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).