Tom McGrath (animator)

Thomas McGrath (born August 7, 1964) is an American voice actor, animator, screenwriter, and film director. He is known for co-directing the DreamWorks animated film Madagascar with Eric Darnell. The film later spawned three sequels and an animated series. McGrath also stepped in on Flushed Away to help make improvements prior to its release. He has also directed other DreamWorks animated films such as Megamind and The Boss Baby.

Tom McGrath
McGrath at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con International promoting The Boss Baby
Born	Thomas McGrath (1964-08-07) August 7, 1964 Lynnwood, Washington, U.S.
Occupation	Voice actor, animator, film director, screenwriter
Years active	1988–present
Employer	DreamWorks Animation
Notable work	Madagascar Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Megamind Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted The Boss Baby
Spouse(s)	Brieanne Cameron ( m. 2017)

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

Feature films

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Art / Animation department	Voice actor	Voice role	Notes
1992	Cool World	No	No	Yes	No		animation designer animator layout artist
1996	Space Jam	No	No	Yes	No		animator
1998	Hercules and Xena – The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus	No	No	Yes	No		key animator layout artist
2000	How the Grinch Stole Christmas	No	No	Yes	No		storyboard artist
2001	Cats & Dogs	No	No	Yes	No		storyboard artist
2005	Madagascar	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Skipper Fossa Panicky Man on Subway	co-directed with Eric Darnell
2006	Flushed Away	No	No	No	Yes	Action Figure Artist
2007	Shrek the Third	No	No	No	Yes	Gary
2008	Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Skipper Lemur	co-directed with Eric Darnell
2009	Monsters vs. Aliens	No	No	No	Yes	Wilson
2010	Megamind	Yes	No	No	Yes	Lord Scott Prison Guard
2011	Puss in Boots	No	No	No	Yes	Bar Thief
2012	Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted	Yes	No	No	Yes	Skipper First Policeman	co-directed with Eric Darnell & Conrad Vernon
2014	Mr. Peabody & Sherman	No	No	No	Yes	Odysseus
2014	Penguins of Madagascar	No	No	No	Yes	Skipper	executive producer [3]
2017	The Boss Baby	Yes	No	No	Yes	TV Chef	[4][5]
2021	The Boss Baby 2	Yes	No	No	No		[6]
TBA	The Magic School Bus	Yes	No	No	No		[7]

Short films

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Art / Animation department	Actor	Role	Notes
1988	The Thing What Lurked in the Tub			Yes			monster animator
1988	Lea Press on Limbs				Yes	(voice)
1993	The D.A.R.E. Report: The Land of Decisions and Choices			Yes			character layout
1995	The Louie N' Louie Show	Yes		Yes			storyboard artist
1999	Herd				Yes	Fed No. 5	live-action role
2001	Imp, Inc.			Yes			animation layout
2005	The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper				Yes	Skipper (voice)
2009	Merry Madagascar		Yes		Yes	Skipper (voice) Additional voices
2013	Madly Madagascar				Yes	Skipper (voice)
2014	Almost Home				Yes	Jeff (voice)

Television series

Year	Title	Director	Art / Animation department	Creative consultant	Actor	Role	Notes
1993-1996	The Ren & Stimpy Show	Yes	Yes				director (2 episodes) layout artist (21 episodes) background designer (14 episodes) storyboard artist (10 episodes)
1996	KaBlam!	Yes	Yes				director & storyboard artist (segment "The Louie and Louie Show")
1998	Oh Yeah! Cartoons		Yes				background designer (segment "A Cop and His Donut")
2008-2015	The Penguins of Madagascar			Yes	Yes	Skipper (voice)	88 episodes
2014	All Hail King Julien			Yes

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Madagascar	Skipper (voice)	Uncredited
2008	Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
2009	Madagascar Kartz
2011	The Penguins of Madagascar: Dr. Blowhole Returns – Again!
2012	Madagascar 3: The Video Game

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. Archived March 28, 2006, at the Wayback Machine MovieFreak.com. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
3. Vary, Adam B. (July 12, 2012). "DreamWorks Animation Comic-Con panel: Caveman families and penguin movies!". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
4. Rechtshaffen, Michael (March 12, 2017). "'The Boss Baby': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
5. "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.
6. https://deadline.com/2019/05/tom-mcgrath-is-back-to-direct-boss-baby-2-jeff-hermann-to-produce-for-dreamworks-animation-1202616791/
7. Galuppo, Mia (June 25, 2020). "Elizabeth Banks to Play Ms. Frizzle in Live-Action 'Magic School Bus' Movie". The Hollywood Reporter.

External links

• Tom McGrath on IMDb