Chris Miller (animator)

This article is about the American animator born in 1968. For the film director/animator duo, see Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.

Christopher Matthew Miller (born January 20, 1968) is an American animator, director, and voice actor employed by Paramount Animation and formerly DreamWorks Animation.^{[citation needed]} He is best known for directing Shrek the Third and Puss in Boots (for which he received his first Academy Award nomination) and for voicing The Magic Mirror from the Shrek film series and Kowalski the penguin in the Madagascar film series.^[2] At Paramount Animation, he was the leader, director, and star of the Smurfs (2025), in which he provided the voices of Grouchy Smurf and Camouflage.

Chris Miller
Miller in November 2011 at a premiere of Puss in Boots in Sydney
Born	Christopher Matthew Miller (1968-01-20) January 20, 1968 (age 57)[1] Washington, D.C., U.S.
Occupations	Animator director voice actor
Years active	1988–present
Employer(s)	DreamWorks Animation (1998–2018) Reel FX Animation Studios (2018–2022) Paramount Animation (2022–present)
Notable work	Shrek the Third Puss in Boots Smurfs

Early life

Miller was born on January 20, 1968, in Washington, D.C.^{[citation needed]} He studied animation at the California Institute of Arts.^{[citation needed]}

Career

In an interview with Robert K. Elder for The Film That Changed My Life, Miller attributes his success in film to Sleeper. "I would be penniless and drunk on the corner, begging for cash, if I had not seen the film Sleeper. I guarantee you."^[3]

In 2011, Miller directed Puss in Boots, a spin-off and sequel to the Shrek franchise. His wife, Laura Gorenstein Miller, worked as a dance choreographer.^[4]

Filmography

Miller with Salma Hayek pose with a Puss mascot at a premiere of Puss in Boots in Paris

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	The Thing What Lurked in the Tub	Lugmeyer
	Lea Press on Limbs		Director
1989	The Cellar	Willy Cashen
1992	Cool World		Key clean-up artist
1997	Officer Buckle and Gloria		Storyboard artist
1998	Antz
2001	Shrek	Geppetto, Magic Mirror	Story artist/additional dialogue
2003	Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas	Tower Guard	Additional story artist
2004	Shrek 2	Humphries, Magic Mirror	Head of story/additional dialogue
	Shark Tale		Additional storyboard artist
2005	Madagascar	Kowalski	Story artist
2007	Shrek the Third	Puppet Master, Announcer, Mascot, Singing Villain	Director/screenplay
2008	Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa	Kowalski
2009	Monsters vs. Aliens	Advisor Cole, Army Commander Jones	Additional story artist
2010	Shrek Forever After	Royal Messenger, Magic Mirror, Geppetto
2011	Puss in Boots	Little Boy Blue, Friar Miller, Prison Guard, Manual, Rafael	Director
2012	Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted	Kowalski
2013	Turbo	Tour Bus Driver
2014	Penguins of Madagascar	Kowalski
2017	The Boss Baby	Captain Ross
	Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie	Nobel Audience Member
2025	Smurfs[5]	Grouchy / Camouflage (voice)	Director
TBA	Untitled wish-themed project[6]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Shrek the Halls		Dialogue director
2009	Merry Madagascar	Kowalski
2013	Phineas and Ferb	Additional Voices