Chris Wedge
A visionary animator who co-founded Blue Sky Studios and brought the prehistoric, nut-obsessed Scrat to unforgettable life.
Born 1957 (age 69)·American filmmaker·Birthday: March 20·Baby Boomers
Biography
Chris Wedge didn't just direct animated films; he helped build an entire studio and its signature aesthetic. A graduate of the State University of New York at Purchase and Ohio State, his early technical prowess was showcased on the groundbreaking film Tron. But his true passion lay in character and story. In 1987, he co-founded Blue Sky Studios, where he championed a specific, refined style of CGI animation. His directorial breakthrough was the Oscar-winning short Bunny, a melancholic and technically stunning tale of an elderly rabbit. That success led to Ice Age, a blockbuster that defined Blue Sky's voice—irreverent, heartwarming, and visually lush. As the director and voice of the eternally frustrated Scrat, Wedge created one of animation's most enduringly comic characters, ensuring the franchise's massive appeal.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Chris was born in 1957, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Chris Was Born
The biggest hits of 1957
#1 Movie
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Best Picture
The Bridge on the River Kwai
#1 TV Show
Gunsmoke
Chris's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1957Born
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1962Started school
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1970Became a teenager
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1973Could drive
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1975Could vote
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1978Turned 21
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1987Turned 30
Black Monday stock market crash
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $72,400Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Walk Like an Egyptian" — The BanglesBest Picture: The Last Emperor
1997Turned 40
Princess Diana dies in Paris car crash; Harry Potter published
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $104,100Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Candle in the Wind 1997" — Elton JohnBest Picture: Titanic
2007Turned 50
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
2017Turned 60
#MeToo movement; solar eclipse crosses the US
Gas: $2.42/galHome: $195,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Shape of You" — Ed SheeranBest Picture: The Shape of Water
2026Age 69 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Co-founded the influential animation studio Blue Sky Studios in 1987.
- Won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Bunny in 1999.
- Directed the commercially and critically successful franchise-launcher Ice Age in 2002.
- Served as the voice actor for Scrat, the saber-toothed squirrel, throughout the Ice Age film series.
- Was the lead animator on the pioneering 1982 live-action/CGI film Tron.
Did You Know?
He provided the voice for the robotic dog, Sparky, in the 1999 short film The Adventures of André and Wally B.
He studied animation at Ohio State University, which had a pioneering computer graphics research group.
The character Scrat's name is a portmanteau of 'squirrel' and 'rat'.
Before Blue Sky, he worked for the visual effects company MAGI, one of the vendors on Tron.
“Animation is about giving a soul to a pile of pixels.”
