John Christian Wedge is an American animated film director, producer, writer, cartoonist and voice actor, whose films include Ice Age, Robots, Epic and Monster Trucks. He is a co-founder of the animation studioBlue Sky Studios and voiced the character Scrat in the Ice Age franchise.
Early life
Wedge was born in Binghamton, New York. He became interested in animation when he was 12 years old: "Back then, there was a TV special about kids making cut-out animation in a workshop—as I recall it was Yellow Ball Workshop—it was a clear technique to follow and I followed it. That fascinated me and it got me started. It was so simple, effective and magical in outcome and I stuck with creating things throughout my childhood, teenage years and then college." He attended Fayetteville-Manlius High School, graduating in 1975. He received his BFA in Film from State University of New York at Purchase in Purchase, New York in 1981, and subsequently earned his MA in computer graphics and art education at the Ohio State University. He has taught animation at the School of Visual Arts in New York City where he met his future film directing partner, Carlos Saldanha.
Career
In 1982, Wedge worked for MAGI/SynthaVision, where he was a principal animator on the Disney filmTron, credited as a scene programmer. Some of his other works include Where the Wild Things Are, George Shrinks, The Brave Little Toaster, and Santa Calls. Wedge is co-founder and Vice President of Creative Development at Blue Sky Studios, one of the premier computer animation studios and producer of Wedge's films. He is the owner of WedgeWorks, a film production company founded by Wedge. In the 1990s, he and his studio worked on CGI effects for the movies Alien Resurrection and Titan A.E. In 1998, he won an Academy Award for the short animated film, Bunny. In 2002, Wedge directed Blue Sky Studios' first computer-animated film Ice Age and served as a producer for its sequels. He also voiced Scrat in the film series, performing the character's "squeaks and squeals." In 2005, Wedge directed Robots, based on a story he created with William Joyce. In 2013 followed Epic, loosely based on Joyce's book, The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs. In 2007, it was announced that Wedge would direct Hugo though he was subsequently replaced by Martin Scorsese. In 2009, it was reported that Wedge would direct an animated feature film adaptation of Will Wright's Spore, but since then there has been no further news about the film. Wedge directed the science fiction/action film Monster Trucks, with a $100 million budget, and starring Lucas Till and Jane Levy. Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger wrote the script for the film, produced by Mary Parent.
Personal life
Wedge lives in Katonah, New York with his wife Jeanne Markel. They have a daughter and a son, Sarah and Jack.
