---
name: "Graham Annable"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/graham-annable"
fi1m_id: "graham-annable"
imdb_id: "nm0030253"
tmdb_id: 1152981
wikidata_id: "Q5592627"
roles: ["Storyboard artist","Director"]
born: "1 June 1970"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 80
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-10-01T23:20:25.038984+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Graham Annable

## Identity

Graham Annable

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/graham-annable
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** graham-annable
- **IMDb ID:** nm0030253
- **TMDB ID:** 1152981
- **Wikidata ID:** Q5592627
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Annable, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5592627, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0030253/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1152981

Storyboard artist and director. Born 1 June 1970 in Sault Ste. Marie.

## Details

- **Work:** Storyboard artist, Director
- **Born:** 1 June 1970, Sault Ste. Marie
- **Active:** 2012–present
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 4: 1 directing, 1 writing, 2 crew
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 74 (3), 2020s 80 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Annable, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5592627, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0030253/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1152981

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*The Boxtrolls*](https://film.one/film/the-boxtrolls.md) (64)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Graham Annable

> Graham Annable gives strange creatures enough expression to make speech seem optional. We value the macabre invention of his work with Anthony Stacchi on *The Boxtrolls*, though its underwritten children leave us more interested in the creatures than the adventure.

The creatures in *The Boxtrolls* (2014) communicate through gesture and expression rather than discernible speech. That suits Graham Annable’s preference for telling a story through what a character does with its body and face. We enjoyed the grotesque detail of these creatures and their surroundings; the willingness to make a family animation look unattractive gave us something to relish. There is enough invention here to merit a look from anyone interested in stop-motion, though the adventure does not give the craft enough support.

Annable came to feature directing through comics, games and storyboards, with the *Grickle* comics, animation at LucasArts and creative direction at Telltale Games among his earlier work. He was a storyboard artist on *Coraline* (2009) and *ParaNorman* (2012) before making his feature directorial debut alongside Anthony Stacchi on *The Boxtrolls*. The move into directing brought that preference for wordless communication to characters who depend on it. His taste for dark humour had a place in the film he and Stacchi were making.

Annable and Stacchi’s approach to developing *The Boxtrolls* welcomed ideas regardless of who proposed them. Their macabre tastes serve the creatures well, but the children at the centre are underwritten and less interesting than the company they keep. That is a substantial weakness when the adventure asks us to care about what happens next. The film keeps supplying things worth looking at without making us especially eager for the next scene, and we would not mistake its visual invention for a satisfying story.

His subsequent story-artist credits include *Kubo and the Two Strings* (2016), *Missing Link* (2019) and *Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio* (2022). He has also continued making comics and illustrations, rather than leaving drawing behind after directing a feature. On the evidence of *The Boxtrolls*, stronger writing for the leads would be worth more than another ingenious creature. Start there for the stop-motion craft, with modest expectations of the adventure.

## Biography

Graham Annable is a Canadian cartoonist, animator and film director. Born on 1 June 1970 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, he trained in classical animation at Sheridan College in Toronto.

After ten years at LucasArts as a lead animator, Annable moved to Laika, where he worked as a storyboard artist on *Coraline* (2009) and *ParaNorman* (2012). He co-directed the studio's stop-motion feature *The Boxtrolls* (2014) with Anthony Stacchi. He has also contributed as a story artist to *Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio* (2022).

Annable is the creator of the comic series *Grickle* and has worked in video games, including as creative director at Telltale Games on titles such as *Puzzle Agent*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, sootoday.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

### Directed (1)

- *The Boxtrolls* (2014), Fi1m 64, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-boxtrolls.md)

### Wrote (1)

- *Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio* (2022), Fi1m 80, Story Artist — [page](https://film.one/film/guillermo-del-toros-pinocchio.md)

### Crew (2) — the average rests on these

- *Kubo and the Two Strings* (2016), Fi1m 83, Storyboard Artist — [page](https://film.one/film/kubo-and-the-two-strings.md)
- *ParaNorman* (2012), Fi1m 76, Storyboard Artist — [page](https://film.one/film/paranorman.md)

