Brenda Chapman (born November 1, 1962)
is an American animator, screenwriter, storyboard artist, and director. In 1998, she became the first woman to direct an animated feature from a major studio,
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 division ...
's ''
The Prince of Egypt
''The Prince of Egypt'' is a 1998 American animated musical drama film produced by DreamWorks Animation and released by DreamWorks Pictures. The first feature film from DreamWorks to be traditionally animated, it is an adaptation of the Book ...
''. In 2012, she co-directed the
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
/
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californi ...
film ''
Brave'' with
Mark Andrews and
Steve Purcell
Steven Ross Purcell (born October 1, 1961) is an American cartoonist, animator, game designer and voice actor. He is the creator of the media franchise ''Sam & Max'', for which Purcell received an Eisner Award in 2007. The series has grown to i ...
, becoming the first woman to win the
Academy Award for Best Animated Feature
The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is given each year for animated films. An animated feature is defined by the Academy as a film with a running time of more than 40 minutes in which characters' performances are created using a frame-by- ...
.
Early life
Chapman was born in
Beason, Illinois as the youngest of five.
She went to
Lincoln College in
Lincoln, Illinois
Lincoln is a city in Logan County, Illinois, United States. First settled in the 1830s, it is the only town in the United States that was named for Abraham Lincoln before he became president; he practiced law there from 1847 to 1859. Lincoln is ho ...
, receiving her
Associate of Arts
An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree.
The fi ...
degree. She then moved to California and studied animation at the
California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...
(CalArts).
Career
During her summer breaks, Chapman began her professional career working in syndicated television animation. In 1987, she graduated with a
BFA in character animation, and was hired as a story trainee on ''
The Little Mermaid
"The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a h ...
'' (1989). Chapman then worked as a storyboard artist on ''
The Rescuers Down Under
''The Rescuers Down Under'' is a 1990 American animated adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 29th Disney animated feature film and the second movie to be produced during the Disney Ren ...
'' (1990) and ''
Beauty and the Beast
''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' ( ...
'' (1991), where she worked closely with
Roger Allers
Roger Charles Allers (born June 29, 1949) is an American film director, screenwriter, animator, storyboard artist, and playwright. He is best-known for co-directing ''The Lion King'' (1994), the highest-grossing traditionally animated film of al ...
to define many of the key sequences and motifs used in the film. She later served as head of story, the first woman to do so in an animated feature film, for ''
The Lion King
''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance, it ...
'' (1994).
Chapman joined
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 division ...
at its inception in the fall of 1994. Chapman was one of a team of three directors who worked on 1998's ''
The Prince of Egypt
''The Prince of Egypt'' is a 1998 American animated musical drama film produced by DreamWorks Animation and released by DreamWorks Pictures. The first feature film from DreamWorks to be traditionally animated, it is an adaptation of the Book ...
'', along with
Steve Hickner and
Simon Wells
Simon Finlay Wells (born 1961) is an English film director of animation and live-action films. He is the great-grandson of author H. G. Wells, and is best known for directing ''The Prince of Egypt'' with Brenda Chapman and Steve Hickner.
Ea ...
. She became the first female director for an animated feature by a major studio;
[ three others had previously helmed independent efforts including ]Lotte Reiniger
Charlotte "Lotte" Reiniger (2 June 1899 – 19 June 1981) was a German film director and the foremost pioneer of silhouette animation. Her best known films are ''The Adventures of Prince Achmed'', from 1926, the first feature-length animated fil ...
of ''The Adventures of Prince Achmed
''The Adventures of Prince Achmed'' (known as ''Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed'' in German language, German) is a 1926 German Animation, animated Fairy tale, fairytale film by Lotte Reiniger. It is the oldest surviving animated feature film; ...
'' (1926), Joy Batchelor
Joy Ethel Batchelor (12 May 1914 – 14 May 1991) was an English animator, director, screenwriter, and producer. She married John Halas in 1940 and subsequently co-established Halas and Batchelor cartoons, whose best known production is the anim ...
of ''Animal Farm
''Animal Farm'' is a beast fable, in the form of satirical allegorical novella, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to crea ...
'' (1954), and Arna Selznick
Arna Selznick is a Canadian animator, best known for directing Nelvana's 1985 animated film ''The Care Bears Movie''. Arna owns and operates a studio called Dancingmonkeys with her husband/partner John van Bruggen.
Career
2020-2021: Developmen ...
of ''The Care Bears Movie
''The Care Bears Movie'' is a 1985 animated musical fantasy film directed by Arna Selznick from a screenplay by Peter Sauder. This was the second feature film from the Canadian animation studio Nelvana (after the 1983 film '' Rock & Rule''), ...
'' (1985). She also worked on ''Chicken Run
''Chicken Run'' is a 2000 stop-motion animated comedy film produced by Pathé and Aardman Animations in partnership with DreamWorks Animation. Aardman’s first feature-length film and DreamWorks Animation's fourth film, it was directed by Pe ...
'', and several projects in development while at DreamWorks before leaving the studio on maternity leave. In May 2003, Chapman and Allers were announced to direct ''Tam Lin
Tam (or Tamas) Lin (also called Tamlane, Tamlin, Tambling, Tomlin, Tam Lien, Tam-a-Line, Tam Lyn, or Tam Lane) is a character in a legendary ballad originating from the Scottish Borders. It is also associated with a reel of the same name, also ...
