John A. Davis

John Alexander Davis (born October 26, 1961) is an American film director, writer, animator, voice actor and composer known for his work both in stop-motion animation as well as computer animation, live action and live-action/CGI hybrids. Davis is known for co-creating Nickelodeon's Jimmy Neutron franchise, which enjoyed popularity in the early to mid 2000s.
==Early life==
Davis began animating as a child using his parent's 8 mm camera to film action figures in stop motion. His interest in animation began when watched a stop motion film called Icharus at a film festival. He worked on the stop motion film The Bermuda Triangle in 1981 while still attending Southern Methodist University, where he graduated in 1984.
==Career==
===K&H Productions===
Soon after his graduation Davis joined the animation company K&H Productions, working with 2-D animator Keith Alcorn. Soon, Davis made the transition from claymation to 2-D animation with Alcorn's help. K&H did production work for commercials, public-access television cable TV animation, and film festivals. K&H Productions declared bankruptcy in early 1987; that same year DNA Productions was founded.
===Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius===
Davis came up with the idea for Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (then named Johnny Quasar) sometime during the 1980s and wrote a script titled Runaway Rocketboy (later the name of the second pilot) which was later abandoned. While moving to a new house in the early 1990s he stumbled upon the script and re-worked it as a short film titled Johnny Quasar and presented it in SIGGRAPH where he met Steve Oedekerk and worked on a television series as well as the movie.
===The Ant Bully===
In 2006, he directed the film The Ant Bully after being approached by Tom Hanks to direct the film. Production on the film made Davis resign from production of Jimmy Neutron in January 2003. He gave his position away as Executive in charge of production to Steve Oedekerk. He also directed the movie's Video Game.
===Planet Sheen===
Davis co-created Planet Sheen in 2010 with Keith Alcorn and Steve Oedekerk. It is a spin-off of his show The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.
===Proposed Neopets Film===
Davis was set to direct an upcoming feature film based on Neopets with Warner Bros., together with producer Dylan Sellers and writer Rob Lieber. It was originally set to release on April 20, 2009, but was changed to 2011 and later changed to winter of 2012, before finally being cancelled with no other projects announced.
==Nominations==
In 2000, Davis was up for an Emmy along with 8 others in the category Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming More Than One Hour) for Olive, the Other Reindeer, but lost to Discovery Channel's Walking with Dinosaurs.
In 2002, Davis was nominated for an Oscar along with Steve Oedekerk in the category of Best Animated Feature for Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, but lost to DreamWorks Animation's Shrek.
==Filmography==
Year 	Film 	Job
1981 	Bermuda Triangle 	Director, Animator as John Davis
1984 	Blood Sucker from Outer Space 	Visual EffectsUncredited
1989 	Scaredy Cat! 	Special Thanks as John A. D.
1990 	Macon County War 	Composer
1992 	The Tale of Nippoless Nippleby 	ActorVoice of Nippoless Nippleby
1993 	Basic Values: Sex, Shock & Censorship in the 1990s	Composer
1995 	Johnny Quasar (Jimmy Neutron prototype) 	Director, Writer, Animator
1997 	Santa vs. The Snowman 	TV seriesDirector, Producer, Writer, Animation Supervisor, Technical Director
1999 	Olive, the Other Reindeer 	TV seriesAnimation Director, Animation Executive Producer, as John Davis
2001 	Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius 	Director, Producer, Writer, Animation Director, ActorVoice of Octapuke Kid, Guard and Bennie
2001 	The Making of 'Jimmy Neutron' 	Self
2002 	Santa vs. the Snowman 3D 	Director, Producer, Writer, Animation Supervisor
2002–06	The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius 	TV seriesCreator, Producer, Story writer
2004 	The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 	TV filmCreator: The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Producer
2004 	Jimmy Neutron: Win, Lose and Kaboom 	TV filmCreator, Producer
2006 	The Ant Bully 	Director, Producer, Screen-Writer, Actor (voice of Ant #19)
2006 	The Ant Bully 	Video gameDirector
2010–13	Planet Sheen 	TV seriesCreative consultantBased on characters created by, as John Davis
2012 	The Lost Tomb: A Neopets Adventure 	CancelledDirector, Co-Producer
2014 	Ring-Co 	CancelledDirector, Producer, Writer
2016 	Smart 	CancelledDirector
2019 	Ziley and the Crew 	TV seriesWriter
2020 	Art of the Fantastic: A Journey Into Creation 	Associate producer
===Internet===
Year	Title 	Role
2016	Cartoons VS Cancer 	Himself
2016	Nickelodeon Animation Podcast	Himself
==Astrophotography==
Since about 2007, Davis has become a recognized astrophotographer, publishing high-resolution, generally wide-field images in astronomy magazines, and in NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day.
In 2009, Davis largely founded and continues to lead APSIG, the Astrophotography Special Interest Group, associated with the Texas Astronomical Society of Dallas.
==See also==
* :Category:Films directed by John A. Davis
Category:1961 births
Category:Living people
Category:Animators from Texas
Category:American animators
Category:Film producers from Texas
Category:American television directors
Category:Television producers from Texas
Category:American television writers
Category:American male voice actors
Category:American male screenwriters
Category:American animated film directors
Category:Southern Methodist University alumni
Category:Place of birth missing (living people)
Category:Astrophotographers
Category:American male television writers
Category:Male actors from Dallas
Category:Film directors from Texas
Category:Screenwriters from Texas
Category:Nickelodeon people