Tom McGrath (animator)

Tom McGrath
Tom McGrath at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International.
Born	Thomas McGrath August 7, 1964 Lynnwood, Washington, US
Occupation	Film director, animator, voice actor, screenwriter
Years active	1988–present
Notable work	Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

Thomas "Tom" McGrath (born August 7, 1964) is an American film director, animator, and voice actor known for co-directing (with Eric Darnell) the 2005 comedy Madagascar and its sequels, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa in 2008 and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted in 2012, also providing the voice of Skipper in all films, short films and The Penguins of Madagascar television series. He has portrayed Skipper in every Madagascar installment, being the only voice actor to do so. He has also worked as a voice actor on other DreamWorks animated features like Flushed Away in 2006 and Shrek the Third in 2007. He also stepped in on Flushed Away to help make improvements prior to its release.

Life and career

McGrath was born and raised in Lynnwood, Washington. He studied Industrial Design at the University of Washington and graduated from the Character Animation program at Cal Arts.^[1] McGrath's experience in both television and feature animation includes work as an animator on Ralph Bakshi's film Cool World (starring Brad Pitt), storyboard artist and director for the popular series The Ren and Stimpy Show, animator on the Joe Pytka-directed Space Jam (starring Michael Jordan), and storyboard artist on the live action film Cats & Dogs and worked as storyboard artist and concept artist/prop and set designer for How the Grinch Stole Christmas (directed by Ron Howard).

McGrath made his film directing debut as the co-director, writer and co-creator of Madagascar^[2] (along with Eric Darnell), where he also created the memorable squad of penguin characters and voiced their leader, Skipper. He also reprised his role as Skipper and co-directed and co-wrote the sequel, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. He worked on The Penguins of Madagascar, a Madagascar spin-off TV series, as the voice of Skipper, and directed the DreamWorks animated feature Megamind (starring Will Ferrell, Jonah Hill, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey and David Cross), released in November 2010.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Animator	Storyboard artist	Role	Notes
1988	The Thing What Lurked in the Tub			Yes
1992	Cool World			Yes			Also animation designer layout artist
1996	Space Jam			Yes
1998	Hercules and Xena – The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus			Yes			Also layout artist
1999	Herd					Fed No. 5
2000	How the Grinch Stole Christmas				Yes
2001	Cats & Dogs				Yes
2005	Madagascar	Yes	Yes			Skipper
2006	Flushed Away					Action Figure Artist	Also Creative consultant
2007	Shrek the Third					Gary
2008	Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa	Yes	Yes			Skipper
2009	Monsters vs. Aliens					Wilson
2010	Megamind	Yes				Lord Scott Prison Guard
2011	Puss in Boots					Bar Tender
2012	Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted	Yes				Skipper
2014	Mr. Peabody & Sherman					Odysseus
	Penguins of Madagascar[3]		Yes			Skipper	also Executive Producer
2017	Boss Baby[4]	Yes

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994–1996	The Ren and Stimpy Show		Director Storyboard artist Layout artist Background designer
1996	KaBlam!		Director, Storyboard artist
2008–2015	The Penguins of Madagascar	Skipper	Creator Writer Creative consultant
2009	Merry Madagascar	Skipper additional voices	writer
2013	Madly Madagascar	Skipper

References

1. DreamWorks Animation. "Madagascar 3 Europe's Most Wanted – Production Information" (PDF). Festival Cannes. p. 17. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
2. Keeping Control of the Zoo Tom McGrath Directs Madagascar to Laughs by Sara Michelle Fetters. MovieFreak.com. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
3. B. Vary, Adam (July 12, 2012). "DreamWorks Animation Comic-Con panel: Caveman families and penguin movies!". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
4. "Dates Set for Madagascar 4, The Croods 2, Puss in Boots 2, Captain Underpants, and Hitman Read more: Dates Set for Madagascar 4, The Croods 2, Puss in Boots 2, Captain Underpants, and Hitman". ComingSoon.net. June 12, 2014. Retrieved June 14, 2014.

External links

• Tom McGrath at the Internet Movie Database