---
name: "Gary Trousdale"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/gary-trousdale"
fi1m_id: "gary-trousdale"
imdb_id: "nm0873779"
tmdb_id: 62047
wikidata_id: "Q1152051"
roles: ["Writer","Director"]
born: "8 June 1960"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 75
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-10-04T20:27:18.315883+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."
---

# Gary Trousdale

## Identity

Gary Trousdale

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/gary-trousdale
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** gary-trousdale
- **IMDb ID:** nm0873779
- **TMDB ID:** 62047
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1152051
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Trousdale, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1152051, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0873779/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/62047

Writer and director. Born 8 June 1960 in La Crescenta, California, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer, Director
- **Born:** 8 June 1960, La Crescenta, California, USA
- **Active:** 1988–1996
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 5: 2 directing, 3 writing
- **Frequently works with:** [Don Hahn](https://film.one/person/don-hahn.md), [Kirk Wise](https://film.one/person/kirk-wise.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 75, as writer, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 70 (2), 1990s 82 (3)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 75 to 66 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Animation 3, Family 3, Comedy 1, Drama 1, Fantasy 1
- **Screen time:** 4 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $1,096m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Trousdale, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1152051, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0873779/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/62047

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*Beauty and the Beast*](https://film.one/film/beauty-and-the-beast.md) (91), [*The Hunchback of Notre Dame*](https://film.one/film/the-hunchback-of-notre-dame.md) (70)

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

## Fi1m on Gary Trousdale

> Gary Trousdale’s gift, clearest in his partnership with Kirk Wise, is to keep character at the centre of animated spectacle. We rate their musical storytelling highly, though the eagerness to entertain can crowd out quieter feelings.

In *Beauty and the Beast* (1991), the castle can be busy with comedy without making us forget Belle. Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise keep their bookish heroine at the centre of the spectacle, while the songs reveal character and move the story along. We were moved by the romance because the singing and voice performances made its tenderness convincing. We recommend it just as readily to a household without children.

Trousdale’s background in effects animation and storyboarding helps explain that concern for a story we can follow through the pictures. His contribution to *The Lion King* (1994) was in story, not direction, so we would be careful about crediting him with the finished film’s achievements. Its expressive animation and voice performances give the family drama weight, even when the lessons become overbearing. It is worth including here as another reason to take his story work seriously, without pretending a shared credit tells us who thought of what.

The directing partnership with Wise continued through the darker material of *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* (1996) and then *Atlantis: The Lost Empire* (2001), their final Disney feature together. We find the most persuasive case for their work in the way *Beauty and the Beast* lets songs carry emotion. Our reservation is with the interruptions: the castle’s comic business sometimes breaks into a feeling that deserves longer. We wanted more time with the romance and less effort spent assuring us that nobody would get restless.

His move to DreamWorks Animation in 2003 shifted the work towards shorts and holiday specials, among them *The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper* (2005) and *Shrek the Halls* (2007). We would still send a newcomer to *Beauty and the Beast* first. Allow for a little comic overcrowding, and give the songs your attention rather than waiting for the talking to resume.

## Biography

Gary Trousdale is an American animator, director and storyboard artist. Born on 8 June 1960 in La Crescenta, California, he studied animation at the California Institute of the Arts before entering the industry.

He began at Walt Disney Feature Animation as an effects animator on *The Black Cauldron* (1985). Trousdale co-directed *Beauty and the Beast* (1991) with Kirk Wise; the film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. He contributed to the story of *The Lion King* (1994) and later co-directed *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* (1996) and *Atlantis: The Lost Empire* (2001) with Wise.

In 2003 Trousdale moved to DreamWorks Animation, where he directed the short *The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper* (2005) and the television specials *Shrek the Halls* (2007) and *Scared Shrekless* (2010).

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

## On Fi1m (5)

### Directed (2)

- *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* (1996), Fi1m 70, as The Old Heretic (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-hunchback-of-notre-dame.md)
- *Beauty and the Beast* (1991), Fi1m 91, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/beauty-and-the-beast.md)

### Wrote (3) — the average rests on these

- *The Lion King* (1994), Fi1m 84, Story — [page](https://film.one/film/the-lion-king.md)
- *The Little Mermaid* (1989), Fi1m 80, Storyboard — [page](https://film.one/film/the-little-mermaid-1989.md)
- *Oliver & Company* (1988), Fi1m 61, Story — [page](https://film.one/film/oliver-and-company.md)

## Complete filmography (21)

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

- *Rocky and Bullwinkle* (2014), Director
- *Shrek Stories* (2013), Screenplay
- *Dreamworks: Holiday Classics* (2012), Director
- *The Pig Who Cried Werewolf* (2011), Director, Writer
- *Thriller Night* (2011), Director
- *Shrek's Yule Log* (2010), as Santa Claus (voice)
- *Megamind* (2010), Thanks — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/megamind.md)
- *Scared Shrekless* (2010), Screenplay, Director
- *Shrek the Halls* (2007), as Santa (voice) · Director, Screenplay
- *Dreamworks 5 Holiday Classics Collection* (2005), series, Director, Writer
- *The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper* (2005), Director
- *DreamWorks 6 Spooky Stories Collection* (2003), series, Director, Writer, Creator
- *Atlantis: The Lost Empire* (2001), Director, Story
- *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* (1996), as The Old Heretic (voice) · Director — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/the-hunchback-of-notre-dame.md)
- *The Lion King* (1994), Story — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/the-lion-king.md)
- *Beauty and the Beast* (1991), Director — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/beauty-and-the-beast.md)
- *The Rescuers Down Under* (1990), Storyboard
- *The Little Mermaid* (1989), Storyboard — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/the-little-mermaid-1989.md)
- *Oliver & Company* (1988), Story — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/film/oliver-and-company.md)
- *Hoomania* (1985), Animation
- *Stanley, the Ugly Duckling* (1982), Animation

## Gallery

- ![Gary Trousdale](https://film.one/media/person/78830/gallery-7678146eaf1b.jpg) Gary Trousdale — Boungawa, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Gary_Trousdale.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Gary Trousdale](https://film.one/media/person/78830/gallery-43f8f1fb8396.jpg) Gary Trousdale — Image via TMDB
- ![Gary Trousdale](https://film.one/media/person/78830/gallery-e607ae5340d5.jpg) Gary Trousdale — Image via TMDB
- ![Gary Trousdale](https://film.one/media/person/78830/gallery-9ffe9fa8ae17.jpg) Gary Trousdale — Image via TMDB
- ![Gary Trousdale](https://film.one/media/person/78830/gallery-979b991d4165.jpg) Gary Trousdale — Image via TMDB
- ![Gary Trousdale](https://film.one/media/person/78830/gallery-e40505e0101b.jpg) Gary Trousdale — Image via TMDB

---
© 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/gary-trousdale