Chris McKay | |
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Born | Christopher McKay November 11, 1973 Winter Park, Florida, U.S. |
Alma mater | Columbia College Chicago |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1995–present |
Notable work | Robot Chicken The Lego Batman Movie The Tomorrow War |
Christopher McKay (born November 11, 1973), is an American filmmaker and animator. He is best known for directing and editing three seasons of Robot Chicken and two seasons of Moral Orel . He made his feature directorial debut with The Lego Batman Movie (2017), and has also directed The Tomorrow War (2021) and Renfield (2023).
McKay was born in Winter Park, Florida, but spent most of his childhood in Chicago, Illinois. [1] Growing up, McKay was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock films and decided to pursue film. He shot his earliest work on his parents' Super 8 film camera. McKay attended Southern Illinois University for two years as a film student, and completed his degree at Columbia College Chicago. While studying in Chicago, McKay attended his first film shoot for the 1989 comedy Uncle Buck . [1]
In his early career McKay worked at several video and equipment rental companies. After purchasing production equipment of his own, he worked for three years shooting and editing music videos, industrial videos and local films. Then he started an editing job at a production company where he completed his first film 2wks, 1yr. [1] McKay started his career as an editor, after leaving that company he first edited a film of his friend, titled Kwik Stop. [1]
In 2004, McKay moved to Los Angeles and landed an editing job at the animation studio ShadowMachine. [2] He started work on the first episode of Robot Chicken , a stop motion adult animated sketch comedy TV series created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich. McKay created and voiced the series' first end title sequence. [1]
In 2006, McKay started work on animated series Moral Orel for Adult Swim, whose creator Dino Stamatopoulos said "really deserve[d] a producer credit" on the series, to which McKay replied that he would "really like to do is direct." He went on to direct episodes for the second and third seasons. [1]
His work on Moral Orel impressed Matt and Seth, who offered him to direct Robot Chicken and in 2007, McKay directed the third, fourth, and the fifth seasons of the series, aired on Adult Swim. [1] [2]
In 2007, McKay worked as editor and visual effect artist on the special episode Robot Chicken: Star Wars with Seth, which aired on June 17, 2007. Then in 2008, he also worked on the Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II as co-producer and animation editor. In 2010, McKay directed and co-produced the final installment of the special episodes, Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III . [1]
In 2009, McKay co-produced and directed the complete first season of the animated sci-fi adventure series Titan Maximum on Cartoon Network. [1] [2]
In 2011, Warner Bros. hired McKay to join directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller on The Lego Movie to co-direct the film's animation, [3] the film was released domestically on February 7, 2014, and grossed over $468 million against a reported budget of $60 million. [4] While Lord and Miller were working on 22 Jump Street , they sent McKay to Australia to supervise all animation, editing, effects, lighting and rendering of The Lego Movie. [5]
In March 2014, Warner Bros. set McKay to direct the sequel to the 2014 hit The Lego Movie, which Lord and Miller would produce, and Michelle Morgan and Jared Stern would write. [6] On October 10, WB announced the spin-off film The Lego Batman Movie , pushing back The Lego Movie sequel and fast-tracking development. McKay directed The Lego Batman Movie, which was released on February 10, 2017. [7] Seth Grahame-Smith co-wrote the screenplay, while Will Arnett reprised the voice of Batman. [7]
In February 2015, Warner Bros. announced the development of a theatrical Adventure Time animated film adaptation, which would be produced and written by creator Pendleton Ward and produced by Roy Lee and McKay. [8] In March 2015, McKay signed a first-look deal for being a producer with Warner Bros. [9]
McKay was developing and was attached to direct Nightwing, as a part of the DC Extended Universe, [10] and was also set to direct an adaptation of Jonny Quest [11] as well as a sequel to The Lego Batman Movie titled Lego Superfriends. [12] However, Lego Superfriends was canceled following Universal's acquisition of the Lego film rights. [13] In September 2019, McKay was set to direct Reborn for Netflix. [14] He, alongside Jon and Josh Silberman, was set to produce the live-action/animation film Coyote vs. Acme , based on Looney Tunes character Wile E. Coyote and directed by Dave Green. [15] However, he departed the project by December 2020. [16] In 2021, it was announced that McKay would replace Dexter Fletcher as director of the film Renfield from a screenplay by Ryan Ridley from a pitch by Robert Kirkman. [17]
Director
Producer
Executive producer
Writer
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
2002 | 2wks, 1yr | |
2020 | Dolittle | Writer for reshoots (Uncredited) [18] |
2023 | Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves | Story only |
Editor
Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2006–2008 | Moral Orel | Yes | Yes | Yes | 19 episodes (director); 33 episodes (producer); 1 episode (writer) |
2007–2011 | Robot Chicken | Yes | Yes | No | 42 episodes (director); 27 episodes (producer) |
2009 | Titan Maximum | Yes | Yes | No | 9 episodes (director); 9 episodes (producer) |
2010 | Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III | Yes | Yes | No | TV special |
Technical credits
Year | Title | Animator | Editor | VFX artist | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005–2009 | Robot Chicken | Yes | Yes | Yes | 21 episodes (animation editor); 25 episodes (editor); 2 episodes (VFX artist) |
2005–2007 | Moral Orel | Yes | Yes | Yes | 2 episodes (animation editor); 15 episodes (editor); 1 episode (VFX artist) |
2007 | The Sarah Silverman Program | No | Yes | No | Episode "Batteries" |
Robot Chicken: Star Wars | No | Yes | Yes | TV special | |
2009 | Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II | Yes | No | No | |
Titan Maximum | Yes | No | Yes | 7 episodes (animation editor); 5 episodes (title sequence design) |
Jonny Quest is a science fiction-adventure media franchise that revolves around the titular Jonny Quest, a boy who accompanies his scientist father on extraordinary adventures. The franchise started with a 1964–65 television series of the same name, and has come to include two subsequent television series, two television films, and three computer games.
