Conrad Vernon
Conrad Vernon (born July 11, 1968) is an American voice actor, director, writer, and storyboard artist best known for his work on the DreamWorks animated film series "Shrek" as well as other films such as "Monsters vs. Aliens", "", and "Penguins of Madagascar". He also co-directed non-DreamWorks animated films such as Sony Pictures’ "Sausage Party" and MGM’s "The Addams Family". Life and career. Vernon, a native of Lubbock, Texas, studied at CalArts and worked as a storyboard artist for animated productions (including Ralph Bakshi's "Cool World"); he also directed "Morto the Magician" (a four-minute  animated film written by Steve Martin). In 1996, he joined DreamWorks, where he worked as a storyboard artist on "Antz". After "Antz" proved a success as the first animated feature film to be produced by DreamWorks Animation, Vernon signed on as a writer for "Shrek", where he was responsible for the Gingerbread Man, and eventually voiced that character. He also appeared in "Shrek 4-D" and "". In June 2004, he made his feature film directorial debut with the Academy Award nominated "Shrek 2". He voiced Mason the chimpanzee for the DreamWorks Animation films "Madagascar", "", "" (for which he is also credited  as director) and its spin off "Penguins of Madagascar" (where he voiced Rico, one of the penguins) and reprised the voice of Mason in the television series. Later years. In 2009, Vernon and Rob Letterman co-directed the 3D animated film "Monsters vs. Aliens", which he co wrote as well as supplying several voices. Vernon and Greg Tiernan co-directed the adult animated comedy "Sausage Party" (2016), from a story by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and 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, 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", 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 an animated feature adaptation of "The Jetsons", from a screenplay by Matt Lieberman, which it is to being made by Warner Bros., under its Warner Animation  Group banner.