## Complete filmography (56)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Migration* (2023), Additional Storyboarding
- *Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio* (2022), Story Artist — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/guillermo-del-toros-pinocchio.md)
- *Pickle Sandwich* (2021), Director
- *Maybellene* (2019), Director
- *Blower* (2018), Director
- *About face* (2018), Director
- *Flight 851* (2017), Director
- *Refuge* (2016), Director
- *Lunch* (2016), Director
- *Kubo and the Two Strings* (2016), Storyboard Artist — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/kubo-and-the-two-strings.md)
- *Dummy* (2016), Director
- *Holicraze* (2015), Director
- *The Webb* (2015), Director
- *Soup Leprechaun* (2015), Director
- *Dreams of Venus* (2015), Director
- *After hours* (2015), Director
- *Down by the Bay* (2014), Director
- *The Boxtrolls* (2014), Director — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/the-boxtrolls.md)
- *ParaNorman* (2012), Storyboard Artist — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/paranorman.md)
- *V Day* (2012), Director
- *The Smartest Dog in the World* (2011), Director
- *Beat* (2011), Director
- *Performance* (2010), Director
- *Channels* (2010), Director
- *Santa's* (2009), Director
- *Principal Skeleton* (2009), Director
- *Change of Scenery* (2009), Director
- *Grand Finale* (2009), Director
- *Coraline* (2009), Storyboard Artist — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/coraline.md)
- *Twas the Night* (2008), Director
- *We Sing the Forest Electric* (2008), Director, Music
- *Don't Mess with Delaware* (2008), Director
- *From Whence Before Times* (2008), Director
- *Zoo* (2008), Director
- *Sasquatch* (2008), Director
- *The Hidden People* (2008), Director
- *Botched* (2008), Director
- *Joy to the Weird* (2008), Director
- *Arctic Holiday* (2007), Director
- *Closet* (2007), Director
- *The Last Duet On Earth* (2007), Director
- *Interrogation: Day 283* (2007), Director
- *Day Off.* (2007), Director
- *Space Wolf* (2007), Director
- *A Scooter New Year* (2007), Director
- *Far, far, far, away up North* (2006), Director
- *At the mall.* (2006), Director
- *Dreams of Sloshy* (2006), Director
- *Transmission at Outpost 79* (2006), Director
- *The Ascension* (2006), Director
- *Old Reliable* (2006), Director
- *The Lonely Hunter* (2006), Director
- *Morning Glory* (2006), Director
- *Death Defying* (2006), Director
- *Death in the Dust* (2006), Director
- *Frozen Hell* (2006), Director

## Gallery

- ![Graham Annable at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International.](https://film.one/media/person/679033/gallery-35ed0e018c26.jpg) Graham Annable at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International. — Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Graham_Annable_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Graham Annable](https://film.one/media/person/679033/gallery-611b0679fe98.jpg) Graham Annable — Joshin Yamada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Graham_Annable%2C_Stumptown_Comics_Festival_2009-cropped.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable speaking at the 2014 San Diego Comic Con International, for "The Boxtrolls", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego,](https://film.one/media/person/679033/gallery-6f7e36d9653a.jpg) Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable speaking at the 2014 San Diego Comic Con International, for "The Boxtrolls", at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, — Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Anthony_Stacchi_and_Graham_Annable%2C_The_Boxtrolls%2C_Comic-Con_%28crop%29.jpg/1280px-Anthony_Stacchi_and_Graham_Annable%2C_The_Boxtrolls%2C_Comic-Con_%28crop%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Graham Annable, creator of "Grickle" and " Hickee" comics, at the 2010 Stumptown Comics Festival, in Portland, Oregon.](https://film.one/media/person/679033/gallery-f4e9f52169a2.jpg) Graham Annable, creator of "Grickle" and " Hickee" comics, at the 2010 Stumptown Comics Festival, in Portland, Oregon. — Joshin Yamada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/Graham_Annable%2C_Stumptown_Comics_Festival_2010.jpg/1280px-Graham_Annable%2C_Stumptown_Comics_Festival_2010.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Graham Annable, creator of "Grickle" and " Hickee" comics, at the 2007 Stumptown Comics Festival, in Portland, Oregon.](https://film.one/media/person/679033/gallery-ba9ecb6e8977.jpg) Graham Annable, creator of "Grickle" and " Hickee" comics, at the 2007 Stumptown Comics Festival, in Portland, Oregon. — Joshin Yamada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Graham_Annable%2C_Stumptown_Comics_Festival_2007-cropped.jpg/1280px-Graham_Annable%2C_Stumptown_Comics_Festival_2007-cropped.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Graham Annable, creator of "Grickle" and " Hickee" comics, at the 2009 Stumptown Comics Festival, in Portland, Oregon.](https://film.one/media/person/679033/gallery-8703a07af099.jpg) Graham Annable, creator of "Grickle" and " Hickee" comics, at the 2009 Stumptown Comics Festival, in Portland, Oregon. — Joshin Yamada, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Graham_Annable%2C_Stumptown_Comics_Festival_2009.jpg/1280px-Graham_Annable%2C_Stumptown_Comics_Festival_2009.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 2015: Best Animated Feature (nominated), for *The Boxtrolls*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/graham-annable