Ennio Torresan, Jr., is an internationally recognized animation film director and storyboard artist whose work spans from mainstream Hollywood super blockbusters to independent art films. With more than 25 acclaimed family movies grossing up to 4.5 billion dollars, his latest co-directed movie, Spirit Untamed, has been released on June 4th of 2021 as the first post pandemic animated feature film in theaters only, and now on Demand June 25.
Ennio made his directing debut with the award-winning short film, “El Macho,” which led to a directing gig for Ralf Bakshi's HBO production Spicy City. Ennio steered the underwater team of the television series SpongeBob Squarepants at Nickelodeon as writer and story-director. He received a Daytime Emmy Award in Outstanding Special Class Animated Program for Disney’s Teacher’s Pet in 2003. At Dreamworks, Ennio developed and created storyboards on various animated feature films including Madagascar, Abominable, Boss Baby, Turbo, Kung Fu Panda, Bee Movie, Megamind and others. He directed the independent feature Until Sbornia Takes Us Apart, released in 2013.
Ennio is a sought-after speaker and presenter at industry events and conferences and was honored at the international Animamundi Animation Film Festival, showcasing a 20-year retrospective of his career in animation. He was also recognized in 2017 at the Annecy Animation Film Festival, where his short film “El Macho” was part of a special event honoring Brazilian animation.
Ennio credits Italian cinema and the graphic novel storytelling format as his primary inspiration and influences. He received a B.A. in Fine Arts from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and started his career exhibiting paintings, publishing comic strips and illustrating in various publications, including MAD magazine, Brazil edition. He has also contributed to Scrambled Ink, a Dark Horse comic, with an autobiographical character called “Guy From Ipanema.”
Ennio is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science and lives in Los Angeles with his wife and their two adorable children, who are his toughest critics.
