The animated films of Disney and Pixar are some of the most endearing, and enduring, family films ever made. They are often the first movies many children ever see because people know they are suitable for all. Unfortunately, not all the people behind their creations are quite so wholesome. It’s now come to light that a frequent Disney and Pixar animator has been charged with sexual abuse in France.
According to France’s Le Figaro (via Cartoon Brew), animator Bolhem Bouchiba is accused of having ordered the rape of hundreds of young girls in the Philippines via live streaming. This is apparently an unfortunately large problem in the island nation. Bouchiba had been on Europol’s radar (the animator still lives in France) since 2019, when the organization noticed suspicious activity regarding the transfer of funds to the Philippines. The money was being spent on livestreams where the animator was apparently able to instruct in the sexual abuse of children between the ages of three and 15. It’s suspected the number of livestreams conducted is in the hundreds and the number of victims could reach 1000.
Bolhem Bouchiba isn’t a name that most Disney or Pixar fans would necessarily know, animators have often worked behind the scenes without much fanfare since the days of Walt Disney. However, he’s worked for both studios as far back as 1990. His skill made him a key animator and story artist on numerous projects over the last 30 years. He was a lead character animator for Hades in Hercules and Disney’s Tarzan. He began working with Pixar on The Incredibles and his most recent credit was as a story artist on Pixar’s sleeper hit Elemental. It does not appear he was currently working on any upcoming Pixar movies or any other animation projects. His name appears as an easter egg in Ratatouille.
Bouchiba also worked on non-Disney-related animated films. He was a story artist on How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, credited with the “Forbidden Friendship” sequence. He was also an animator on the Oscar-winning animated short Dear Basketball written by the late Kobe Bryant. By all accounts, Bouchiba was an animator in high demand.
Most troubling, this isn’t the animator’s first brush with the law. In 2019 Bouchiba was convicted of the sexual assault of an eight-year-old girl, the daughter of his partner at the time. He received a two-year suspended sentence. It’s unclear how widespread the knowledge was of this conviction, but it doesn’t appear to have hindered his professional work in any way.
With this new charge, even if Bolhem Bouchiba doesn’t spend the next few decades in prison, it seems likely his career is over. Bolhem Bouchiba will face French courts later this month. The trial is scheduled to run October 29-31 and if convicted the animator could face up to 40 years in prison.