Introduction
Kyle Balda is an American animator and film director, best known for co-directing the animated films The Lorax (2012), with Chris Renaud, and Minions (2015), with Pierre Coffin. He has also worked as animator on several films including Jumanji, Toy Story 2, and Despicable Me. He has worked for Pixar for years and now he is working for Illumination Entertainment.
Early life
Balda was born in Tucson, Arizona, to a Maltese mother. He [graduated] from California Institute of the Arts in the early 1990s and [dropped out] after two years for a job he was offered. Balda is currently living in Paris.
Career
He started his career as an animator by working at Industrial Light & Magic, in the films including 1994's The Mask as graphics animator, 1995's Jumanji as animation supervisor, and in 1996's Mars Attacks! as character animator. He also worked at Weta Digital once in New Zealand, on the 1996 film The Frighteners, he animated the Grim Reaper for the film. Later Balda started working at Pixar, and his works included 1998's A Bug's Life as an additional animator, 1999's Toy Story 2 as the directing animator, and 2001's Monsters, Inc. as animator. In 2010, he joined the Illumination Entertainment in Paris, and worked in the 2010s Despicable Me as the head of layout. Balda has also directed several short films and lectured at different animation schools.
In 2012, Balda co-directed the Illumination's animated film The Lorax along with Chris Renaud, starring Danny DeVito, Zac Efron, Ed Helms, and Taylor Swift. The film was released domestically on March 2, 2012 by Universal Pictures and grossed over $348 million with a budget of $70 million.
In 2015, Balda directed another Illumination animated film, Minions, along with Pierre Coffin. The film's voice cast included Coffin, Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, and Michael Keaton. The film was released domestically on July 10, 2015 by Universal and has grossed over $1.1 billion.
Filmography
As animator
- The Mask (1994) – Graphics animator
- Jumanji (1995) – Animation supervisor
- Mars Attacks! (1996) – Character animator
- The Frighteners (1996) – Character animator
- A Bug's Life (1998) – Additional animator
- Toy Story 2 (1999) – Directing animator
- Monsters, Inc. (2001) – Animator
- Despicable Me (2010) – Layout supervisor
As director
- The Lorax (2012) – Co-director
- Minions (2015) – Director
- Despicable Me 3 (2017) – Director