Conrad Vernon

Conrad Vernon IV (born July 11, 1968) is an American director, storyboard artist, writer, and voice actor, best known for his work on the DreamWorks animated film series Shrek as well as other films such as Monsters vs. Aliens, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, and Penguins of Madagascar.

Life and career

Vernon, a native of Lubbock, Texas, studied at CalArts and worked as a storyboard artist on Ralph Bakshi's Cool World, 2 Stupid Dogs, Rocko's Modern Life, Nightmare Ned, and Morto the Magician.

In 1996, he joined DreamWorks, where he worked as a storyboard artist on Antz. After Antz proved a success as the first animated feature film to be produced by DreamWorks Animation, Vernon signed on as a writer for Shrek, where he was responsible for the Gingerbread Man, and eventually voiced that character. He also appeared in Shrek 4-D and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas. In 2004, he made his feature film directorial debut with the Academy Award-nominated Shrek 2. He voiced Mason the chimpanzee for the DreamWorks Animation films Madagascar, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted and its television series. He also provided the voice for Insectosaurus and directed the 3D animated film, Monsters vs. Aliens.