Walt Disney Animation Studios Chief Creative Officer Jennifer Lee To Be Awarded Honorary Cristal At This Year's Annecy Festival

During this year’s Annecy festival, celebrating the greatest in animation, two different animation greats will be awarded an Honorary Cristal, with Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Chief Creative Officer Jennifer Lee being one of them.

What’s Happening:

Ahead of the actual start of the festival in June, it has been revealed that Jennifer Lee, Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios and Director of Frozen, Frozen 2, and the short, Frozen Fever, will be awarded an Honorary Cristal at this year’s Annecy Festival.
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival is a global event dedicated to the art of animation. For an entire week, the event gathers together the biggest names in the field and celebrates the creative and diverse animation styles and techniques.
This year, both Jennifer Lee and Kirikou creator Michel Ocelot will both be awarded Honorary Cristal awards, an honor rarely bestowed throughout the history of the festival.
Lee popularly directed the Frozen films, but also served as a writer on Wreck-It Ralph, and Zootopia and producer to most of the latter day films from Walt Disney Animation Studios, including Raya and the Last Dragon, Encanto, the upcoming Strange World, as well as the shorts Us Again, Far From The Tree, and Disney+ Series Olaf Presents, and the upcoming Baymax! And Moana series.
Lee will be awarded her Honorary Cristal during the festival on Friday, June 17th.

What They’re Saying:

Annecy Festival Artistic Director, Marcel Jean: "As the creative head of the near-century old Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Writer and Director of the Frozen films, Jennifer Lee is a model for all young women (and men) with aspirations of pursuing a career in animation film. Her accomplishments are exceptional in terms of scriptwriting, directing and creatively leading Disney Animation. We can confirm that there is a before and after Jennifer Lee in the way that women creators are perceived in our industry. Therefore, Annecy would like to highlight her remarkable contribution.”