Simon Wells

Simon Wells (born 1961) is an English film director of animation and live-action films. He is the great-grandson of author H. G. Wells.

Early life and education
Born in Cambridge, he attended The Perse School and De Montfort University where he studied audio-visual design. Upon graduating he found a job at Richard Williams's studio where he animated commercials and other projects. Wells later supervised the animation on Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Career
After the closing of Richard Williams Studio, Wells became a member of Amblimation, a studio owned by Steven Spielberg, where he served as director on films such as An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, ''We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story and Balto''. Wells was set to direct a sequel to Casper, but the project was cancelled.

After the closure of Amblimation Wells joined DreamWorks Animation, including Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar, where he worked as storyboard artist on many animated projects, he also directed The Prince of Egypt which was nominated for an Annie Award.

In 2000, he co-directed Ron Howard films, Barney's Great Adventure, based on the Barney & Friends television series from (1992-2009) and How the Grinch Stole Christmas based on the Dr. Seuss children's book.

In 2002, he directed his first live-action film, a film adaptation of his great-grandfather's book The Time Machine.

Wells went back to DreamWorks, where he continued as a story artist for films such as Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002), including Disney and Pixar films, The Incredibles (2004), Chicken Little (2005), Cars (2006) and Flushed Away (2006).

In 2011 he co-wrote and directed Mars Needs Moms using motion-capture technology during the filming.

Family
Wells resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Wendy, and daughters Meredith and Teagan.