John Lasseter

John Lasseter is one of my idols :D He is Vice President of Pixar and has made many animated films.
He is actually ranked No.1 in Premiere's 2004 annual Power 100 list with Pixar CEO Steve Jobs. They had ranked No.23 in 2003 and No.31 in 2002.
He went to the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia. While attending California Institute of the Arts, he produced two animated films, both winners of the Student Academy Award for Animation, Lady and the Lamp in 1979 and Nitemare in 1980.
He was a member of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm Ltd. (which was later sold and became Pixar), where he designed and animated the computer-generated Stained Glass Knight character in the Steven Spielberg-produced film Young Sherlock Holmes (1985). He's also a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Short Films and Feature Animation Branch).
In 2004, he was honored by the Art Directors Guild with its prestigious "Outstanding Contribution To Cinematic Imagery" award, and received an honorary degree from the American Film Institute.
He is also very involved with Hayao Miyazaki as he is a close personal friend of his. John Lasseter actually introduced the DVD release of Hayao Miyazaki's Tenkû, Castle in the Sky, which is actually one of his favorite films. He also organised the English version of some of his films including Spirited Away.