Chris Miller

Actor, Director, Animation Department

Birthdate: January 20, 1968 (58 Years Old)

Birthplace: Washington D.C. USA

Chris Miller (birthname: Christopher Matthew Miller) is a veteran animation director, story artist, and voice actor who has worked at DreamWorks Animation and Paramount Animation. Miller’s debut as feature animation director/co-writer was the DreamWorks Animation sequel, Shrek the Third (2007), starring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Justin Timberlake and Eric Idle, and amassing a strong $808 million return (on $160 million costs) for distributor Paramount Pictures, as well as receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Film.

Miller’s first film as director of an original animated feature was DreamWorks Animation’s well-received adventure comedy, Puss in Boots (2011), written by Tom Wheeler and co-starring the voices of Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Bily Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris, and grossing $555 million on a $130 million budget.

Miller returned to feature animation direction after a fourteen-year pause with Paramount Animation’s rebooted musical fantasy, Smurfs (2025), written by Pam Brady and co-starring the impressive voice cast of Rihanna, James Corden, Nick Offerman, JP Karliak, Daniel Levy, Amy Sedaris, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Jimmy Kimmel, Octavia Spencer, Nick Kroll, Hannah Waddingham, Kurt Russell and John Goodman, and which was released by Paramount Pictures.

Miller in his first decade as a feature animator doubled as story artist and actor in a handful of DreamWorks Animation features including his best-known turn as the Magic Mirror in the Shrek series, starting with Shrek (2001), Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003), Madagascar (2005) and Monsters vs. Aliens (2009).

Miller also performed solely as a voice actor in Shrek 2 (2004) and the sequel Shrek the Third (2007); in the Madagascar sequels Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008), Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (2012) and Penguins of Madagascar (2014); in Puss in Boots and Turbo (2013); in The Boss Baby (2017); and Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017).

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Personal Life
Movies
Facts

Personal life

Chris Miller was born and raised in Washington, D.C., by his parents. Miller studied animation at California Institute of the Arts, from which he graduated in the early 1990s. Miller has been married to film production manager Laura Miller since 1996.

Known For

Shrek the Third

Puppet Master, Announcer, Mascot, Singing Villain (2007)

Penguins of Madagascar

Kowalski (2014)

Puss in Boots

Little Boy Blue, Friar Miller, Prison Guard, Manuel, Rafael (2011)

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

Kowalski (2012)

Chris Miller Movies

Actor

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Previous (12)

2017 |
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie
2017
Action, Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi
Two overly-imaginative pranksters hypnotize their grumpy principal into thinking he's a ridiculously enthusiastic, incredibly dimwitted, underwear-themed superhero.
asNobel Audience Member
2014 |
Penguins of Madagascar
Penguins of Madagascar
2014
Action, Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Crime, Family, Sci-Fi
Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private join forces with undercover organization The North Wind to stop the villainous Dr. Octavius Brine from destroying the world as we know it.
More Info
asKowalski
2012 |
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
2012
Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family
The Madagascar animals join a struggling European circus to get back to New York, but find themselves being pursued by a psychotic animal-control officer.
More Info
asKowalski
2011 |
Puss in Boots
Puss in Boots
2011
Action, Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family, Fantasy
An outlaw cat, his childhood egg-friend, and a seductive thief kitty set out in search for the eggs of the fabled Golden Goose to clear his name, restore his lost honor, and regain the trust of his mother and town.
More Info
asLittle Boy Blue
2008 |
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
2008
Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family
The Madagascar animals fly back to New York City, but crash-land on an African nature reserve in Kenya, where they meet others of their own kind, and Alex especially discovers his royal heritage as prince of a lion pride.
asKowalski
2005 |
Madagascar
Madagascar
2005
Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family
A group of animals who have spent all their life in a New York zoo end up in the jungles of Madagascar, and must adjust to living in the wild.
asKowalski
2001 |
Shrek
Shrek
2001
Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Romance
A mean lord exiles fairytale creatures to the swamp of a grumpy ogre, who must go on a quest and rescue a princess for the lord in order to get his land back.
asGeppetto
1978 |
National Lampoon's Animal House
National Lampoon's Animal House
1978
Comedy
At a 1962 college, Dean Vernon Wormer is determined to expel the entire Delta Tau Chi Fraternity, but those troublemakers have other plans for him.
asHardbar
-- |
as Willy Cashen
-- |
as Willy Cashen
-- |
as Willy Cashen
-- |
as Garage Sale Guy

Director

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Previous (2)

2025 |
Smurfs
Smurfs
2025
Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Musical
When Papa Smurf is taken by evil wizards Razamel and Gargamel, Smurfette leads the Smurfs on a mission to the real world to save him.
2007 |
Shrek the Third
Shrek the Third
2007
Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Romance
Reluctantly designated as the heir to the land of Far, Far Away, Shrek hatches a plan to install the rebellious Artie as the new king while Princess Fiona tries to fend off a coup d'état by the jilted Prince Charming.

Facts About Chris Miller

Mentor: Chris Miller—soon after graduating from CalArts--worked in the animation studio run by legendary animator Ralph Bakshi, whose X-rated features revolutionized American animation style. What’s in a Name?: Miller can sometimes—but should not--be confused with Lego movie animation director Christopher Miller.

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