Peter Ramsey
Ramsey (born December 23, 1962) is an American illustrator, storyboard artist, and filmmaker. He is best known for directing DreamWorks Animation's Rise of the Guardians (2012), becoming the first African American to direct a computer-animated film and the second to direct a major American animated film (Bruce W. Smith was the first African-American director with Paramount Pictures' Bebe's Kids (1992)), and co-directing Sony Pictures Animation's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). For Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, he became the first African American to be nominated for and win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Peter Ramsey

Gage Skidmore · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Name
- Peter Ramsey
- Birth Name
- Peter A.
- Born
- 23 December 1962
- Birthplace
- Crenshaw, California, U.S.
- Occupation
- * Illustrator
- Education
- University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles City College
- Known for
- Rise of the Guardians Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- Nationality
- United States
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Ramsey (born December 23, 1962) is an American illustrator, storyboard artist, and filmmaker. He is best known for directing DreamWorks Animation's Rise of the Guardians (2012), becoming the first African American to direct a computer-animated film and the second to direct a major American animated film (Bruce W. Smith was the first African-American director with Paramount Pictures' Bebe's Kids (1992)), and co-directing Sony Pictures Animation's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). For Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, he became the first African American to be nominated for and win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
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Note VALÉORINE
Peter Ramsey (born 1962) is an American animator, director and film director, among other activities. The animator was born in Crenshaw.
Peter Ramsey studied at Los Angeles City College, Palisades Charter High School and University of California, Los Angeles. The animator worked for DreamWorks Animation. Peter Ramsey is active in film production.
Languages used include English. The animator received Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Peter Ramsey • Birth Name — Peter A. Ramsey • Born — 23 December 1962 • Birthplace — Crenshaw, California, U.S. • Occupation — * Illustrator • storyboard artist • filmmaker • Education — University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles City College • Years Active — 1988–present • Known for — Rise of the Guardians Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Early life
Early life
Ramsey grew up in the Crenshaw District of South Los Angeles, and graduated in 1980 from Palisades High School. He studied painting at University of California, Los Angeles for two years before enrolling in film classes at Los Angeles City College. He was raised Catholic.
Career
Career
His first job in Hollywood was painting a mural, but soon he was working as a storyboard artist and production illustrator on 26 films including Predator 2, Backdraft, Independence Day, Fight Club and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. He was a second unit director for Poetic Justice, Higher Learning, Tank Girl and Godzilla. Aron Warner, the producer of Tank Girl, suggested he join DreamWorks Animation. After initially being uninterested, Ramsey joined DreamWorks as a story artist for Shrek the Third and Shrek the Halls. In 2012, he directed Rise of the Guardians, based on William Joyce's The Guardians of Childhood books, making him the first African-American to direct a big-budget animated feature. In 2018, he co-directed Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which won the 2019 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. In 2019, he was set to direct the Robert Johnson film Love in Vain. On April 16, 2021, he was set to direct the film adaptation of the Matthew Quick novel Boy21. In February 2022, he was hired to write and direct Blood Count, a period vampire thriller distributed by Paramount Pictures In April 2022, Ramsey had been hired to direct an episode each of the Star Wars streaming series The Mandalorian season 3, which was released in March 2023, and Ahsoka, which was released in August 2023. Ramsey is a member of AMPAS, the Directors Guild of America and The Animation Guild.
