Tim Johnson (born August 27, 1961) is an American film director, film producer, and television director. Johnson is best known for directing the

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios and simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that produces animated films and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a divisio ...

films ''

Antz ''Antz'' is a 1998 American computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation (in its debut film) and Pacific Data Images and released by DreamWorks Pictures. It was directed by Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson (in their fe ...

'', '' Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas'', ''

Over the Hedge ''Over the Hedge'' is an American syndicated comic strip, written by Michael Fry, and drawn by T. Lewis. It tells the story of a raccoon, a turtle, a squirrel, and their friends, who come to terms with their woodlands being taken over, by su ...

'', and ''

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. ...

''.

Life and career

Johnson was born in Chicago. He studied at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

where he earned a BA in

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

. He also produced two

animated films Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

; both of which earned Richter Grant Organization Awards. Upon graduating, he worked for two years as a freelance animator and director. His introduction to

computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images ( moving images), while computer animation re ...

came in 1985 while he worked on the staff at Post Effects in Chicago. He later joined

Pacific Data Images Pacific Data Images (PDI) was an American computer animation production company based in Redwood City, California, that was bought by DreamWorks SKG in 2000. It was renamed PDI/DreamWorks and was owned by DreamWorks Animation. Founded in 1980 ...

in 1988 and two years later co-founded the studio's Character Animation Group. He also directed the first CG

Pillsbury Doughboy Poppin' Fresh, more widely known as the Pillsbury Doughboy, is an advertising mascot for the Pillsbury Company, appearing in many of their commercials. Many commercials from 1965 until 2005 (together with some for GEICO between 2009 and 2017) en ...

commercial. Johnson won two Annie awards on ''

'' and ''

'', an Audience Award on ''Over the Hedge'', and a Grand Prize for ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, ...

" Treehouse of Horror VI". While at

, he also directed '' Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas'', ''

'' (an adaptation of ''

The True Meaning of Smekday ''The True Meaning of Smekday'' is a 2007 children's book by Adam Rex that was highly recommended by '' The New York Times''. The book was adapted by DreamWorks Animation into the 2015 feature film '' Home''. Rex's second volume in the series, '' ...

''), and the

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of e ...

Kung Fu Panda Holiday ''Kung Fu Panda Holiday'' is a 2010 American computer-animated Christmas comedy-drama television special produced by DreamWorks Animation and directed by Tim Johnson. A spinoff of the ''Kung Fu Panda'' franchise, the special stars the voices of ...

'', and additionally served as executive producer for '' How to Train Your Dragon'' and '' Abominable''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* 1961 births Living people American film directors American animators American film producers American animated film directors American animated film producers Place of birth missing (living people) DreamWorks Animation people Annie Award winners Northwestern University alumni {{US-film-director-stub