Brenda Chapman

Brenda Chapman (born in 1962 or 1963) is an American animator, screenwriter, storyboard artist, and director. Hailing from Beason, Illinois, she is the youngest of five children. After receiving her Associate of Arts degree from Lincoln College in Lincoln, Illinois, she moved to California to study animation at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). Chapman's professional career began during her summer breaks, when she worked in syndicated television animation. She graduated with a BFA in character animation in 1987 and was subsequently hired as a story trainee on The Little Mermaid (1989). Over the years, she has worked as a storyboard artist on The Rescuers Down Under (1990) and Beauty and the Beast (1991), as well as head of story in The Lion King (1994), making her the first woman to do so in an animated feature film. In 1998, Chapman became the first woman to direct an animated feature from a major studio, DreamWorks Animation's The Prince of Egypt. She later worked on Chicken Run and multiple projects in development at DreamWorks. In 2003, she moved to Pixar Animation Studios where she directed the hit film Brave (2012), earning her the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Chapman has also served as a consultant at Lucasfilm Animation and later returned to DreamWorks Animation. Since 2016, she has been developing projects for Chapman Lima Productions, with her husband Kevin Lima.