Karen Rupert Toliver facts for kids

Karen Rupert Toliver is an amazing American film producer. She helps create animated movies. Karen has worked at big studios like Disney, 20th Century Fox, and Sony Pictures Animation. She helped make popular films like Ferdinand and Meet the Robinsons. Karen is now a top executive at Sony Pictures Animation. She is famous for co-producing the short film Hair Love. This film won an Oscar in 2020!

Her Journey in Animation

Karen Toliver started her career at Walt Disney Pictures. She was an assistant and worked on the Mighty Ducks movies. Later, she became a production executive at Walt Disney Animation Studios. There, she helped with films like Chicken Little and Meet the Robinsons.

After Disney, Karen helped develop Curious George for Universal Pictures. Then, she joined 20th Century Fox Animation. At Fox, she worked on the popular Rio and Ice Age series. She also helped with Ferdinand. These movies were made by Fox's Blue Sky Studios team.

Joining Sony Pictures Animation

After ten years at Fox, Karen moved to Sony Pictures Animation in 2017. She became a senior vice president. Two years later, she was promoted to executive vice president. In this role, she finds new talent and creative ideas for movies.

Just before her job change, Matthew A. Cherry asked her for help. He wanted to make a short film called Hair Love.

The Story of Hair Love

After her promotion, Karen helped Matthew Cherry with Hair Love as a side project. She arranged for the film to be shown in theaters. It played before The Angry Birds Movie 2. Karen said in an interview that she had always wanted to work on a story about Black families. She felt this topic had not been shown much in animation.

Karen shared that her own mother had lupus when Karen was in high school. Her mother lost her hair because of the illness. This personal connection made Hair Love very special to her.

An Oscar Win!

In 2020, Karen Toliver won an Oscar for Hair Love. She shared the award with Matthew A. Cherry. This made her the first African-American woman to win in that category! It was a huge moment for her and for animation.

Awards and Recognition

• 2020 - Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film - Hair Love