Nicole P. Hearon

Nicole Hearon—now that’s a name you’ll find stamped on some of the biggest animation hits from the past couple decades. She’s the producer behind That Christmas, and honestly, if you’ve seen a Disney movie in the last 20 years, odds are her hands were somewhere in the magic. Back in the day, she kicked things off at Walt Disney Studios, right in the thick of feature animation. Not a bad place to get your start, right? She hustled her way up on Tangled as a Production Supervisor, wrangling all those Rapunzel hair physics (which, let’s be real, looked better than half the shampoo commercials out there). Then she dove headfirst into the icy madness of Frozen as Production Manager, helping Elsa belt her way into meme history. Moana? Yep, she’s there too, this time as Associate Producer—guiding that boat across the Pacific and making sure Maui’s tattoos were on point. And because she apparently doesn’t sleep, Nicole also kept things running for Frozen 2, again as Associate Producer. Oh, and if you caught the Emmy-nominated short Once Upon a Snowman—that’s right, she co-produced that little Olaf adventure too. The woman just can’t stay away from a good animated story. It’s clear Nicole’s got a soft spot for kids’ films, but it’s not just about bright colors and catchy songs. She’s been shaping the stories, the teams, and all the behind-the-scenes stuff that turns pixels into pop culture. Twenty-plus years in, and she’s still making movie magic.