Christopher Sadler

Who is Christopher Sadler?

Chris Sadler is an award-winning British Animator, director and writer. He is primarily known for his work on Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run, Rex the Runt, Cracking Contraptions, Creature Comforts and Shaun the Sheep.

He completed his secondary education at Codsall High School, Staffordshire, United Kingdom, leaving in 1989 having passed four A levels. He then joined a one year art and design foundation course at Stafford College before moving to Bristol and embarking on a Graphic Design degree at University of the West of England. Although he originally focused on illustration, Sadler later turned his hand to stop motion animation. He graduated in 1993.

He began his professional career as a freelance model/set builder before returning to animation. During the 1990s he worked for various film production companies including Bolex Brothers and Elm Road Studios in Bristol, Aaagh Animations in Cardiff and Gnome Productions in Wellington, New Zealand.

He first worked for Aardman Animations in 1994 as a freelance animator and model maker, working on several commercials and the pilot episode for Richard Goleszowski’s Rex the Runt series. This led to him being given his first chance to direct when the second series went into production in 2001. In 1999 he was a member of the animation team on Robbie the Reindeer for the BBC, his last independent production before joining Aardman.