Personal details
- Birth Date: 1962-03-12
- Height: 5′ 11″ (1.80 m)
- Birth Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
- Professions: Writer, Actor, Animation Department
Colorado kid, Chris Sanders, got bit by the animation bug early—like, ten years old early. Some folks get inspired by superheroes, but for Chris, it was those quirky Ward Kimball shorts on Disney’s Sunday night TV. He started sketching all the time, and honestly, if his grandma hadn’t tipped him off about CalArts’ animation program, who knows? Maybe he’d be doodling on napkins instead of making movie magic. He dove into character animation, graduated in ’84, and then jumped into comics—Marvel, to be exact. Yup, the same place with all the capes and cosmic weirdness. But he didn’t stick around long. Next stop: Muppet Babies. He helped shape those adorable, googly-eyed characters everyone remembers. Fast-forward a bit, and by ’87, Sanders is over at Disney, tackling visual development. His first real taste of the big leagues? Little bits on The Rescuers Down Under, but come on, the real fireworks started with Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. Those movies? Classics. He was right in the thick of it, helping Disney hit its animation stride in the ‘90s. Sanders didn’t just stick to designing, either—he started writing. Mulan? Yep, he had a hand in that. That led him to Lilo & Stitch, where he basically did it all: wrote, directed, and even voiced Stitch himself. After Disney, he made the jump to DreamWorks and co-created How to Train Your Dragon—dragons, Vikings, the works. Doesn’t matter what studio he’s at, the guy’s a creative hurricane—cel animation, CGI, whatever. You see his touch, you know it’s something special.
The whole Stitch voice thing? Total fluke. Chris Sanders, the guy who co-created Lilo & Stitch, never planned on voicing the little blue chaos-gremlin himself. Stitch was supposed to be silent, just doing his weird alien antics. But somewhere along the way, they figured, hey, let’s make this dude talk. Sanders hopped into the recording booth, probably just goofing around, and tossed out a few lines in that now-iconic, gravelly squeak. Honestly, the filmmakers got so attached to how hilariously odd it sounded that they couldn’t imagine anyone else pulling it off. So, bam—he’s the voice of Stitch. Talk about stumbling into a gig. Sometimes all it takes is being in the right place, making weird noises, and suddenly you’re a Disney legend. Not bad for a character who almost didn’t say a word.
March 12, 1962
5′ 11″ (1.80 m)
Konidela Ram Charan
Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
63 years old