Nik Ranieri

Born: Nik Ranieri
Birthday: August 23, 1961
Location: Toronto, ON, Canada
Alma mater: Sheridan College
Occupation: Animator, Director
Years active: 1987-2017

After graduation from Sheridan College, Nik Ranieri was hired by Atkinson Film-Arts animation production studio in Ottawa.

Nik’s first work animating for Disney was on the London-based animation crew of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” in 1987. He continued working for Disney, moving to their California feature animation studio where he animated for “The Little Mermaid” on Ursula the sea witch, under the tutelage of Ruben Aquino. For his next film, “The Rescuers Down Under,” Ranieri was elevated to supervising animator on the character of Wilbur.

In 1995, Nik won an Annie Award in the category ‘Individual Achievement in Character Animation’ for his animation of the raccoon Meeko in “Pocahontas.”

His animation of Hades in “Hercules” also won an Annie Award in the category ‘Individual Achievement in Character Animation’ In 1997.

Although Ranieri successfully made the switch to animating in CG on films such as “Chicken Little,” “Meet the Robinsons,” and “Bolt,” he returned to his traditional animation roots for Disney’s 2009 animated feature, “The Princess and the Frog.”

The Walt Disney Company, in a cost cutting measure, announced on April 6, 2013 that Ranieri and eight other animators had been laid off from Walt Disney Animation Studios. Nik picked up employment at Studio Roqovan, working on video games until the studio’s closure in 2019.

Ranieri won an Emmy award for Outstanding Individual Achievement In Animation in 2021 for his efforts as Lead Character Layout on The Simpsons episode “Wad Goals.”

The Author

Lavalle Lee

Lavalle Lee has been creating animated cartoons online since 1999/2000 for his website flashcartoons.org. Many cartoons on the site have gained viral video status reaching millions of viewers online. In 2009, Lavalle started learning hand drawn animation from Don Bluth in his animation classes, as well as attending his Masterclasses in Arizona. He has also personally studied animation and visual effects from Veteran Disney animators in Orlando, FL.

Lavalle is widely known in the animation industry as the creator of the TraditionalAnimation.com website. After seeing that most animation sites were about all types of animation, not any specific to classical hand drawn animation, Lavalle knew Traditional Animation needed to be represented online. TraditionalAnimation.com has become the leading website and social media account for all things 2D. The website served as inspiration for “The Traditional Animation Show” in which Lavalle was both producer and host.

His partnership with Don Bluth began when he championed the Dragon's Lair Indiegogo campaign as lead project manager, editor, voice actor and in-betweener. The campaign reached $730,000 dollars to produce a 7-minute pitch video. In 2017, Lavalle brought the idea of creating a school to Don Bluth, and Don Bluth University was born. After a decade of learning from Don Bluth and working together on multiple pitches and business ventures, Lavalle accepted the position as Vice President of Don Bluth's new company Don Bluth Studios.