---
name: "Don Hall"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/don-hall"
roles: ["Director","Writer"]
born: "8 March 1969"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 71
updated: "2026-09-17T07:03:11.972577+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."
---

# Don Hall

Director and writer. Born 8 March 1969 in Glenwood, Iowa, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Writer
- **Born:** 8 March 1969, Glenwood, Iowa, USA
- **Active:** 2000–present
- **Also known as:** Donald Lee Hall
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 80 (1), 2010s 77 (2), 2020s 49 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18921842, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2320658/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/227439

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*Big Hero 6*](https://film.one/film/big-hero-6.md) (72)

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

## Fi1m on Don Hall

> Don Hall is most persuasive when animated adventure makes room for ordinary care. We rate the warmth and comic precision of his character work, though *Big Hero 6* also shows how readily a superhero plot can crowd it out.

Baymax is an inflatable medical robot whose job is to look after people, and that is enough to make him interesting. In *Big Hero 6* (2014), Don Hall and Chris Williams understand how much comedy and tenderness they can get from putting him beside a grieving fourteen-year-old boy. We were moved by their bond because the robot keeps caring without making the film solemn. Hall is worth watching for that warmth and comic precision, even when the adventure settles for familiar business.

The care in those scenes fits his way of developing films: repeated storyboarding, with voice work brought in early. It is a sensible method for a director whose strongest material here depends on how two characters respond to each other. His first feature as director, *Winnie the Pooh* (2011), was made with Stephen J. Anderson, and he later co-directed *Moana* (2016) with John Musker and Ron Clements. Those shared credits matter: we should be cautious about crediting Hall alone for what reaches the screen.

*Big Hero 6* is also where our reservation becomes clear. Hall and Williams discard most of the Marvel comic beyond its names, yet the superhero story they build is less distinctive than the boy and his nurse. The team, armour and masked villain make the film busier without giving it more to say about the boy. We recommend it, but its warm, precise first hour gives way to a film that could have been made almost anywhere.

With *Raya and the Last Dragon* (2021), his interest in mixing cultural influences extended to a story drawing on Southeast Asia. He followed it with *Strange World* (2022), then left Disney Animation in 2024 to develop and produce an original animated feature at Skydance Animation. We hope he keeps trusting characters as uncomplicated as Baymax; there is plenty to do with someone who wants to help. Start with *Big Hero 6*, with some patience reserved for the superhero business.

## Biography

Don Hall (born Donald Lee Hall) is an American animation film director, screenwriter and voice actor. He graduated from the University of Iowa with a bachelor of fine arts degree in drawing and painting, and joined Walt Disney Animation Studios in 1995, where he worked on numerous features in story and other roles before directing.

Hall co-directed *Winnie the Pooh* (2011) and directed *Big Hero 6* (2014), for which he shared an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He co-directed *Moana* (2016) and later directed *Raya and the Last Dragon* (2021) and *Strange World* (2022). In 2024 he joined Skydance Animation to develop and produce an original animated feature.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

- *Wish* (2023), Fi1m 49, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/wish.md)
- *Moana* (2016), Fi1m 82, Story — [page](https://film.one/film/moana.md)
- *Big Hero 6* (2014), Fi1m 72, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/big-hero-6.md)
- *The Emperor's New Groove* (2000), Fi1m 80, Story Artist — [page](https://film.one/film/the-emperors-new-groove.md)

## Also known for

- *Tarzan* (1999), Story
- *Raya and the Last Dragon* (2021), Director, Story
- *The Princess and the Frog* (2009), Story Supervisor
- *Meet the Robinsons* (2007), Screenplay
- *Strange World* (2022), Director
- *Winnie the Pooh* (2011), Director, Story
- *Gone Fishing* (2017), Co-Director

---
© 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/don-hall