Andrew Ralph Adamson (born 1 December 1966) is a New Zealand film director, producer, screenwriter and animator. He is best known for directing the
DreamWorks animated film ''
Shrek
''Shrek'' is a 2001 American animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, and written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, loosely based on the 1990 children's picture boo ...
'' (2001), which is based on the
children's picture book of the same name by American author
William Steig and won the first
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the
74th Academy Awards ceremony, and directing and co-writing ''
Shrek 2'' (2004), which was nominated for
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He also directed and co-wrote the first two
live-action film adaptations of
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...
' ''
The Chronicles of Narnia
''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven portal fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, the series is set in the fictional realm of Narnia (wor ...
'' novels: ''
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' (2005) and ''
Prince Caspian'' (2008).
Personal life
Adamson's parents were a homemaker and a
computer engineer. Born in New Zealand, Adamson moved to
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
with his parents when he was eleven years old. He returned to
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
seven years later. At age 24, he moved to
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, and divided his time between there and Los Angeles. Since making the ''Narnia'' films, he has settled back in New Zealand. Adamson has two children.
Career
Adamson wanted to be an architect, but missed a university enrolment deadline because of a car accident. He was recruited by
Pacific Data Images to work in the USA. The company opened an office in Los Angeles. There he served as a
technical director
A technical director (TD) is usually a senior technical person within e.g. a software company, engineering firm, film studio, theatre company or television studio. They are responsible for overseeing and coordinating all of the technical aspect ...
for ''
Toys'' (1992), starring
Robin Williams, and ''
Angels in the Outfield'' (1994), starring
Danny Glover
Danny Glover ( ; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, producer, and political activist. Over his career he has received List of awards and nominations received by Danny Glover, numerous accolades including the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian A ...
. Previously, Adamson specialised in ads but preferred the idea of telling a story in longer format. He served as visual effects supervisor in the 1995 film ''
Batman Forever'', ''
A Time to Kill'' (1996), and ''
Batman & Robin'' (1997).
Adamson directed ''
Shrek
''Shrek'' is a 2001 American animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, and written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, loosely based on the 1990 children's picture boo ...
'' (the first installment in the series), based on the 1990 picture book written by
William Steig with a modest budget of US$60 million in 2001. However, the film became a worldwide success, taking in nearly $500 million in the box office, including more than $40 million in its opening weekend. The film featured the lead voices of
Mike Myers
Michael John Myers, (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor, comedian, and filmmaker. His accolades include seven MTV Movie & TV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood W ...
,
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He had his breakthrough as a standup comic before gaining stardom for his film roles; he is widely recognized as one of the greatest comedians of all time. H ...
,
Cameron Diaz and
John Lithgow. The next film in the series, ''
Shrek 2'' (2004), had a big Hollywood budget of around $150 million, and was even a bigger success than the first film, taking in more than $900 million worldwide. The film opened to over $100 million, one of the highest openings ever at the time. Adamson directed this film and also wrote the story.
However, he did not direct the next film in the series, ''
Shrek the Third'', as he had been contracted by Walden Media to work on ''
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe''. Instead, the film was directed by
Chris Miller and
Raman Hui while Adamson served as executive producer. The script of the film was written by J. David Stem and Joe Stillman. The third film was financially successful, taking in more than $795 million worldwide with a budget of no more than $160 million, but received mixed reviews from critics.
Adamson achieved commercial success and worldwide attention with ''
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', which he co-produced, co-wrote and directed. The film is based on the
book of the same name by
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...
, and won various awards, gained critical praise and was a box office success, becoming the third highest-grossing film worldwide of 2005 according to
Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon.
History
Brandon Gray ...
. The film opened in the US and Canada with totals of higher than $65 million and the film ended up with a worldwide gross of $744,783,957 with a budget of $180 million according to
Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon.
History
Brandon Gray ...
.
He returned as director to the next Narnia film: ''
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian'', which had a worldwide release in May 2008 and grossed over $419 million at the box office. Adamson returned as producer of ''
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'', released in Australia on 9 December 2010, and in the United States and UK on 10 December the same year.
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...
and
Walden Media still hold the rights to the series, and they currently retain the option to make ''The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair'' in the future. However, 20th Century Fox and Walden Media decided to produce ''The Magician's Nephew'' as the next Narnia film instead of ''The Silver Chair''. But, in October 2011, Douglas Gresham confirmed that Walden Media's contract with the C. S. Lewis estate had expired, and any production of a future film was on hold indefinitely.
Experimental hip hop group
Death Grips worked with Adamson on their 2018 album ''
Year of the Snitch''. He appears on the track "Dilemma," delivering a spoken word introduction to the song.
Filmography
Executive producer only
*''
Ballast'' (2008)
* ''
Shrek Forever After'' (2010)
* ''
Puss in Boots'' (2011)
* ''
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish'' (2022)
Other credits
Accolades and honour
Adamson has directed films which have received several accolades. ''Shrek'' won the
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, the
BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and the
National Board of Review Award for Best Animated Film
The National Board of Review Award for Best Animated Feature is one of the annual awards given (since 2000) by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. Every year from 2001 to 2004 and from 2007 to 2011 and in 2020, 2021, and 2024 the awar ...
. ''Shrek 2'' won the
People's Choice Awards
The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the fans and general public. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls un ...
for Favorite Movie Comedy, Favorite Sequel, and Favorite Animated Movie. ''The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe'' won the
Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling
The Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling is the Academy Awards, Academy Award given to the best achievement in makeup and hairstyling for film. Traditionally, three films have been nominated each year with exceptions in the early 1980s a ...
, the
BAFTA Award for Best Makeup and Hair, the
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Family Film, and the
Saturn Awards for Best Make-up and
Best Special Effects.
Adamson was appointed a
Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to film, in the
2006 Queen's Birthday Honours.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamson, Andrew
1966 births
Living people
20th-century New Zealand screenwriters
20th-century New Zealand male writers
21st-century New Zealand screenwriters
21st-century New Zealand male writers
Annie Award winners
Directors of Best Animated Feature Academy Award winners
DreamWorks Animation people
New Zealand fantasy film directors
New Zealand male screenwriters
Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit
New Zealand animated film directors
New Zealand expatriates in Papua New Guinea
New Zealand expatriates in the United States
New Zealand film directors
New Zealand film producers
New Zealand comedy film directors