Rom Clements

Ron Clements is the Oscar-nominated writer and director of such critically acclaimed animated films as The Little Mermaid (1989), Aladdin (1992), and 2009's The Princess and the Frog.

Clements spent most of his career at Disney, where he began training as an animator in the company's famed Talent Development Program. It was during this period that he learned the basics of 2D animation, which he later applied as an animator on The Rescuers and Pete's Dragon, released in 1977. Despite his successful career as an animator Clements' main ambition was always to direct, and in 1986 he co-directed his first feature film, The Great Mouse Detective, with David Michener, Bernie Martenson, and John Musker (the last of whom would become a lifelong collaborator).

Clements and Musker have written and directed several feature films over the course of their careers, including the timeless animated classics The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. Clements and Musker's careers hit a few roadblocks in the early 2000s as the industry's preference for animated films shifted toward computer-generated imagery, but in 2009 his and Musker's 2D animated film was a huge success.