Biography

Jim Kammerud is an American film director, screenwriter, and animator. He was educated at Ohio State University, where he served as a cartoonist for the student newspaper "The Lantern".

Following his graduation, Kammerud partnered with his college friend Jeff Smith (1960-) in creating their own animation studio, "Character Builders". Kammerud served as an animator and storyboard artist in projects such as "Rover Dangerfield" (1991) and "Space Jam" (1996). He was eventually hired by Disney, and served as a sequence director for "Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World" (1998).

Kammerud was promoted to director for a number of sequels to classic Disney films. He served as one of two co-directors for the films "The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea" (2000) and "101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure" (2003). His first solo work as a director was the film "The Fox and the Hound 2". He started work on another sequel "The Aristocats II", but the project ended in development hell. Disney terminated plans for further sequels to its classic films.

After leaving Disney, Kammerud joined the animation studio "House of Cool", which provides storyboards and additional animation to various film projects by bigger studios. Kammerud has served as a storyboard artist for films such as "Gnomeo & Juliet" (2011) and "Ice Age: Continental Drift" (2012).