Rich Moore
Biography
Biography
Emmy-winning producer-director Rich Moore worked on some of the most popular animated television series of the late 20th century, including "The Simpsons" (Fox, 1989- ) and "Futurama" (Fox/Comedy Central, 1999-2003, 2008-2013) before joining Pixar to direct their 2012 summer hit, "Wreck-It Ralph." Raised in Oxnard, CA, Moore graduated from the California Institute of the Arts' Character Animation Program, which also served as the training ground for Pixar director Andrew Stanton, future director of "Wall-E" (2008). While there, he served as narrator for a satirical short called "Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown" (1988), a student project by Jim Reardon, who later joined him on "The Simpsons" as an animator director and storyboard consultant before sharing a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination with Stanton on "Wall-E." Moore then served as animator on a variety of daytime and primetime series, from Brad Bird's acclaimed "Family Dog" episode on "Amazing Stories" (NBC, 1985-87) to cult animation hero Ralph Bakshi's "Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures" (NBC, 1987-89, 1992). In 1989, he joined the staff of "The Simpsons" as a storyboard artist and character designer before moving up to director on eight episodes between 1990 and 1993, which netted him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Animated Programming in 1991.
Moore then served as producer and director on "The Critic" (ABC/Fox, 1994-95, 2000-01) before reteaming with "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening on "Futurama" at Rough Draft Studios. As director and producer for the sci-fi satire, he won his second Emmy, as well as an Annie Award in 2003. Moore then briefly served as director on episodes of the bawdy "Drawn Together" (Comedy Central, 2004-07) and supervising director on "The Simpsons Movie" (2008) before signing with Pixar shortly after its merger with Disney. His first assignment as director for the studio was "Wreck-It Ralph," which had been gestating at Disney since the late 1980s. In addition to serving as director, Moore also provided voices for two characters - a henchman to King Candy (voiced by Alan Tudyk), ruler of the film's faux kart-racing game, "Sugar Rush," as well as Zangief, the Russian brawler from the real-life "Street Fighter" (Capcom, 1987) video game series .The feature, inspired by classic arcade games, was met with mostly favorable reviews upon its release in the summer of 2012, which prompted word of a sequel with Moore at the helm.
By Paul Gaita
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Visual Effects (Feature Film)
Animation (Feature Film)
Art Department (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Art Department (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1989
Began animating for Fox series "The Simpsons"
1990
Made TV directorial debut on "The Simpsons" episode "The Telltale Head"
1993
Made acting debut in "Inland Empire"
1994
Produced animated series "The Critic" (ABC, Fox)
1999
Directed episodes of Fox animated program "Futurama"
2012
Made feature directorial debut with Disney's "Wreck-It Ralph"; also wrote story
