Eric Darnell

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Darnell was born in Prairie Village, Kansas, and attended Shawnee Mission East High School, where he wrote for the school newspaper the Harbinger. He studied broadcast journalism at the University of Colorado at Boulder, graduating in 1983. After four years making experimental films in his basement, he was accepted into the Experimental Animation program at the California Institute of the Arts. During that time, he directed the music video for the 1989 R.E.M. song 'Get Up'. After graduating in 1991, he joined Pacific Data Images, working as a character animator on the 1991 Hanna-Barbera Halloween special The Last Halloween. He also animated and directed the short film Gas Planet, which won the Ottawa International Animation Festival Special Jury Prize. In 1995, he left PDI to join DreamWorks Animation, helping with research and development for The Prince of Egypt. After DreamWorks merged with PDI the following year, he co-directed his first feature film, Antz (1998), alongside fellow PDI-turned-DreamWorks employee Tim Johnson. The film marked the studio's first computer-animated feature and the second such feature after Pixar's Toy Story. He then worked as a storyboard artist on Shrek (2001), for which he wrote the song 'Welcome to Duloc.'

In Their Own Story

Darnell and Tom McGrath directed Madagascar in 2005 and its sequel, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa in 2008. He was co-writer for the Christmas TV special Merry Madagascar. Darnell also co-directed Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted with McGrath and Conrad Vernon, released June 8, 2012. He co-directed, with Simon J. Smith, the Madagascar spin-off Penguins of Madagascar, released November 26, 2014. In 2015, Darnell co-founded Baobab Studios with Maureen Fan, a former vice president of games at Zynga, based in Redwood City, California, to create animated virtual reality short films. Darnell serves as Baobab's chief creative officer, while Fan serves as its CEO. For the studio, Darnell wrote and directed short VR films Invasion! (2016) and its follow-up Asteroids! (2017), featuring two comedic aliens, Mac and Cheeze. Plans for a feature-length film based on the characters were announced in 2016 by Baobab and Roth/Kirschenbaum Films. Darnell also wrote and directed an animated VR short film, Crow: The Legend, inspired by the Lenape myth, released in 2018, featuring the voices of John Legend, Constance Wu, Oprah Winfrey, Diego Luna and Liza Koshy.

Reader's Guide

Darnell lives in Campbell, California with his wife, Laura, and their son, Rex, and daughter, Leah. His career path—from experimental films in his basement to co-founding a VR studio—shows a consistent drive to push animation into new formats. Key turning points include winning the Ottawa International Animation Festival Special Jury Prize for Gas Planet, co-directing DreamWorks' first computer-animated feature Antz, and transitioning to virtual reality with Baobab Studios. His work on the Madagascar franchise, including co-writing the TV special Merry Madagascar, demonstrates his versatility across feature films, television, and shorts.

Did You Know?

• Darnell directed the music video for the 1989 R.E.M. song 'Get Up'.
• He wrote the song 'Welcome to Duloc' for the 2001 film Shrek.
• His short film Gas Planet won the Ottawa International Animation Festival Special Jury Prize.
• Darnell co-founded Baobab Studios in 2015 with Maureen Fan, a former Zynga vice president.
• He wrote and directed the VR short Crow: The Legend, inspired by the Lenape myth and featuring voices including John Legend and Oprah Winfrey.