Ruben A. Aquino
Biography
Filipino-Japanese American character animator and supervising animator who formerly worked at Walt Disney Animation Studios. His work has included several Disney characters, including Simba as an adult in The Lion King, Chief Powhatan in Pocahontas, Maurice in Beauty and the Beast, Denahi in Brother Bear, Shang in Mulan, and Ursula in The Little Mermaid. In March 2013, it was announced that Aquino had been laid off, as well as 8 other animators who worked at the studio, including Nik Ranieri. His style is easily recognized by his powerful figures and his extremely geometric facial movements. -Wikipedia
Known For & Full Filmography2 Titles
Movie - 2009, 2h 15m • as Self (archive footage)
By the mid-1980s, the fabled animation studios of Walt Disney had fallen on hard times. The artists were polarized between newcomers hungry to innovate and old timers not yet ready to relinquish control. These conditions produced a series of box-office flops and pessimistic forecasts: maybe the best days of animation were over. Maybe the public didn't care. Only a miracle or a magic spell could produce a happy ending. Waking Sleeping Beauty is no fairy tale. It's the true story of how Disney regained its magic with a staggering output of hits - "Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast ," "Aladdin," "The Lion King," and more - over a 10-year period.
Movie - 2011, 2h 15m • as Self
A behind the scenes look into The Lion King and The Lion King Broadway production.