Chris Wedge ’81

Chris Wedge ’81 was honored by Purchase College with a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2009. As co-founder  of the former Blue Sky Studios, Wedge was the driving force behind the rise of its prominence as one of the most respected computer animation studios in the world.

He started his career in computer animation at MAGI/Synthavision, where he animated key sequences for the 1982 cult classic, TRON. Wedge also holds an MA in Computer Graphics/Art Education from Ohio State University’s Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design. He wrote and directed Blue Sky’s first film, Bunny, which won more than 25 international awards for animation excellence, including an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1998.

Wedge went on to direct Blue Sky’s first two computer-animated feature films, Ice Age (nominated for an Oscar® in the category Best Animated Feature Film) and Robots. He was executive producer of Ice Age: The Meltdown, Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!, and the global hits Rio, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and Ice Age: Continental Drift. He directed Epic, which was released in 2013. He recently completed his first live action/hybrid film Monster Trucks, released in 2017.

A long-time supporter of the college, Wedge and his wife, Jeanne Markel ’81 (visual arts), donated a major gift to the School of Film and Media Studies in 2017. Their generous donation is helping to fund the renovation of the film sound stage in the music building.

The gift honors Wedge’s fondness for Purchase—a place he credits for helping to build the foundation for his enormously successful career.

Wedge is currently working on a new animated project, Foo, for Annapurna Animation.

Blue Sky Studios, previously a subsidiary of 20th Century Animation, was acquired by the Walt Disney Company as part of its acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets in 2019. Disney closed down Blue Sky in April 2021.