Chris Williams

Chris Williams (born 1968) is an American-Canadian animation director who spent years at Walt Disney Animation Studios, where he directed Bolt and the Academy Award-winning Big Hero 6 and co-directed Moana. He later directed Netflix’s The Sea Beast, which was nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar.

A self-described Luddite

Discussing his new Netflix deal in 2023, Williams was candid about his unease over generative AI. He prefaced his remarks by disclaiming expertise on “new technology we’re trying to get our heads around and wrestle with,” then admitted: “I tend to be more of a Luddite and concerned about these sort of things.”

His central worry is economic. He said he was “nervous about the capacity to put people out of work,” and “skeptical about how it’s going to be used” under studio cost pressures — “if they can make something cheaper they probably will even if that means hiring less artists.” He named the roles he feared for: “I worry about viz dev artists. I worry about story artists. I worry about all of us and what AI may have the capacity to replace.”

He framed the moment as fast-moving and uncertain: “It’s concerning what it can do already. And I wonder where we are going to be in six months or a year from now.” His opposition is grounded less in ideology than in solidarity with the artists he works alongside.