International leader in animation

Worked for Disney and Hanna Barbera

Help found Toonz Animation

William “Bill” Dennis, Marion High School Class of 1960, is a leader in the animation industry both in the U.S. and abroad.
He has worked as an executive with Walt Disney Studios and Hanna Barbera Studios, and he led the creation of what has become India’s top animation studio, Toonz Animation.
During his time with Disney in the 1980s and ’90s, he was involved in the productions of feature films including Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, and he also was involved in the launch of Epcot Center at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla.
During his time at with Hanna Barbera in the 1990s, he worked with overseas studio operations and was involved with the creation of shows including Dexter’s Lab and Powerpuff Girls.
Since then, Dennis has become one of the most influential people in Asian animation and frequently consults with studios in the region, according to the website for Los Angeles-based International Animation Consulting Group, in which Dennis is a founding partner.
His productions in India have won various awards, and the Indian government in 2000 honored him with the prestigious Rashtriya Rattan Award for outstanding individual achievements and distinguished service to the nation.
He also founded the Indian chapter of the International Animated Film Society (ASIFA), which according to the ASIFA website was founded in 1957 in France and chartered under UNESCO in 1960 as a membership organization devoted to the encouragement and dissemination of film animation as an art and communication form.
Dennis is also one of the founders and principals of Zanymation Associates, a boutique animation studio with operations in the U.S. and Germany.
Though his home base is in Utah, he is a frequent juror for animation festivals and is a voting member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. He also serves as an advisor and board member for studios and animation schools in the U.S. and India.
Dennis attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind., and Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., a suburb of Orlando.