'', an adaptation of the Scottish folk ballad, for Sony Pictures Animation
Sony Pictures Animation Inc. is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and founded on May 9, 2002. The studio's films are distributed worldwide by Son ...
.
However, later that same year, Chapman moved to Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californi ...
after being invited by her old colleague Joe Ranft
Joseph Henry Ranft (March 13, 1960 – August 16, 2005) was an American screenwriter, animator, storyboard artist and voice actor. He worked for Pixar Animation Studios and Disney at Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Television Animation ...
, where she had a brief stint on ''Cars
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarded as t ...
'' (2006) before developing ''The Bear and the Bow'', which was re-titled '' Brave'' (2012). In April 2008, Chapman was announced as the director of the film, making her Pixar's first female director. In October 2010, however, she was replaced by Mark Andrews following creative disagreements between her and John Lasseter
John Alan Lasseter (; born January 12, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, voice actor, and the head of animation at Skydance Animation. He was previously the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios, ...
. There were rumors that she subsequently left Pixar, but she remained on staff until shortly after the film's release. By July 2012, Chapman worked as a consultant at Lucasfilm Animation
Lucasfilm Animation Ltd. LLC is the animation division of Lucasfilm, established in 2003. Its first major productions were the feature film '' Star Wars: The Clone Wars'' and its associated television series, both of which debuted in 2008. In Se ...
, helping to resolve story problems on '' Strange Magic'' (2015). When asked whether she will return to Pixar, Chapman responded by saying she has no desire to go back there feeling that " e atmosphere and the leadership doesn't fit well with me."
In 2013, she returned to 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 division ...
, where she helped in developing ''Rumblewick'' that had a strong female protagonist and was described as "funny with magic and heart." Chapman then left DreamWorks shortly afterwards. As of 2016, she began developing projects for Chapman Lima Productions, with her husband Kevin Lima.
In May 2016, it was reported that Chapman would make her live-action directorial debut with ''Come Away
''Come Away'' is a 2020 fantasy drama film directed by Brenda Chapman (in her live-action directional debut) and starring David Oyelowo, Anna Chancellor, Angelina Jolie, Clarke Peters, David Gyasi, with Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michael Caine and Derek Ja ...
'' (2020), a fantasy drama that serves as a prequel to ''Alice in Wonderland
''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...
'' and ''Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...
''. In May 2018, it was reported that Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie (; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian and former Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award ...
and David Oyelowo
David Oyetokunbo Oyelowo ( ; born 1 April 1976) is a British actor, director and producer. His accolades include a Critics' Choice Award and two NAACP Image Awards as well as nominations for two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards ...
were portraying the parents of Alice and Peter, with both actors also serving as producers. Anna Chancellor
Anna Theodora Chancellor (born 27 April 1965) is a British actress who has received nominations for BAFTA and Olivier Awards.
Background and early life
Chancellor was born in Richmond, England to barrister John Paget Chancellor, eldest son of ...
and Clarke Peters
Peter Clarke (born April 7, 1952), known professionally as Clarke Peters, is an American-British actor, writer, and director. He is best known for his roles as Lester Freamon in the television series ''The Wire'' (2002–2008) and Albert Lambrea ...
joined the cast in August, with filming in London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
starting that same month.
In February 2020, it was reported that Chapman was attached to write and direct a live-action hybrid film adaptation of ''Ghost Squad''. In December of that year, Chapman stated she had "kind of stepped away" from the project, deciding instead to work on other projects with Lima. She also stated she was writing "a novel and thinking about turning it into an animated screenplay."
Personal life
Chapman is married to director Kevin Lima
Kevin Rupert Lima (born June 12, 1962) is an American film director who has directed ''A Goofy Movie'' (1995), ''Tarzan'' (1999), '' 102 Dalmatians'' (2000), and '' Enchanted'' (2007). He is married to Brenda Chapman, the head of story for ''The L ...
(''A Goofy Movie
''A Goofy Movie'' is a 1995 American animated musical comedy-adventure film produced by Disney MovieToons and Walt Disney Television Animation. Directed by Kevin Lima, the film is based on The Disney Afternoon television series ''Goof Troop'' ...
'', ''Tarzan
Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...
'', '' Enchanted''), whom she met at California Institute of the Arts. They have a daughter, Emma Rose Lima, who was the inspiration for Mérida, ''Brave''s young princess. They reside in Tamalpais Valley, California
Tamalpais Valley (Miwok: ''Támal Pájiṣ'') is an unincorporated community in Marin County, California.
Land
Tamalpais Valley is located at . and is about 509 acres in size, with an elevation of 108 feet (33 m). The nearest cities are Mill V ...
. Chapman claims Scottish ancestry.[http://www.pixarportal.com/blog.php?id=brenda-chapman-interview-part-two-brave] In 2014, Chapman urged Scots to back independence in the September referendum.
Filmography
Feature Films
Television
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Brenda
1962 births
American animated film directors
American storyboard artists
American women film directors
American women screenwriters
Animation screenwriters
Animators from Illinois
Annie Award winners
California Institute of the Arts alumni
Directors of Best Animated Feature Academy Award winners
DreamWorks Animation people
Film directors from Illinois
Living people
Lucasfilm people
People from Logan County, Illinois
Pixar people
Screenwriters from Illinois
Walt Disney Animation Studios people
American women animators