Director
Director
Film • Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space (2009) • Rise of the Guardians (2012) • Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) (co-director with Bob Persichetti and Rodney Rothman) Television • Year — Title — Notes • 2021 — We the People — Episode "Active Citizenship" • 2022 — Lost Ollie — Miniseries • 2023 — The Mandalorian — Episode "Chapter 21: The Pirate" • Ahsoka — Episode "Part Four: Fallen Jedi"
Second unit director
Second unit director
• Year — Title — Director • 1993 — Poetic Justice — John Singleton • 1995 — Higher Learning • Tank Girl — Rachel Talalay • 1998 — Godzilla — Roland Emmerich • 2026 — The Mandalorian and Grogu — Jon Favreau
Storyboard artist
Storyboard artist
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989) • Predator 2 (1990) • Tank Girl (1995) • Mortal Kombat (1995) • Eye for an Eye (1996) • Independence Day (1996) • Men in Black (1997) • Godzilla (1998) • Being John Malkovich (1999) • Fight Club (1999) • How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) • Cast Away (2000) • A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) • The Affair of the Necklace (2001) • Panic Room (2002) • Minority Report (2002) • Adaptation. (2002) • The Core (2003) • Spartan (2004) • Shark Tale (2004) (additional) • Shrek the Third (2007) • Shrek the Halls (2007) • Penguins of Madagascar (2014) (additional) • Sausage Party (2016) (additional) • Duck Duck Goose (2018) (additional) • A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
Other
Other
• Almost an Angel (1990) (continuity artist) • Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) (head of story) • Puss in Boots (2011) (creative consultant) • Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) (head of story)
Executive producer
Executive producer
• Hair Love (2019) • Lost Ollie (2022) • Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) • Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire (2023) • Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (2027)
Illustrator
• Backdraft (1991) • Far and Away (1992) • Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) • The Shadow (1994) • Batman Forever (1995) • EDtv (1999)
Awards and nominations
• Year — Award — Title — Category — Result — Ref(s) Reference(s) • 2023 — Children's and Family Emmy Awards — Lost Ollie — Outstanding Directing for a Single Camera Program • 2022 — We the People — Outstanding Short Form Program • 2019 — Academy Awards — Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — Best Animated Feature • 2019 — Annie Awards — Directing in a Feature Production • 2019 — British Academy Film Awards — Best Animated Film • 2019 — Critics' Choice Movie Awards — Best Animated Feature • 2013 — Golden Globe Awards — Rise of the Guardians — Best Animated Feature Film • 2019 — Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse • 2019 — Hugo Awards — Best Dramatic Presentation • 2012 — Visual Effects Society Awards — Rise of the Guardians — Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.McDonald, Pamela Mays. Another "First" in Artistic Achievement: Director Peter Ramsey. Black Voices. HuffPost. 24 October 2012.
- 2.A Chat with Director Peter Ramsey. Katy Christian Magazine. 2012-12-10.
- 3.Cavna, Michael. 'Rise of the Guardians': 'The Obama of animation'? Director Peter Ramsey deflects the comparison — but not the responsibility. Washington Post. 30 November 2012.
- 4.Tulich, Katherine. 'Rise of the Guardians' director a self-taught success. Los Angeles Times. July 21, 2012.
- 5.Oscar Nominations 2019: The Complete List. Variety. 22 January 2019.
- 6.D’Allessandro, Anthony. Paramount Buys 'Love In Vain' Pitch About Blues Pioneer Robert Johnson, 'Spider-Verse's Peter Ramsey Directing. Deadline Hollywood. November 5, 2019.
- 7.Breznican, Anthony. Oscar-Winner Peter Ramsey's Life Story Could Be Its Own Movie. Vanity Fair. April 16, 2021.
- 8.Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Co-Director to Helm Vampire Thriller Blood Count. MovieWeb. February 13, 2022.
- 9.Couch, Aaron. 'The Mandalorian' Reveals Season 3 Trailer, New Directors. The Hollywood Reporter. January 16, 2023.
- 10.Kit, Borys. Peter Ramsey Tapped as a Director of 'Ahsoka', the Latest 'Star Wars' Series (Exclusive). The Hollywood Reporter. April 8, 2022.
- 11.Oscars.org. Careers In Film Summit - Biographies. 7 October 2016.
- 12.Moobys. The Mandalorian and Grogu Jon Favreau entre el pasado y el futuro, gran charla con el director. 2026-05-01.
- 13.McMillan, Graeme. Lion Forge Animation Launches With 'Hair Love' Short. The Hollywood Reporter. August 9, 2019.
- 14.Zahed, Ramin. 'Land of the Lost Ollie' A misplaced toy magically comes to life in the Netflix limited series from creator Shannon Tindle. Television Academy.
- 15.B. Vary, Adam. 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' Sequel Snares New Directing Trio (EXCLUSIVE). Variety. April 19, 2021.
- 16.Vourlias, Christopher. Disney Taps Top African Toon Talents for Animated Anthology 'Kizazi Moto' (Exclusive). Variety. 2021-06-17.
- 17.Sony Pictures Animation's Bold Past, Present and Future. 2022-12-29.
- 18.Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2019 | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. oscars.org. 15 April 2019.
- 19.ASIFA-Hollywood. 46th Annual Annie Awards. annieawards.org.
- 20.British Academy of Film and Television Arts. EE British Academy Film Awards Winners in 2019. bafta.org. January 9, 2019.
- 21.Tapley, Kristopher. 'Roma,' 'The Americans' and 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' Win Top Critics' Choice Honors. Variety. January 13, 2019.
- 22.Hollywood Foreign Press Association. 2013 Golden Globe Nominations. goldenglobes.com. December 13, 2012.
- 23.Hollywood Foreign Press Association. All the Winners of the 76th Golden Globes. goldenglobes.com. January 7, 2019.
- 24.World Science Fiction Society. 2019 Hugo Awards. thehugoawards.org. August 18, 2019.
- 25.Visual Effects Society. Visual Effects Society Announces Nominees for 11th Annual VES Awards. visualeffectssociety.com.
References
Citations
References
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Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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