives the animals places that seem to continue beyond the immediate needs of a scene. The scenery remains worth looking at even when the storytelling becomes predictable. Co-writing and co-directing *Lilo & Stitch* (2002) with Dean DeBlois made his recurring interest clearer: a creature finding a household willing to have it.

*How to Train Your Dragon* (2010), written with DeBlois and William Davies, gives that interest a warmly persuasive story. Hiccup's growing attention to the wounded Toothless makes his change of mind about dragons feel earned. The supporting humans are less carefully drawn, and some early jokes interrupt rather than help. Once the film concentrates on boy and dragon, its familiar lessons are worth hearing again.

After the move into live-action directing with *The Call of the Wild* (2020), *The Wild Robot* returns to that concern with belonging. Sanders adapts Peter Brown's children's novel and again gives the pictures time to carry the story. Raymond Zibach's production design uses visible brushstrokes that make Roz's smooth shell stand apart from the island. Mary Blee's editing lets a season pass around the seated robot in one shot. Kris Bowers's score holds back its strings for the flying and leaves the comedy largely alone, rightly trusting the slapstick.

The last third of *The Wild Robot* gives too much time to action, just when we want it to stay with the relationships it has patiently built. The family-adventure plotting is still a weakness, even when Sanders has made us care this much. Start with *How to Train Your Dragon*, and give the boy and his dragon time to meet.

## Biography

Chris Sanders (born 12 March 1962) is an American filmmaker, animator, screenwriter and voice actor. He studied character animation at the California Institute of the Arts and began his career at Walt Disney Animation Studios, contributing to story and visual development on films including *Beauty and the Beast* (1991), *Aladdin* (1992) and *The Lion King* (1994).

Sanders co-wrote and co-directed *Lilo & Stitch* (2002) with Dean DeBlois; he created the character Stitch and has voiced it in most appearances, including the 2025 live-action adaptation. He later collaborated again with DeBlois on *How to Train Your Dragon* (2010). Other credits include directing *The Croods* (2013) with Kirk DeMicco and *The Wild Robot* (2024), for which he also wrote the screenplay. His live-action directorial debut was *The Call of the Wild* (2020). Several of his films received Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, variety.com, collider.com.*

## On Fi1m (17)

### Performed in (4)

- *Lilo & Stitch* (2025), Fi1m 58, as Stitch (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/lilo-and-stitch-2025.md)
- *The Croods: A New Age* (2020), Fi1m 70, as Belt (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-croods-a-new-age.md)
- *Penguins of Madagascar* (2014), Fi1m 58, as Antarctic Penguin (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/penguins-of-madagascar.md)
- *Tarzan* (1999), Fi1m 77, as Additional Voices (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/tarzan.md)

### Directed (5)

- *The Wild Robot* (2024), Fi1m 80, Director, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/the-wild-robot.md)
- *The Call of the Wild* (2020), Fi1m 63, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-call-of-the-wild.md)
- *The Croods* (2013), Fi1m 60, as Belt (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-croods.md)
- *How to Train Your Dragon* (2010), Fi1m 82, Screenplay, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/how-to-train-your-dragon-2010.md)
- *Lilo & Stitch* (2002), Fi1m 82, as Stitch (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/lilo-and-stitch.md)

### Wrote (4) — the average rests on these

- *Mulan* (1998), Fi1m 74, Screenplay, Story Supervisor — [page](https://film.one/film/mulan.md)
- *The Lion King* (1994), Fi1m 84, Production Design, Story, Production design — [page](https://film.one/film/the-lion-king.md)
- *Aladdin* (1992), Fi1m 82, Story — [page](https://film.one/film/aladdin.md)
- *Beauty and the Beast* (1991), Fi1m 91, Story — [page](https://film.one/film/beauty-and-the-beast.md)

### Produced (3)

- *How to Train Your Dragon* (2025), Fi1m 60, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/how-to-train-your-dragon.md)
- *How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World* (2019), Fi1m 78, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/how-to-train-your-dragon-the-hidden-world.md)
- *How to Train Your Dragon 2* (2014), Fi1m 74, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/how-to-train-your-dragon-2.md)

### Crew (1)

- *Toy Story* (1995), Fi1m 92, Character Designer — [page](https://film.one/film/toy-story.md)

