Nathan Greno

Nathan Greno (born March 22, 1975) is an American film director, story artist, and writer best known as the co-director of Walt Disney Animation Studios' film, Tangled (2010).

Nathan Greno
Born	(1975-03-22) March 22, 1975 (age 49)[1][2] Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S.[2]
Alma mater	Columbus College of Art and Design
Occupation(s)	Director, story artist, writer
Employers	Walt Disney Animation Studios (1998–2018) Skydance Animation (2018–present)
Notable work	Tangled

Inspired by Disney films since the first grade, Greno started as a young boy writing and drawing comic books and strips.^[2] In 1996, during his junior year at Columbus College of Art and Design, he was hired by Walt Disney Feature Animation.^[2] He started there as an animation clean-up artist on Mulan (1998).^[2] Being creatively unfulfilled, he switched to story development.^[2] He then contributed as a story artist on Brother Bear (2003), wrote a screenplay and worked as a story artist on Meet the Robinsons (2007), and supervised the story on Bolt (2008).^[2] With the short film Super Rhino (2009), he made his directorial debut.^[2] In 2006, he took over a long-in-development project Tangled, based on the fairy tale Rapunzel and chose Byron Howard, with whom he had collaborated on Bolt and Super Rhino, as a directing partner.^[3] The film was released in 2010 to a great critical and financial reception, and was followed in 2012 by Greno and Howard-directed short film Tangled Ever After.

Greno had most recently been directing an animated film titled Gigantic. Loosely based on the fairy tale of Jack and the Beanstalk, it was scheduled for a 2020 release. However, in October 2017, it was announced that the film had been shelved.^[4][5] In February 2018, it was announced that Greno had signed a multi-year contract with Skydance Media to write and direct an animated film titled Pookoo, as well as consult on projects in development.^[6]

Filmography

Films

Year	Film	Credited as
		Director	Writer	Head of Story	Creative Advisor	Story Artist	Other	Voice	Notes
1998	Mulan	No	No	No	No	No	Yes		Breakdown Animator: Mushu
2003	Brother Bear	No	Story	No	No	No	No
2005	Chicken Little	No	No	No	No	Additional	No
2007	Meet the Robinsons	No	Screenplay	No	No	Yes	Yes	Lefty
2008	Bolt	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Additional Voices
2009	The Princess and the Frog	No	No	No	No	No	No		Disney Story Trust - uncredited [7]
2010	Tangled	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Guard 1/Thug 1
2011	Winnie the Pooh	No	No	No	No	No	No
2012	Wreck-It Ralph	No	No	No	No	No	No
2013	Frozen	No	No	No	No	Additional	No
2014	Big Hero 6	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes		Creative Leadership
2016	Zootopia	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
	Moana	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
2025	Pookoo	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No		[8]

Shorts and TV specials

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Story Artist	Other	Voice
2000	John Henry	No	No	Yes	No
2009	Super Rhino	Yes	Yes	No	No
	Prep & Landing	No	No	No	Yes	Dasher
2012	Tangled Ever After	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Guard/Maximus/Stabbington Brothers
2021	Blush	No	No	Yes	No

Cancelled feature film projects

Cancelled Year of Release	Title	Director
2016,[9] 2018,[10] 2020[11]	Gigantic	Yes

References

1. Happenings, April 7, 2011
2. Grossberg, Michael (September 16, 2012). "Hollywood studios brimming with talent honed in Columbus". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
3. Desowitz, Bill (November 19, 2010). "Nathan Greno & Byron Howard Talk 'Tangled'". Animation World Network. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
4. Khatchatourian, Maane (August 14, 2015). "Disney Announces Jack and the Beanstalk Animated Movie 'Gigantic'". Variety. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
5. Kit, Borys (October 10, 2017). "Disney Shelves 'Jack and the Beanstalk' Film 'Gigantic' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
6. Busch, Anita (February 22, 2018). "Skydance Media Taps 'Tangled's Nathan Greno In Multiyear Deal, Will Direct 'Powerless'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
7. Goldman, Eric (February 18, 2016). "How Disney's Story Trust Helped Change Big Hero 6, Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph and More". IGN. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
8. "Netflix Sets Skydance Animation In Multi-Year Deal, First Up Is Alan Menken Musical 'Spellbound;' Rachel Zegler, Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem Star". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. October 18, 2023. Retrieved October 18, 2023. That will be followed by Pookoo in 2025.
9. Hunter, Honor (September 10, 2013). "Giant Steps..." Blue Sky Disney. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
10. Holmes, Adam (October 3, 2016). "Disney's Jack And The Beanstalk Movie Just Hired Someone Over From Pixar". Cinemablend. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
11. Sciretta, Peter (October 10, 2017). "'Gigantic' Canceled By Disney Animation". /Film. Retrieved April 5, 2021.

External links

• Nathan Greno at IMDb