LOS ANGELES, Sept 20 — Walt Disney Animation Studios, in a significant leadership shift, yesterday named Academy Award-winning filmmaker Jared Bush as its new chief creative officer, effective immediately.

Bush, the creative force behind movie hits such as Encanto, Zootopia, and writer of the original Oscar-nominated hit Moana takes the reins from Jennifer Lee, who will return to filmmaking full time to steward the wildly successful Frozen franchise.

Lee joined Walt Disney Animation Studios in 2011 as co-writer of Wreck-It Ralph and writer of Frozen. After serving as CCO since 2018, she will now focus on directing and writing Frozen 3 and co-writing Frozen 4 with Marc Smith.

A Disney veteran of over a decade, Bush will oversee the creative output of the iconic animation studio, including its films, series and associated projects, Disney said in a statement.

Bush is currently working on Zootopia 2 and serves as the writer and executive producer of the upcoming Moana 2, both of which are due to release in the fall of 2025 and 2024, respectively, Disney said. — Reuters