Photo: © Walt Disney Pictures
In 1986, Clements made his debut in Disney's animation THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE (1986), in which he worked closely with fellow writer and director John Musker. This project was the first in a series of successful partnerships between Musker and Clements. Subsequent animated features which Disney's acclaimed filmmaking duo worked on -- THE LITTLE MERMAID (1989), ALADDIN (1992) and HERCULES (1997) -- were all well-received, especially THE LITTLE MERMAID, which won an Academy Award® for best song and original score, while ALADDIN brought box-office takings of US$486 million (S$856 million) for Disney.
Clements' interest in animated features began when he was 10, after watching PINOCCHIO (1940). As a teenager, he worked as a part-time artist at a television station, animating commercials at the local market of Sioux City, Iowa, where he was born and bred. One of his works, "Shades Of Sherlock Homes," helped him get a job in Disney. Whilst waiting for job openings at Disney, Clements had spent several months working for Hanna-Barbera and, at the same time, studied life drawing at Art Centre.
Although TREASURE PLANET (2002) is Ron Clements' most ambitious project, it was actually one of the earliest concepts he pitched to the Disney bosses 17 years ago. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because the long-overdue approval gave him the advantage of using today's computer technology to present the sci-fi story. TREASURE PLANET is a breakthrough for Disney as its production was a combination of the movie giant's traditional hand-drawn 2D graphics and the latest 3D computer graphics. Together with his long-time directing partner Musker, Clements was able to take on the challenge of controlling computer-generated cameras -- just like his screen counterparts in TREASURE PLANET.
Musker and Clements' current project is Disney's THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, scheduled for release in 2009.
Nominated for Achievement in Animated Feature Films 2002: TREASURE PLANET - Producer
1 nomination