Phil Nibbelink is an American animator and film director as well as comic book writer and illustrator known for his work on films as the Academy Award-winning Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the 1991 cult animated sequel An American Tail: Fievel Goes West.
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Career
Nibbelink worked for ten years at Disney and was a directing animator on Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Then he spent ten years working under Steven Spielberg as an animation director, working on films such as An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (which he co-directed with Simon Wells) and Casper as animation director. He also directed an animated adaptation of the children's book We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story for Amblimation. He was originally scheduled to co-direct Balto with Wells, but production on We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story was incomplete, so Wells advised Nibbelink to continue working on We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story, while he set to work on Balto. Afterwards, Nibbelink began working with Dick and Ralph Zondag (with whom he and Wells had co-directed We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story) on the upcoming movie, Cats, until it was cancelled after Amblimation's founder and owner, Steven Spielberg, closed the studio in 1997 and co-founded DreamWorks Animation.
Later works
Nibbelink later turned his attention to independent filmmaking, producing three full-length animated features single-handedly. These films included Puss in Boots (1999) and Romeo & Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss (2006). He is the founder and owner of his company, Phil Nibbelink Productions. His most recent project is as storyboard artist on Wolverine and the X-Men.
Filmography
The Swan Princess: Far Longer Than Forever (2023) (storyboard artist, set designer)
The Swan Princess: A Fairy Tale is Born (2023) (set designer)
Marmaduke (2022) (co-director, animation director, storyboard artist, additional writing, songwriter)
Michael Jackson's Halloween (2017) (storyboard artist)
Animal Crackers (2017) (storyboard artist)
The Further Adventures of Thunderbolt (2015) (animator)
Wolverine and the X-Men (2008–2009) (storyboard artist)
Romeo & Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss (2006) (voice of Prince, director, producer, writer, editor, animator, background artist, songwriter)
Leif Ericson: The Boy Who Discovered America (2000) (director, writer, editor, animator, background artist)
Puss in Boots (1999) (director, writer, editor, animator, background artist, songwriter)
Boogie Woogie Whale Sing-Along (1997) (director, writer, animator)
Casper (1995) (animation director)
We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993) (director)
The Magic Voyage (1992) (animation director, key animator, storyboard artist)
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991) (director)
