Philip Johnston (born October 26, 1971) is an American filmmaker and voice actor, best known as one of the writers for the

Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...

films ''

Wreck-It Ralph ''Wreck-It Ralph'' is a 2012 American animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It was directed by Rich Moore and produced by Clark Spencer, from a screenplay by Phil Johnston (filmmaker), Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee ( ...

'' (2012), ''

Zootopia ''Zootopia'' (titled ''Zootropolis'' or ''Zoomania'' in various regions) is a 2016 American animated buddy cop comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore from a screenplay by Jared Bush an ...

'' (2016) and ''

Ralph Breaks the Internet ''Ralph Breaks the Internet'' is a 2018 American animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It is the sequel to the 2012 film ''Wreck-It Ralph''. The film was directed by Rich Moore and Phil Johnston (filmmaker), Phil Joh ...

'' (2018), the latter of which he directed alongside

Rich Moore Rich Moore (born ) is an American film and television animation director, screenwriter and voice actor. He is best known for serving as a director on primetime animated television series such as ''The Simpsons'', ''The Critic'' and ''Futuram ...

Early life and career

Johnston was born in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

to Beverly & William Johnston. He was raised in

Neenah, Wisconsin Neenah ( ) is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. It is situated on the banks of Lake Winnebago, Little Lake Butte des Morts, and the Fox River (Green Bay tributary), Fox River approximately northeast of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, O ...

. His father was an

Episcopal priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

. When he was young, he received an annual pass that allowed him free entry into the

Marcus Theatres The Marcus Corporation is an American publicly held company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The company operates two principal divisions: Marcus Theatres and Marcus Hotels and Resorts. History Marcus Corporation was founded on Novembe ...

, a Wisconsin-based theater chain, through a connection at his father's church. Johnston is a graduate of Neenah High School. He graduated from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

in 1994 with a degree in journalism. After graduation he worked in regional news television for nine years. His first job was as a weatherman in

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in Olmsted County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. It is located along rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a popul ...

despite knowing nothing about

meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

. He then worked as a bureau reporter at the

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

affiliate,

KETV KETV (channel 7) is a television station in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, affiliated with ABC. The station is owned by Hearst Television, and has studios on 10th Street in the historic Burlington Station, which carries the nickname of 7 Burli ...

. Afterwards, he transferred to KARE station in Minneapolis. Johnston graduated with a MFA in film from Columbia University School of the Arts' Film Program in 2004. He was classmates with Jennifer Lee, whom he later brought on to co-write ''Wreck-It Ralph'' with. His short, ''Flightless Birds'', about a community of five trying to save their town was shot in South Dakota. After graduation, Johnston sold his first work to ABC. The half hour comedy, ''Life is Super'', is about a woman who adopts several children and subsequently turning her experience into a podcast. Johnston optioned his first feature script to

ThinkFilm ThinkFilm (stylized as TH!NKFilm) was an American film distribution company founded in September 2001. It had been a division of David Bergstein’s Capitol Films since 2006. On October 5, 2010, five of Bergstein's companies in the film indust ...

before it went bankrupt. ''Jeremy Orm Is a Pervert'' is about the intersection of a preacher's career and his son's pornography business. This was loosely based on his side hustle back in middle school selling pornographic magazines he acquired from upperclassmen to his classmates. He managed to buy a pair of Air Jordans with the profits before eventually getting the operation shut down by his parents. His script for ''

Cedar Rapids Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in u ...

'' (2011) was included in the 2009

Black List (survey) The Black List is an annual survey of the "most-liked" motion picture screenplays not yet produced. It has been published every year since 2005 on the second Friday of December by Franklin Leonard, a development executive who subsequently worke ...

, a list voted by members of the entertainment industry for favorite, unproduced screenplays.

Personal life

Johnston met his wife, Jill Cordes, while working as a reporter at KETV, Nebraska, where she was a morning anchor. While attending Columbia, he lived in Brooklyn with his wife, Jill. He was neighbors with film critic

Christy Lemire Christy A. Lemire (née Nemetz; born August 30, 1972) is an American film critic and host of the movie review podcast ''Breakfast All Day''. She previously wrote for the Associated Press from 1999 to 2013, was a co-host of '' Ebert Presents at ...

Filmography

Feature films

Short films

Other credits

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Phil 1971 births Living people American animated film directors American animated film producers American male screenwriters American male voice actors Animation screenwriters Annie Award winners Male actors from Minnesota People from Hennepin County, Minnesota Screenwriters from Minnesota Walt Disney Animation Studios people Netflix people Film producers from Minnesota University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication alumni Columbia University School of the Arts alumni