Cal Brunker

Last updated

Cal Brunker
Born
Callan Stuart Brunker

(1978-11-16) November 16, 1978 (age 45)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Occupations
  • Animator
  • storyboard artist
  • screenwriter
  • film director
Years active2002–present

Callan Stuart "Cal" Brunker (born November 16, 1978) is a Canadian animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter, and film director. He is best known for directing The Weinstein Company's animated film Escape from Planet Earth (2013), The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature (2017), Nickelodeon's PAW Patrol: The Movie (2021) and PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie (2023) all are in collaboration with his business partner Bob Barlen, who served as a co-writer for these films.

Contents

Career

Cal Brunker has frequently collaborated with his partner Bob Barlen since 2009's Ollie & the Baked Halibut, who has later written films alongside since. Before his directorial debut in Ninjamaica and then 2013's Escape from Planet Earth , Brunker has worked as a storyboard artist and an animator on films such as Looney Tunes: Back in Action , Horton Hears a Who! , and Despicable Me . [1] He directed films such as Escape from Planet Earth and The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature . Brunker and Barlen have written screenplays for Arctic Dogs , Cranston Academy: Monster Zone , and The Son of Bigfoot in which they co-executive produced. [1]

He also directed the film PAW Patrol: The Movie , a feature film adaptation of the Nick Jr. Channel's PAW Patrol animated series. Serving as the director and co-writer and once more collaborating with Barlen alongside Billy Frolick, it was produced by Spin Master and Nickelodeon Movies, and released by Paramount Pictures in August 2021. [2] [3]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRole
2003 Looney Tunes: Back in Action Clean-up in-between artist
2005 Kronk's New Groove Animator
Direct-to-video
2008 Horton Hears a Who! Storyboard artist
2009 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
9
Ollie and the Baked HalibutAnimator
Short film
2010 Jonah Hex Pre-visualization
Despicable Me Storyboard artist
2012 Ice Age: Continental Drift Additional storyboard artist
2013 Escape from Planet Earth Director
Writer (with Bob Barlen)
2015 Minions Additional storyboard artist
2016 Ratchet & Clank Storyboard artist
Designer
The Secret Life of Pets Storyboard artist
2017 The Son of Bigfoot Writer & co-executive producers (with Bob Barlen)
The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature Director
Writer (with Bob Barlen and Scott Bindley)
Voice of Charming Chipmunk
2019The Puppet MasterDirector
Writer (with Bob Barlen)
Short film
Arctic Dogs Writer (with Bob Barlen, Matt Lyon, Aaron Woodley, and Bryan Thompson)
2020 Cranston Academy: Monster Zone Writer (with Bob Barlen)
Bigfoot Family Writer (with Bob Barlen)
Executive producers
2021 PAW Patrol: The Movie Director
Writer (with Bob Barlen and Billy Frolick)
2023 PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie Director
Writer (with Bob Barlen)

Television

YearTitleRole
2005 Cyberchase Designer
2009NinjamaicaDirector
Storyboard artist
Television film
Directional debut
2009–2010 Spliced Storyboard artist

See also

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PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie is a 2023 Canadian animated superhero comedy film based on the television series PAW Patrol created by Keith Chapman. The sequel to PAW Patrol: The Movie (2021), it was directed by Cal Brunker, who co-wrote the screenplay with Bob Barlen from a story by Brunker, Barlen, and Shane Morris. Several cast members from the TV series lent their voices to the film, including Christian Corrao, Luxton Handspiker, Callum Shoniker, and Ron Pardo. They are joined by an ensemble voice cast including Mckenna Grace, Taraji P. Henson, Marsai Martin, Christian Convery, Kim Kardashian, Chris Rock, Lil Rel Howery, Serena Williams, North West, Saint West, James Marsden, Kristen Bell, and introducing Finn Lee-Epp in his film debut as Ryder. In the film, the PAW Patrol pups gain superpowers from the pups' crystals and must stop Mayor Humdinger and his new accomplice Victoria Vance from wreaking havoc in Adventure City.

References

  1. 1 2 "About Cal & Bob". Cal & Bob. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  2. Grater, Tom (November 1, 2019). "Jamie Bell, Ruby Rose To Voice Animation 'Cranston Academy: Monster Zone' For DDI – AFM". Deadline. Deadline. Archived from the original on September 20, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  3. Galuppo, Mia (February 21, 2020). "'PAW Patrol' Feature Coming From Paramount, Spin Master". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media, LLC. Archived from the original on May 22, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2020.