Jared Bush
Birthdate: Jun 12, 1974
Birthplace: Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA
Jared Bush (birthname: Jared Earl Bush) played a major role in the development of Walt Disney Animation Studios starting in 2014, when he was on the production staff for Big Hero 6 (2014), co-directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams, and which grossed nearly $658 million worldwide. Bush was co-director (with Byron Howard and Rich Moore), co-screenwriter (with Phil Johnston) and one of seven story writers of the original Disney animated comedy, Zootopia (2016), co-starring the voices of Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman, with Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence, Bonnie Hunt, Tommy Chong, J.K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer, Alan Tudyk and Shakira, delivering a huge $1.02 billion global return.
Bush was the sole screenwriter of Disney Animation Studios’ next hit, Moana (2016), starring the voices of Dwayne Johnson and Auli’i Cravalho under the direction of John Musker and Ron Clements, and grossing over $687 million. Bush served on the creative production teams for Disney’s Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) and Frozen 2 (2019), as well as on Raya and the Last Dragon (2021), on which he also received an executive producer credit.
Jared Bush was both co-director (with Byron Howard), co-screenwriter (with Charise Castro Smith), co-story writer (with Howard, Smith, songs writer Lin-Manuel Miranda, Nancy Kruse and Jason Hand) and an executive producer of the original animated musical fantasy, Encanto (2021), co-starring the voices of Stephanie Beatriz, Maria Cecilia Botero, John Leguizamo, Mauro Castillo, Jessica Darrow and Wilmer Valderrama, earning over $261 million at the global box office and winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
Bush joined the creative staffs behind Disney’s next major animated features, Strange World (2022) and Wish (2023), and then joined with co-writer Dana Ledoux Miller (who also co-directed with David Derrick Jr. and Hand) to write the screenplay as well as the story (co-written with Miller and Bek Smith) for the sequel, Moana 2 (2024), far exceeding the original’s box office with a stellar return of $1.06 billion.
Bush was co-director (with Byron Howard) and sole writer of another sequel to one of his original Disney animated features, Zootopia 2 (2025), reuniting co-starring voice actors Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman with new cast mate Ke Huy Quan, and with Andy Samberg, Idris Elba, Shakira, Patrick Warburton, and Quinta Brunson. Bush was co-writer (with Dana Ledoux Miller) of the musical live-action version of his original screenplay for Moana (2026), starring Dwayne Johnson (re-creating his role for the camera), Catherine Laga’aia, John Tui, Frankie Adam, and Rena Owen, under the direction of Thomas Kail.
Jared Bush was appointed Chief Creative Officer of Disney Animation in September 2024, succeeding Jennifer Lee.
Personal life
Jared Bush was born and raised in Gaithersburg, Maryland, by his parents. Bush attended and graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Bush is married to Pamela McDonald; the couple has three children.
Known For
Jared Bush Movies
director
Previous (3)
- 2025 |
Zootopia 2
Brave rabbit cop Judy Hopps and her friend, the fox Nick Wilde, team up again to crack a new case, the most perilous and intricate of their careers.
- 2021 |
- 2016 |
actor
Previous (1)
Facts About Jared Bush
Spook Roots: Jared Bush’s father and grandfather both worked for the Central Intelligence Agency.
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