Eric Darnell (born August 21, 1961) is an American

animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video gam ...

storyboard artist A storyboard artist (sometimes called a story artist or visualizer) creates storyboards for advertising agencies and film productions. Work A storyboard artist visualizes stories and sketches frames of the story. Quick pencil drawings and mark ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

and occasional

voice actor Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

best known for co-directing ''

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 ...

'' with Tim Johnson, as well as co-directing and co-writing ''

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

'', '' Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa'' and '' Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted'' with Tom McGrath, as well as the spin off ''

Penguins of Madagascar ''Penguins of Madagascar'' (also known as ''Penguins of Madagascar: The Movie'') is a 2014 American computer-animated spy action comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Starring the voices of Tom McGr ...

'' (2014) with Simon J. Smith.

Life and career

Darnell was born in

Prairie Village, Kansas Prairie Village is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 22,957. History After the successful development of the Country Cl ...

. He attended

Shawnee Mission East High School Shawnee Mission East High School is a public high school in Prairie Village, Kansas, United States, for grades 9 through 12. It is one of five high schools operated by the Shawnee Mission USD 512 school district. Shawnee Mission East High Sc ...

, where he was a writer for the school newspaper the ''Harbinger''. He studied broadcast journalism at the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sys ...

. After graduating in 1983, he spent four years working on experimental films in his basement, which helped him get accepted into the Experimental Animation program study 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 ...

. Meanwhile, he directed the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the 1989

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

song "

Get Up Get or GET may refer to: * Get (animal), the offspring of an animal * Get (divorce document), in Jewish religious law * GET (HTTP), a type of HTTP request * "Get" (song), by the Groggers * Georgia Time, used in the Republic of Georgia * Get AS, a ...

". After graduating in 1991, Darnell joined Pacific Data Images, where he worked as a character animator on the 1991

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

special ''

The Last Halloween ''The Last Halloween'' is an American Halloween television special produced by Hanna-Barbera. It premiered and first aired on CBS on October 28, 1991. The visual effects and animation were provided by Industrial Light & Magic and Pacific Data I ...

''. He also animated and directed the short film ''Gas Planet'', which won the

Ottawa International Animation Festival The Ottawa International Animation Festival is an annual animated film and media festival that takes place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The OIAF was founded in 1975, with the first festival held from August 10 to 15 in 1976. Initially organized by ...

Special Jury Prize. In 1995, he left PDI to join

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 he helped with research and development for ''

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 Bo ...

''. Shortly after DreamWorks merged with PDI the following year, he was assigned to direct his first feature film, ''

'', co-directing alongside fellow PDI-turned-DreamWorks employee Tim Johnson. The film, released in 1998, marked the studio's first computer-animated feature film, and the second computer-animated feature film after

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 ...

's ''

Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American computer-animated comedy film directed by John Lasseter (in his feature directorial debut), produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The first installment in the '' Toy Story ...

''. He then worked as a storyboard artist on the 2001 film ''

Shrek ''Shrek'' is a 2001 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 book of the same name by William Steig. It is the first installment in the ''Shrek'' franchise. The film was directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenso ...

'', for which he also wrote the song "Welcome to Duloc." Darnell and Tom McGrath directed ''

'' in 2005 and its sequel, '' Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa'' in 2008. He was co-writer for the Christmas TV special, ''

Merry Madagascar ''Merry Madagascar'' is a Christmas special first broadcast on the NBC network on November 17, 2009, which starred the characters from the film series ''Madagascar'', and takes place sometime between the first and second film. It is the second Dre ...

''. Darnell also co-directed '' Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted'' with McGrath and

Conrad Vernon Conrad Vernon (born July 11, 1968) is an American voice actor, director, writer, and storyboard artist best known for his work on the DreamWorks animated film series ''Shrek'' as well as other films such as '' Monsters vs. Aliens'', '' Madagascar ...

, which was released on June 8, 2012. He co-directed, with Simon J. Smith, a ''

'' spin-off, titled ''

'' and released on November 26, 2014. In 2015, Darnell co-founded with Maureen Fan, a former vice president of games at

Zynga Zynga Inc. () is an American developer running social video game services. It was founded in April 2007, with headquarters in San Mateo, California. The company primarily focuses on mobile and social networking platforms. Zynga states its missio ...

, a

Redwood City, California Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California's Bay Area, approximately south of San Francisco, and northwest of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people to being a ...

-based virtual reality studio Baobab Studios to create animated virtual reality short films. Darnell serves as Baobab's chief creative officer, while Fan serves as its CEO. For the studio, Darnell wrote and directed short VR films, ''Invasion!'' (2016) and its follow-up ''Asteroids!'' (2017), featuring two comedic aliens, Mac and Cheeze. Plans for a feature-length film based on the characters were announced in 2016 by Baobab and Roth Kirschenbaum Films. Darnell also wrote and directed an animated VR short film, ''Crow: The Legend'', inspired by the Lenape myth. Released in 2018, it features the voices of

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Ever ...

Constance Wu Constance Wu (born March 22, 1982) is an American actress. Wu was included on ''Time'' magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2017. She has earned several accolades, including nominations for a Golden Globe Award, fo ...

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

Diego Luna Diego Dionisio Luna Alexander (; born 29 December 1979) is a Mexican actor, director, and producer. He is known for his portrayal of Cassian Andor in '' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' and the Disney+ series ''Andor''. Following an early car ...

and

Liza Koshy Elizabeth Shaila "Liza" Koshy (born March 31, 1996), is an American media personality and actress. Her main YouTube channel has amassed more than 17 million subscribers, and her two channels have a combined total of over 3 billion views. She ha ...

.Russian, Ale
"John Legend Ventures in VR with Oprah Winfrey and More in ''Crow: The Legend'' – Watch Here!"
''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'', November 29, 2018; and Takahashi, Dean
"Baobab's Crow: The Legend debuts as a free short film on Oculus and YouTube"

VentureBeat ''VentureBeat'' is an American technology website headquartered in San Francisco, California. It publishes news, analysis, long-form features, interviews, and videos. History The ''VentureBeat'' company was founded in 2006 by Matt Marshall, a ...

, November 15, 2018, accessed November 19, 2018

Personal life

Darnell lives in

Campbell, California Campbell is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, Campbell's population is 43,959. Campbell is home to the Pruneyard Shopping Center, a sprawling open-air retail complex which was i ...

with his wife, Laura, and their son, Rex, and daughter, Leah.

Filmography

Feature films

Short films

Television series

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Darnell, Eric 1961 births Animators from Kansas American animated film directors American animated film producers American storyboard artists California Institute of the Arts alumni University of Colorado Boulder alumni Living people Showrunners People from Prairie Village, Kansas Princess Grace Awards winners DreamWorks Animation people Nickelodeon people People from Campbell, California Film directors from California Film directors from Kansas