Paul Lasaine is a British production designer and visual-effects artist whose career spans over three decades in both animation and live-action filmmaking. He initially began in matte painting and visual-effects roles on major films in the early 1990s, contributing as a matte-painting supervisor or artist on titles such as Alien³ (1992), Batman Returns (1992), Beethoven’s 2nd (1993), The Pelican Brief (1993), Hocus Pocus (1993), and Dave (1993). He transitioned into higher-profile visual-effects and art-department roles, serving as visual-effects art director on The Lord of the Rings trilogy — The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003). Lasaine later shifted toward animation and production design. He served as production designer on major animated films including The Road to El Dorado (2000), Surf’s Up (2007), The Boxtrolls (2014), Storks (2016), and the Marvel animated series What If…? (2021–2023). Alongside his design work, he has also contributed to visual development for landmark animated features such as Puss in Boots (2011), The Croods (2013), Turbo (2013), Rise of the Guardians (2012), and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). Regarding awards, Paul Lasaine has received recognition from the Annie Awards, which celebrate excellence in animation. He won the Annie Award in 2015 for Outstanding Achievement in Production Design in an Animated Feature Production for The Boxtrolls. He was nominated again in 2024 for Outstanding Achievement in Production Design in an Animated Television/Media Production for What If…?. He has a total of one Annie Award win and two nominations.
