Jill Culton

Education and career

Previously, she studied at the Character Animation program at the California Institute of the Arts, where she later taught animation.

She was also a storyboard artist for various Pixar films such as Toy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug's Life and also co-wrote the original treatment for Monsters, Inc., and continued to become the Head of Development.

She animated on Toy Story and served as a Directing Animator at Turner Features for the film Cats Don't Dance.

Along with Anthony Stacchi, she helped to develop Curious George while working at Industrial Light & Magic.

In 2003, Culton joined Sony Pictures Animation, which launched a year before to produce CG animated films. During her years at Sony, Culton, along with directing Open Season and executive producing Open Season 2, also developed Hotel Transylvania.

As of 2010, Culton was at DreamWorks Animation. For some time, she was writing and directing an animated film (now titled Abominable) about a little girl and a Yeti, tentatively titled Everest, but by 2016, she had left the project. However, in 2018, she came back to the project to write and direct once again.

In June 2024, it was announced that Culton would serve as the co-director of Warner Bros. Pictures Animation's adaptation of Oh, the Places You'll Go!.

Filmography

• The Princess and the Cobbler (1993) (animator: Calvert/Cobbler Productions)
• Toy Story (1995) (story artist)
• Cats Don't Dance (1997) (supervising animator: Supporting Animal Characters, storyboard artist)
• A Bug's Life (1998) (additional storyboard artist)
• Toy Story 2 (1999) (character designer: new characters, story artist)
• Shrek (2001) (story artist)
• Monsters, Inc. (2001) (story, story supervisor, visual development)
• Open Season (2006) (director, story)
• Boog and Elliot's Midnight Bun Run (2006) (director, writer)
• Surf's Up (2007) (special thanks)
• Open Season 2 (2009) (executive producer)
• Shrek Forever After (2010) (special thanks, character designer: new characters, story artist)
• Abominable (2019) (director, writer)
• Oh, the Places You'll Go! (2028) (co-director)

References

References

1. Stein, Ruthe. (September 27, 2006). "DATE LINES / News, notes and updates from the Bay Area arts and culture scene compiled by Chronicle staff writers and critics". SFGate.
2. (May 8, 2003). "Sony tooning new animation unit". Variety.
3. (May 12, 2003). "Lucas Starts Animation Division". Los Angeles Times.
4. (July 10, 2014). "Emails, Court Docs Show Sony Resisted Wage-Fixing Cartel". Animation World Network.
5. "Two in One Interview: NY Illustrators – Character Designers". CTN Animation Expo.
6. Gachman, Dina. (March 21, 2013). "Bringing 'The Croods' to Life: A Spotlight Interview with Producers Kristine Belson and Jane Hartwell". Studio System News.
7. Milligan, Mercedes. (March 26, 2014). "DreamWorks Adopts FLIX for Story Development". Animation Magazine.
8. (December 5, 2016). "'How To Train Your Dragon 3' Flies To 2019; Uni's DWA To Scale 'Everest'". Deadline.
9. (February 2, 2018). "CMC Takes Over Universal's Stake in Oriental DreamWorks".
10. Fleming, Mike Jr.. (June 10, 2024). "Jill Culton Joins Jon M. Chu To Co-Direct Dr. Seuss' 'Oh, The Places You’ll Go!' For Warner Bros Pictures Animation & Bad Robot; Benj Pasek & Justin Paul Writing Original Tunes".
11. Ryan Gajewski. (2025-01-27). "Dr. Seuss’ ‘Oh, the Places You’ll Go!’ Lands 2028 Release From Director Jon M. Chu and Warner Bros.". The Hollywood Reporter.