--- name: "Jason Hand" canonical: "https://film.one/person/jason-hand" fi1m_id: "jason-hand" imdb_id: "nm2911364" tmdb_id: 1461394 wikidata_id: "Q29000781" roles: ["Director","Writer"] reviewed_on_fi1m: 5 average_as: "director" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-10-21T04:26:43.119102+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." --- # Jason Hand ## Identity Jason Hand - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/jason-hand - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** jason-hand - **IMDb ID:** nm2911364 - **TMDB ID:** 1461394 - **Wikidata ID:** Q29000781 - **Same entity:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q29000781, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2911364/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1461394 Director and writer. ## Details - **Work:** Director, Writer - **Active:** 2009–present - **Also known as:** جايسون هاند - **Titles on Fi1m:** 5: 1 directing, 2 writing, 2 crew - **Frequently works with:** [Dana Ledoux Miller](https://film.one/person/dana-ledoux-miller.md), [Jared Bush](https://film.one/person/jared-bush.md), [Yvett Merino](https://film.one/person/yvett-merino.md) - **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 72 (1), 2010s 74 (2), 2020s 68 (2) - **Elsewhere:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q29000781, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2911364/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1461394 ## Coming up - *Hexed* (2026-11-25), Director — [page](https://film.one/film/hexed.md) ## Streaming the US now - **Disney+:** [*Moana 2*](https://film.one/film/moana-2.md) (55) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Jason Hand > We have more confidence in Jason Hand’s story work, particularly on *Encanto*, than in his directing. *Moana 2* is handsome and kindly, but it gives us little reason to care about its adventure. The water in *Moana 2* (2024) slops onto the deck and turns green with the light behind it. We can admire that for quite a while, though it becomes a problem when the sea holds our attention better than the danger. Ian Gooding’s production design gives the ocean its changing moods, while Hand shares the directing with David G. Derrick Jr. and Dana Ledoux Miller. That division of labour matters when considering what Hand brings to a film. The result is a kindly sequel that seldom makes its announced dangers feel real. Before directing, Hand worked in layout on *The Princess and the Frog* (2009), contributed story work to *Moana* (2016) and supervised storyboards on *Ralph Breaks the Internet* (2018). His approach remains drawing-led, developed through pitching and revision with a story team. By *Encanto* (2021), he was head of story, with work on the opening number, ‘The Family Madrigal’. That progression gives us a reason to look at how his films introduce people and prepare us for songs, rather than credit him with every attractive image. *Encanto* is the stronger reason to take him seriously. Directors Byron Howard and Jared Bush keep their attention on the Madrigals, whose magical gifts leave Mirabel unsure what she can contribute. We were moved by Mirabel’s uncertainty about her place in the family, because the film makes a child’s need to be useful feel painfully recognisable. The warmth and humour let that anxiety emerge without making the household merely cruel. Its eagerness to tidy up difficult feelings remains a fault, but there are feelings worth spending time with. *Moana 2* began as a television series before being reworked for cinemas, and its thin storytelling makes that history easy to believe. Jared Bush and Miller share the screenplay, while Auliʻi Cravalho gives Moana a little more weariness and sings with conviction the material rarely earns. Hand and his fellow directors keep the journey bright and good-natured, but the songs are forgettable and the peril carries little weight. For an evening with children, it will do. Start with *Encanto* for a better sense of what his story work can contribute. ## Biography Jason Hand is a director and former story artist at Walt Disney Animation Studios. He co-directed *Moana 2* (2024) with David G. Derrick Jr. and Dana Ledoux Miller. Hand attended the California Institute of the Arts. His earlier credits include head of story on *Encanto* (2021), story artist on *Zootopia* (2016) and the original *Moana* (2016), storyboard supervisor on *Ralph Breaks the Internet* (2018), and layout artist on films such as *The Princess and the Frog* (2009) and *Brother Bear 2* (2006). He has worked at the studio for over twenty years. He is also directing the forthcoming film *Hexed* (2026). *Sources: animationmagazine.net, imdb.com, 24700.calarts.edu.* ## On Fi1m (5) ### Directed (1) — the average rests on these - *Moana 2* (2024), Fi1m 55, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/moana-2.md) ### Wrote (2) - *Encanto* (2021), Fi1m 80, Head of Story, Story — [page](https://film.one/film/encanto.md) - *Zootopia* (2016), Fi1m 82, Story Artist — [page](https://film.one/film/zootopia.md) ### Crew (2) - *Ralph Breaks the Internet* (2018), Fi1m 66, Additional Writing — [page](https://film.one/film/ralph-breaks-the-internet.md) - *The Princess and the Frog* (2009), Fi1m 72, Layout — [page](https://film.one/film/the-princess-and-the-frog.md) ## Complete filmography (8) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Hexed* (2026), Director — coming soon, [page](https://film.one/film/hexed.md) - *Moana 2* (2024), Director — Fi1m 55, [page](https://film.one/film/moana-2.md) - *Encanto* (2021), Story, Head of Story — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/encanto.md) - *Ralph Breaks the Internet* (2018), as Additional Writing — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/film/ralph-breaks-the-internet.md) - *Zootopia* (2016), Story Artist — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/zootopia.md) - *Winnie the Pooh* (2011), as Layout - *The Princess and the Frog* (2009), as Layout — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/the-princess-and-the-frog.md) - *Brother Bear 2* (2006), as Layout --- © 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/jason-hand