Chris Wedge

Chris Wedge studied film at the State University of New York at Purchase, earning a BFA, and later studied computer graphics and art education at the Ohio State University, earning an MA. Early in his career, he showed off his skills as a scene programmer on the 1982 Disney sci-fi classic, "Tron." He subsequently worked primarily as a director of animated shorts and feature films, writing and helming the 1999 animated short "Bunny," a surreal and touching look at death as a transformation. The animation was courtesy of Blue Sky Studios, which Wedge co-founded. The effort paid off, both with an Academy Award (Best Short Film, Animated) and a tremendous amount of industry credibility. The studio has created special effects for a handful of major titles, such as the critically acclaimed martial arts film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and, more importantly, has produced Wedge's feature films, including the extremely popular "Ice Age" prehistoric franchise (and its many spinoffs). Wedge's acting credits consist almost solely of voicing Scrat, a scrawny character from the "Ice Age" films--the job consists of little more than grunting and squeaking, and task that he's undertaken numerous times, including in the 2012 sequel "Ice Age: Continental Drift." Aside from the original "Ice Age," Wedge's feature directorial work includes the 2005 metal-filled comedy "Robots," and he spent years developing the fittingly named fantasy "Epic."