Byron P. Howard (born December 26, 1968)[1] is an American animator, character designer, story artist, film director, producer, and screenwriter.

Howard was born in Misawa, Japan, and raised in both the outskirts of Philadelphia[2] and Issaquah, Washington, United States, in a middle-class family.

He soon began the Disney Studio Internship and was hired in 1994,[3] working as an animator on films including Pocahontas, Mulan, Lilo & Stitch and Brother Bear.

[7] In his role as co-director of the film with Chris Williams, Howard focused on character design and animation.

[14] Howard was officially announced as the co-director of Zootopia 2 on September 20, 2024, alongside Jared Bush, who the day before had become Chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios following Jennifer Lee's resignation of the position to direct Frozen 3.