Steve Martino

Stephen Michael "Steve" Martino[2] (born July 21, 1959)[2] is an American director and designer, best known for directing the films Horton Hears a Who! (2008), Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) and The Peanuts Movie (2015).

Steve Martino
Martino at the 2015 Annecy International Animated Film Festival
Born	Stephen Michael Martino July 21, 1959 Dayton, Ohio[1]
Alma mater	Ohio State University
Occupation	Film director, designer
Employer	Blue Sky Studios (2001-present)
Notable work	Horton Hears a Who!, Ice Age: Continental Drift, The Peanuts Movie
Signature

Early life

Martino went to Ohio State University where he studied design.[3] After graduation, he heard computer animation pioneer Chuck Csuri speak. "I was absolutely blown away. No one was doing what he was showing us. I hadn't seen images like that anywhere before," Martino said. He returned to the university and earned in 1989 a master's degree,[1] studying at the Computer Graphics Research Group (later renamed to Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design), founded by Csuri.[3]

Career

After graduation, Steve went to Los Angeles, where he worked in animation and visual effects.[3] In 2001, he joined Connecticut-based Blue Sky Studios, owned by 20th Century Fox.[1] There he co-directed computer-animated Horton Hears a Who! and Ice Age: Continental Drift.[3] He directed The Peanuts Movie (2015), an animated feature film adaptation of Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts.[4]

In February 2018, it was reported that Martino and Karen Disher will direct an upcoming animated fantasy musical, under the working title Foster, for Blue Sky Studios. The film was originally scheduled for release on March 5, 2021, but was moved to an unknown date.[5][6]

Filmography

Feature Films

Year	Title	Director	Art Director	Other	Notes
2005	Robots	No	Yes	No
2008	Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!	Yes	No	No
2012	Ice Age: Continental Drift	Yes	No	No
2015	The Peanuts Movie	Yes	No	No
2019	Spies in Disguise	No	No	Yes	Senior Creative Team
TBA	Foster[6]	Yes	No	No

Short Films

Year	Title	Art department
2002	Gone Nutty	Yes

Television

Year	Title	Art department	Notes
1990	World of Discovery	Yes	Main title designer

Critical reception

Film	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic	IMDb
	Overall
Horton Hears a Who! (2008)	76%[7]	71%[8]	6.9[9]
Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012)	37%[10]	49%[11]	6.7[12]
The Peanuts Movie (2015)	87%[13]	67%[14]	7.2[15]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
1991	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design and Title Sequences	World of Discovery Shared with Jeff Doud, Jon Townley and Thomas Barham	Won
2006	Annie Award	Best Production Design in an Animated Feature Production	Robots Shared with William Joyce	Nominated
2016		Outstanding Achievement in Directing in an Animated Feature Production	The Peanuts Movie	Nominated
	African-American Film Critics Association	Best Animated Feature		Won
	Golden Globe Awards	Best Animated Feature		Nominated
	Seattle Film Critics Award	Best Animated Feature		Nominated

References

1. Grossberg, Michael (September 16, 2012). "Hollywood studios brimming with talent honed in Columbus". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
2. "Martino, Steve, 1959-". Library of Congress. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
3. "Steve Martino, alumni, ACCAD". The Ohio State University. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
4. "Charles Schulz's 'Peanuts' Gang to Hit Theaters". ComingSoon.net. October 9, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
5. Amidi, Amid (February 13, 2018). "Karen Disher Set To Be First Woman Director At Blue Sky Studios". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
6. Lang, Brent (February 12, 2018). "Pasek and Paul to Write Songs for Blue Sky's First Animated Musical". Variety Magazine. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
7. "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! (2008) - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
8. "Horton Hears a Who! Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
9. "Horton Hears a Who! (2008) - IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
10. "Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
11. "Ice Age: Continental Drift Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
12. "Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) - IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
13. "The Peanuts Movie (2015) - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
14. "The Peanuts Movie Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
15. "The Peanuts Movie (2015) - IMDb". Uk.imdb.com. Retrieved December 11, 2015.

External links

• Steve Martino at IMDb