| John Stevenson | |
|---|---|
| Born | John Stevenson United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Film Director, Storyboard Artist, Animator, Art Director, Puppeteer, Motion Capture Performer, Voice Actor |
| Years active | 1978 - Present |
John Stevenson is an animation filmmaker and puppeteer best known for directing the 2008 animated feature film, Kung Fu Panda with Mark Osborne. Stevenson has over 30 years of experence with animation, a veteran of DreamWorks PDI who got his start in the entertainment industry via Jim Henson's The Muppet Show.
He worked as a story artist on the feature films "The Great Muppet Caper", "The Dark Crystal', "Labyrinth" and "Little Shop of Horrors" and as a character designer and story artist on shows like The Dreamstone, Count Duckula, and FernGully 2: The Magical Rescue. He also worked as puppeteer on James & the Giant Peach and Motion Capture Performer on The Moxy Pirate Show. Stevenson worked for many years in the art department on many films at DreamWorks Animation such as "Shrek", "Shrek 2", "Madagascar" and "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas" before helming a number of episodes of their animated primetime show Father of the Pride. He worked for four years bringing Kung Fu Panda to the screen.
In 2009 Stevenson was nominated for an Academy Award with Mark Osborne for best Animated Feature for "Kung Fu Panda" and won the Annie with Osborne for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production.
He was originally set to work as director for an upcoming film based on the character created by Mattel, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
He is currently working on projects like The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break, We3, "Alien Rock Band" and "Rotten Island".