---
name: "Sergio Pablos"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/sergio-pablos"
fi1m_id: "sergio-pablos"
imdb_id: "nm0655053"
tmdb_id: 124749
wikidata_id: "Q27870243"
roles: ["Writer","Producer","Director"]
born: "1 January 1970"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-10-01T21:12:23.340557+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."
---

# Sergio Pablos

## Identity

Sergio Pablos

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/sergio-pablos
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** sergio-pablos
- **IMDb ID:** nm0655053
- **TMDB ID:** 124749
- **Wikidata ID:** Q27870243
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Pablos, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q27870243, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0655053/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/124749

Writer and producer. Born 1 January 1970 in Madrid, Spain.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer, Producer, Director
- **Born:** 1 January 1970, Madrid, Spain
- **Active:** 1996–2019
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 4: 1 directing, 1 writing, 2 crew
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 70 (1), 2010s 72 (3)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Pablos, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q27870243, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0655053/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/124749

## Streaming the US now

- **Netflix:** [*Klaus*](https://film.one/film/klaus.md) (77)

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

## Fi1m on Sergio Pablos

> Sergio Pablos has good ideas about how familiar stories might begin, and a practical curiosity about hand-drawn animation. We recommend *Klaus* for both, though its character writing is less inventive than its account of Christmas customs.

In *Klaus* (2019), the postman has questionable reasons for doing good, while the surrounding community is busy feuding. Sergio Pablos makes that a promising starting point for a Christmas film: kindness will require some effort here. We were amused by the difficulty of finding someone fit to introduce a little festive goodwill. The pleasure comes from watching familiar customs take shape through unlikely causes. It is a good family film, provided the family can tolerate a fair amount of ill temper.

Pablos came to developing his own stories after animation work on features including *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* (1996) and *Tarzan* (1999). He devised the original story and characters for *Despicable Me* (2010), on which he was executive producer, and developed the concept behind *Smallfoot* (2018), again serving as executive producer. Those credits matter, but they do not make every decision in either finished film his. With *Klaus*, his directorial debut, he also wrote and produced, giving us a clearer sense of his own choices.

His interest in hand-drawn animation extends to changing how it is made. Pablos has developed lighting tools to give it some of the expressive freedom of computer animation while retaining the character of the drawings. The handsome results in *Klaus* reward that effort, even when the story settles into familiar lessons about becoming a better person. The film gives us good reason to want him to keep working with the technique.

The writing needs more attention. Pablos and fellow writers Jim Mahoney and Zach Lewis are resourceful about the beginnings of Santa's customs, but give some supporting characters too little beyond their unpleasantness. A questionable motive for generosity is interesting; another insult from someone we already know is disagreeable is less so. This is where the film's oddness stops helping, and the predictable redemption story becomes harder to overlook. Start with *Klaus*, provided a Christmas film full of quarrelling sounds tolerable.

## Biography

Sergio Pablos is a Spanish animator, director and screenwriter. He trained at the California Institute of the Arts and began his career as an animator at Walt Disney Feature Animation, contributing to films including *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* (1996), *Hercules* (1997), *Tarzan* (1999) and *Treasure Planet* (2002).

He later founded The SPA Studios in Madrid. Pablos created the original story for *Despicable Me* (2010) and *Smallfoot* (2018). He wrote, directed and produced *Klaus* (2019), Netflix’s first original animated feature, in which he also voiced Pumpkin and Olaf; the film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature.

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

## On Fi1m (4)

### Directed (1)

- *Klaus* (2019), Fi1m 77, as Pumpkin / Olaf (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/klaus.md)

### Wrote (1) — the average rests on these

- *Despicable Me* (2010), Fi1m 74, Original Story, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/despicable-me.md)

### Crew (2)

- *Titeuf* (2011), Fi1m 65, Animation Supervisor — [page](https://film.one/film/titeuf.md)
- *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* (1996), Fi1m 70, Character Designer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-hunchback-of-notre-dame.md)

## Complete filmography (17)

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

- *Dragonkeeper* (2024), as Visual Development
- *Klaus* (2019), as Pumpkin / Olaf (voice) · Screenplay, Original Story, Producer, Director, Storyboard Artist — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/klaus.md)
- *Smallfoot* (2018), Book, Writer, Executive Producer
- *Titeuf* (2011), Animation Supervisor — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/film/titeuf.md)
- *Rio* (2011), Character Designer — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/rio.md)
- *Despicable Me* (2010), Executive Producer, Original Story — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/despicable-me.md)
- *Alma* (2009), Character Designer
- *Nocturna* (2007), Animation Supervisor
- *Asterix and the Vikings* (2006), Animation Director
- *Tarzan II* (2005), Character Designer
- *Treasure Planet* (2002), Supervising Animator
- *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* (1996), Character Designer — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/the-hunchback-of-notre-dame.md)
- *Runaway Brain* (1995), Animation
- *A Goofy Movie* (1995), Character Designer, Animation
- *Once Upon a Forest* (1993), Lead Animator
- *Ex-tinct*, Story
- *Ember*, Story, Director, Screenplay

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 2020: Best Animated Feature (nominated), for *Klaus*

### Other awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- European Film Award for Best Animated Feature Film 2020: European Film Award for Best Animated Feature Film (nominated), for *Klaus*

*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/sergio-pablos