Chris Sanders

Chris Sanders Bio

Christopher Michael Sanders (born March 12, 1962) is an American filmmaker, animator, writer, storyboard artist, and voice actor. He is best known for co-writing and directing the animated films Lilo & Stitch (2002) and How to Train Your Dragon (2010) with Dean DeBlois, as well as The Croods (2013) with Kirk DeMicco. Sanders also made his live-action directorial debut with The Call of the Wild (2020) and later directed The Wild Robot (2024). He created the beloved Disney character Stitch in 1985 and has voiced the role across numerous official Disney productions.

Early Life and Background

Christopher Michael Sanders was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on March 12, 1962. From an early age, he showed a strong interest in comic strips and filmmaking, especially animation. He was the only one of his three siblings to borrow his father’s Super 8 film camera and, with his father’s encouragement toward drawing, began making his own comics.

His interest in animation grew once he discovered the camera’s single-frame capability, which let him capture movement one drawing at a time. Sanders attended Arvada High School in Arvada, Colorado, where he initially hoped to take art classes but was discouraged by an art teacher who replied that comics were not art. He later enrolled at the California Institute of the Arts, graduating in 1984 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

Path to Directing

Sanders began his professional career as a character designer on Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies. He then joined Walt Disney Animation Studios, where he worked as a lead storyboard artist on a string of landmark films, including Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Mulan. His roles at the studio expanded to include production designer and character designer, giving him a wide view of how animated features were built from the storyboard up.

During this period, in 1985, Sanders created an early version of a character he named Stitch for an unsuccessful children’s book pitch. Years later, when Disney was looking for a smaller, less expensive animated project, Sanders was invited by Thomas Schumacher to pitch his idea. He revived the Stitch character and set the story in Kauaʻi, leading to the development of Lilo & Stitch. That opportunity marked Sanders’s transition from supporting artist to feature-film director.

Chris Sanders Career

Early Career (1984–2001)

Sanders’s earliest years in the industry were spent as a storyboard artist, production designer, and character designer on some of Disney’s most celebrated Renaissance-era films. His visual storytelling shaped key sequences in Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Mulan, earning him a reputation as one of the studio’s most imaginative visual contributors.

His first notable achievement as a creator came with the 1985 creation of Stitch, a character he originally designed for a children’s book. Although the book was never published, the character remained in his portfolio for years. By the early 2000s, Sanders was ready to develop Stitch into a feature film, which led to his promotion to co-director alongside Dean DeBlois.

Breakthrough (2002–2013)

Sanders co-wrote and co-directed Lilo & Stitch (2002) with Dean DeBlois, marking his feature directorial debut. The film was a major commercial and critical success, spawning three sequel films, three television series, and an enduring franchise. Sanders voiced Stitch throughout the original 2002–2006 run and continued voicing the character in later Disney crossovers such as Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Kinect: Disneyland Adventures, and the Disney Infinity series.

In 2007, after departing Disney, Sanders joined DreamWorks Animation and took over direction on The Croods, which had previously been in co-production with Aardman Animations. The film was released on March 22, 2013, and co-directed with Kirk DeMicco, grossing more than $500 million worldwide. Sanders and DeMicco later developed a sequel for three and a half years before it was paused and ultimately reassigned.

On September 24, 2008, Sanders and DeBlois were announced as the screenwriters and directors of How to Train Your Dragon for DreamWorks Animation. Released on March 26, 2010, the film earned nearly $500 million globally and received Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Score at the 83rd Academy Awards. It also won ten Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature.

Notable Works and Milestones

Sanders’s signature works include Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon, The Croods, The Call of the Wild, and The Wild Robot. Across these films he earned multiple Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature and an Annie Award win for How to Train Your Dragon, establishing him as one of the most versatile director-animators of his generation.

Chris Sanders Award Nominations

Chris Sanders has received multiple Academy Award nominations for Best Animated Feature throughout his career, including for Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon, The Croods, and The Wild Robot. He was also nominated at the 83rd Academy Awards for Best Original Score as a credited creator on How to Train Your Dragon, alongside composer John Powell. In addition to Academy recognition, Sanders has been nominated across the Annie Awards, the Golden Globe Awards, and other major animation-industry ceremonies tied to his DreamWorks and Disney projects.

Chris Sanders Awards Won

Sanders’s most prominent win came when How to Train Your Dragon claimed ten Annie Awards in 2011, including Best Animated Feature, cementing the film’s place as one of the most honored animated releases of its year. He has also shared in other industry recognition tied to Lilo & Stitch, The Croods, and The Wild Robot, including festival honors and animation-craft awards. The table below summarizes the verified major wins associated with his directorial work.

Chris Sanders Family

Sanders married writer Jessica Steele-Sanders on May 18, 2015, on the Big Island of Hawaii. Together they wrote an illustrated novel titled Rescue Sirens: The Search for the Atavist (2015). He has a daughter named Nicole. Sanders filed for divorce in September 2023 citing irreconcilable differences, but he has since withdrawn the filing as of 2025.

Personal Life

Beyond his film work, Sanders previously drew the webcomic Kiskaloo, which follows a talking cat and a former Hollywood actor living with two Haida sisters. He continues to be recognized as the creator and longtime voice of Stitch, a role he has returned to for the live-action Lilo & Stitch remake released in 2025, which earned more than $1 billion worldwide. Sanders remains active in both animation and live-action development going forward.