Jeffrey Jacob Abrams is an American filmmaker and composer. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced such films as Regarding Henry (1991), Forever Young (1992), Armageddon (1998), Cloverfield (2008), Star Trek (2009), Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Abrams' films have grossed over $4 billion worldwide, making him the eighth-highest-grossing film director of all time.
The American comic book character Superman, created in 1938, has appeared in many types of media since the 1940s. Superman has appeared in radio, television, movies, and video games each on multiple occasions, and his name, symbol, and image have appeared on products and merchandise.
Lego Batman is a discontinued theme and product range of the Lego building toy, introduced in 2006, based on the superhero character Batman, under license from DC Comics. The sets feature vehicles, characters and scenes from the comics and films. The inspirations for the design of these vary widely. For example, the Batmobile retains its basic sleek shape and prominent fins from the Tim Burton films, whereas the "Bat-Tank" seems to be based on the tank-like Batmobile in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns. The theme was relaunched in early 2012 as part of the Lego DC Universe Superheroes line, which is a sub-theme of the Lego Super Heroes line. In total there were 17 sets, almost all of them including Batman.
The Batman franchise, based on the fictional superhero Batman who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, has seen the release of various films. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, the character first starred in two serial films in the 1940s: Batman and Batman and Robin. The character also appeared in the 1966 film Batman, which was a feature film adaptation of the 1960s Batman TV series starring Adam West and Burt Ward, who also starred in the film. Toward the end of the 1980s, the Warner Bros. studio began producing a series of feature films starring Batman, beginning with the 1989 film Batman, directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton. Burton and Keaton returned for the 1992 sequel Batman Returns, and in 1995, Joel Schumacher directed Batman Forever with Val Kilmer as Batman. Schumacher also directed the 1997 sequel Batman & Robin, which starred George Clooney. Batman & Robin was poorly received by both critics and fans, leading to the cancellation of Batman Unchained.
The 36th Annual Annie Awards, honoring the best in animation for 2008, were held on January 30, 2009, at Royce Hall in Los Angeles, California. Below is a list of announced nominees. Kung Fu Panda received the most awards with 10, winning nearly all of its nominations, albeit amid controversy.
Events in 1979 in animation.
The Lego Movie is a 2014 animated adventure comedy film co-produced by Warner Animation Group, Village Roadshow Pictures, Lego System A/S, Vertigo Entertainment, and Lin Pictures, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. A collaboration between production houses from the United States, Australia, and Denmark. It was written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller from a story they co-wrote with Dan and Kevin Hageman, based on the Lego line of construction toys. The film stars the voices of Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Liam Neeson, and Morgan Freeman. Its story focuses on Emmet Brickowski (Pratt), an ordinary Lego minifigure who helps a resistance movement stop a tyrannical businessman (Ferrell) from gluing everything in the Lego world into his vision of perfection.
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The Lego Batman Movie is a 2017 animated superhero comedy film produced by Warner Animation Group, DC Entertainment, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Lego System A/S, Lin Pictures, Lord Miller Productions, and Vertigo Entertainment, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was directed by Chris McKay from a screenplay by Seth Grahame-Smith, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Jared Stern, and John Whittington. Based on the characters from the DC Universe created by DC Comics and the Lego DC Super Heroes' Batman toy line, the film is a collaboration between production houses from the United States, Australia, and Denmark, the first spin-off in The Lego Movie franchise and the second installment overall. The film features Will Arnett reprising his role as Batman from The Lego Movie alongside Zach Galifianakis, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, and Ralph Fiennes. The story follows the eponymous character (Arnett) as he attempts to overcome his greatest fear while saving Gotham City from the Joker's (Galifianakis) latest scheme.
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Events in 1974 in animation.
Events in 1954 in animation.
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