Conrad Vernon
Life and career
Life and career
---------------

Vernon, a native of [Lubbock, Texas](/wiki/Lubbock%2C_Texas "Lubbock, Texas"), studied at [CalArts](/wiki/California_Institute_of_the_Arts "California Institute of the Arts") and worked as a [storyboard](/wiki/Storyboard "Storyboard") artist for animated productions (including [Ralph Bakshi](/wiki/Ralph_Bakshi "Ralph Bakshi")'s *[Cool World](/wiki/Cool_World "Cool World")*); he also directed *Morto the Magician* (a four\-minute animated film written by [Steve Martin](/wiki/Steve_Martin "Steve Martin")).

Vernon began his career in 1991\. In 1996, he joined DreamWorks, where he worked as a storyboard artist on *[Antz](/wiki/Antz "Antz")*. After *Antz* proved a success as the first animated feature film to be produced by [DreamWorks Animation](/wiki/DreamWorks_Animation "DreamWorks Animation"), Vernon signed on as a writer for *Shrek*, where he was responsible for the [Gingerbread Man](/wiki/Gingerbread_Man_%28Shrek%29 "Gingerbread Man (Shrek)"), and eventually voiced that character. He also appeared in *[Shrek 4\-D](/wiki/Shrek_4-D "Shrek 4-D")* and *[Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas](/wiki/Sinbad:Legend_of_the_Seven_Seas "Legend of the Seven Seas")*.

In June 2004, he made his feature film directorial debut with the Academy Award\-nominated *[Shrek 2](/wiki/Shrek_2 "Shrek 2")*. He voiced [Mason](/wiki/List_of_Madagascar_%28franchise%29_characters%23Mason_and_Phil "List of Madagascar (franchise) characters#Mason and Phil") the [chimpanzee](/wiki/Common_chimpanzee "Common chimpanzee") for the DreamWorks Animation films *[Madagascar](/wiki/Madagascar_%282005_film%29 "Madagascar (2005 film)")*, *[Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa](/wiki/Madagascar:Escape_2_Africa "Escape 2 Africa")*, *[Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted](/wiki/Madagascar_3:Europe%27s_Most_Wanted "Europe's Most Wanted")* (for which he is also credited as director) and its [spin off](/wiki/Spin-off_%28media%29 "Spin-off (media)") *[Penguins of Madagascar](/wiki/Penguins_of_Madagascar "Penguins of Madagascar")* (where he voiced [Rico](/wiki/List_of_Madagascar_%28franchise%29_characters%23The_Penguins "List of Madagascar (franchise) characters#The Penguins"), one of the penguins) and reprised the voice of Mason in the [television series](/wiki/The_Penguins_of_Madagascar "The Penguins of Madagascar").

In 2009, Vernon and [Rob Letterman](/wiki/Rob_Letterman "Rob Letterman") co\-directed the 3D animated film *[Monsters vs. Aliens](/wiki/Monsters_vs._Aliens "Monsters vs. Aliens")*, which he co\-wrote and supplied several voices.

Vernon and [Greg Tiernan](/wiki/Greg_Tiernan "Greg Tiernan") co\-directed the [adult animated](/wiki/Adult_animation "Adult animation") comedy *[Sausage Party](/wiki/Sausage_Party "Sausage Party")* (2016\), from a story by [Seth Rogen](/wiki/Seth_Rogen "Seth Rogen"), [Evan Goldberg](/wiki/Evan_Goldberg "Evan Goldberg"), and [Jonah Hill](/wiki/Jonah_Hill "Jonah Hill"), as well as providing some of the voices. Vernon next co\-produced and co\-directed, again with Tiernan, an animated version of *[The Addams Family](/wiki/The_Addams_Family_%282019_film%29 "The Addams Family (2019 film)")*, which was released in October 2019\. He supplied voice roles for both *Sausage Party* and *The Addams Family*, including Lurch in the latter. He was scheduled to return as director alongside Tiernan for *[The Addams Family 2](/wiki/The_Addams_Family_2 "The Addams Family 2")*, released in October 2021\. In October 2020, it was announced that he would no longer be involved as director, though he ultimately received co\-billing with Tiernan.

In 2017, Vernon was hired to direct a live\-action feature adaptation of *The Jetsons*, from a screenplay by [Matt Lieberman](/wiki/Matt_Lieberman "Matt Lieberman"), which is being made by [Warner Bros.](/wiki/Warner_Bros. "Warner Bros."), under its [Warner Animation Group](/wiki/Warner_Bros._Pictures_Animation "Warner Bros. Pictures Animation") banner.[Animated 'Jetsons' Movie to Lift Off With 'Sausage Party' Director](https://variety.com/2017/film/news/anitmated-jetsons-movie-sausage-party-director-1202444840/) , in [Variety](/wiki/Variety_%28magazine%29 "Variety (magazine)")


How did Vernon's career progress after joining DreamWorks?