## Complete filmography (43)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Lilo & Stitch 2* (2028), as Stitch (voice) · Writer, Director
- *How to Train Your Dragon 2* (2027), Executive Producer
- *Lilo & Scratch* (2026), as Stitch (voice)
- *The Bad Guys 2* (2025), Thanks
- *How to Train Your Dragon* (2025), Executive Producer — Fi1m 60, [page](https://film.one/film/how-to-train-your-dragon.md)
- *Lilo & Stitch* (2025), as Stitch (voice) · Original Film Writer — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/film/lilo-and-stitch-2025.md)
- *The Wild Robot* (2024), Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/the-wild-robot.md)
- *Once Upon a Studio* (2023), as Stitch (voice) (archive sound)
- *Puss in Boots: The Last Wish* (2022), Thanks
- *The Croods: Family Tree* (2021), series, Creator
- *The Croods: A New Age* (2020), as Belt (voice) · Characters, Story — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/the-croods-a-new-age.md)
- *The Call of the Wild* (2020), Director — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/film/the-call-of-the-wild.md)
- *How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World* (2019), Executive Producer — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/how-to-train-your-dragon-the-hidden-world.md)
- *The Boss Baby* (2017), Thanks — Fi1m 56, [page](https://film.one/film/the-boss-baby.md)
- *Dawn of the Croods* (2015), series, as Belt (voice), Additional Voices (voice)
- *Penguins of Madagascar* (2014), as Antarctic Penguin (voice) — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/film/penguins-of-madagascar.md)
- *How to Train Your Dragon 2* (2014), Executive Producer — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/how-to-train-your-dragon-2.md)
- *The Croods* (2013), as Belt (voice) · Director, Screenplay, Story — Fi1m 60, [page](https://film.one/film/the-croods.md)
- *DreamWorks Dragons* (2012), series, Creator
- *How to Train Your Dragon* (2010), Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/how-to-train-your-dragon-2010.md)
- *Stitch!* (2008), series, Creator
- *Leroy & Stitch* (2006), as Stitch / Leroy (voice) · Characters
- *The Origin of Stitch* (2005), as Stitch (voice) · Characters
- *Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch* (2005), as Stitch (voice) · Characters
- *The Lion King 1½* (2004), as Additional Voices  (voice)
- *The Story Room: The Making of 'Lilo & Stitch'* (2004), Director
- *Timon & Pumbaa Virtual Safari 2.0* (2004), as Experiment 626 / Stitch (voice) (archive footage)
- *Lilo & Stitch: The Series* (2003), series, as Stitch (voice) · Characters, Creator
- *Stitch! The Movie* (2003), as Stitch (voice) · Characters
- *Lilo & Stitch Read-Along* (2002), as Stitch (voice)
- *Lilo & Stitch* (2002), as Stitch (voice) · Director, Character Designer, Idea, Writer — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/lilo-and-stitch.md)
- *Tarzan* (1999), as Additional Voices (voice) — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/tarzan.md)
- *Mulan* (1998), Screenplay, Story Supervisor — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/mulan.md)
- *Agent Z and the Penguin from Mars* (1996), series, as Park Keeper
- *Toy Story* (1995), Character Designer — Fi1m 92, [page](https://film.one/film/toy-story.md)
- *The Lion King* (1994), Production Design, Story — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/the-lion-king.md)
- *Aladdin* (1992), Story — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/aladdin.md)
- *Beauty and the Beast* (1991), Story, Visual Development — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/beauty-and-the-beast.md)
- *The Rescuers Down Under* (1990), Storyboard, Visual Development
- *Garfield: His 9 Lives* (1988), as Other
- *Toby the Badly Animated Boy* (1984), Director
- *Fun with Father* (1983), Director, Writer, Animation
- *The Wild Robot Escapes*, Screenplay, Executive Producer

## Gallery

- !["The Croods" co-director and co-writer Chris Sanders at the 41st Annual Annie Awards. (2014)](https://film.one/media/person/8471/gallery-b3761ab1f9cb.jpg) "The Croods" co-director and co-writer Chris Sanders at the 41st Annual Annie Awards. (2014) — Voice Chasers, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/41st_Annie_Awards%2C_Chris_Sanders.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Chris Sanders, screenwriter and director of 'The Wild Robot', at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival](https://film.one/media/person/8471/gallery-23c72a44f924.jpg) Chris Sanders, screenwriter and director of 'The Wild Robot', at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival — John Sears, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Chris_Sanders_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Chris_Sanders_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Chris Sanders at the Golden Globe Awards (2014)](https://film.one/media/person/8471/gallery-4cc3377c1610.jpg) Chris Sanders at the Golden Globe Awards (2014) — Stan Oliver, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/Chris_Globes.jpg/1280px-Chris_Globes.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Chris Sanders, director of 'The Wild Robot', at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival](https://film.one/media/person/8471/gallery-097f56e3a5d1.jpg) Chris Sanders, director of 'The Wild Robot', at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival — John Sears, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/Chris_Sanders_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival.jpg/1280px-Chris_Sanders_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Chris Sanders](https://film.one/media/person/8471/gallery-45845f6301f8.jpg) Chris Sanders — Image via TMDB
- ![Chris Sanders](https://film.one/media/person/8471/gallery-2a2b4db77c57.jpg) Chris Sanders — Image via TMDB
- ![Chris Sanders](https://film.one/media/person/8471/gallery-6989bfe18acd.jpg) Chris Sanders — Image via TMDB
- ![Chris Sanders, screenwriter and director of 'The Wild Robot', at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival](https://film.one/media/person/8471/gallery-ab840a71aa7f.jpg) Chris Sanders, screenwriter and director of 'The Wild Robot', at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival — John Sears, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Chris_Sanders_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_2.jpg/1280px-Chris_Sanders_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_2.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Chris Sanders](https://film.one/media/person/8471/gallery-8cc802e55cd9.jpg) Chris Sanders — Pat Loika, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Chris_Sanders_2012.jpg/1280px-Chris_Sanders_2012.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 4 nominated

- 2025: Best Animated Feature (nominated), for *The Wild Robot*
- 2014: Best Animated Feature (nominated), for *The Croods*
- 2011: Best Animated Feature (nominated), for *How to Train Your Dragon*
- 2003: Best Animated Feature (nominated), for *Lilo & Stitch*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/chris-sanders