Tony Bancroft has spent the past 16 years honing his skills as an Animator/Director at Walt Disney Feature Animation, Sony Imageworks, and currently at Toonacious Family Entertainment, his own animation studio.
Tony's journey began when he was accepted into the prestigious California Institute of the Arts (Cal-Arts) after graduating from high school in 1987. During his time at Cal-Arts, his work caught the attention of Walt Disney Studios, and he was offered a position in the Feature Animation division in 1989.
Tony's impressive work on feature-length productions such as "The Rescuers Down Under", "Beauty and the Beast", and "Aladdin" led to his appointment as Supervising Animator on the 1992 Academy Award-winning feature "The Lion King". He was responsible for creating, designing, and overseeing the animation of Pumbaa, the warthog.
At the age of 30, Tony was given the opportunity to co-direct Disney's 36th animation masterpiece, "Mulan". The 1998 release grossed over $300 million worldwide and earned Tony an Annie Award for Best Director, the animation industry's highest honor. He was also the Supervising Animator of the character Kronk in Disney's Christmas 2000 release of "The Emperor's New Groove".
Tony's extensive experience in the animation industry also led to his role as Animation Director for Sony Pictures' summer 2002 release, "Stuart Little 2", and as voice director of the English language version of the Miyasaki film "Porco Rosso" through Walt Disney Studios in 2003.
In 2001, Tony co-founded Toonacious Family Entertainment, along with his two partners, as Executive VP/Creative Production. Leveraging his 16 years of experience in the animation industry, Tony has helped Toonacious become an animation studio committed to producing high-quality family entertainment.
In addition to developing their own projects, Toonacious has successfully completed Disney's "Thumper's Story-time", a Lilo and Stitch short, "The Origin of Stitch", and is currently involved with Disney's direct-to-DVD "Tinkerbell" project.
Tony resides in Burbank, California with his wife, Rene, and their three children.
