---
name: "Tim Johnson"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/tim-johnson"
fi1m_id: "tim-johnson"
imdb_id: "nm0426333"
tmdb_id: 52870
wikidata_id: "Q3991363"
roles: ["Producer","Director"]
born: "27 August 1961"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_as: "producer"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-10-05T04:33:52.500376+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."
---

# Tim Johnson

## Identity

Tim Johnson

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/tim-johnson
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** tim-johnson
- **IMDb ID:** nm0426333
- **TMDB ID:** 52870
- **Wikidata ID:** Q3991363
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Johnson_(film_director), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3991363, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0426333/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/52870

Producer and director. Born 27 August 1961 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Producer, Director
- **Born:** 27 August 1961, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- **Active:** 2006–2010
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 2: 1 directing, 1 producing
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 73 (1), 2010s 82 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Johnson_(film_director), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3991363, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0426333/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/52870

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Over the Hedge*](https://film.one/film/over-the-hedge.md) (73)

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

## Fi1m on Tim Johnson

> Tim Johnson's family animation is at its most appealing when the characters find human behaviour peculiar. We recommend the brisk, funny *Over the Hedge*, with a small allowance for the lessons it insists on teaching.

In *Over the Hedge* (2006), suburban consumption looks considerably less sensible when animals consider it. Tim Johnson and co-director Karey Kirkpatrick get good comedy from that change of viewpoint, then give the animals plenty of slapstick of their own. We laughed at their assessment of human habits; the jokes are sharper than the film's reminders about family. That is where Johnson earns our interest: he can make a broad family comedy observant without asking it to stop being silly.

He came to features through computer animation at Pacific Data Images, making his feature directing debut alongside Eric Darnell with *Antz* (1998). With Patrick Gilmore, he then directed the traditionally animated *Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas* (2003), before joining Kirkpatrick for *Over the Hedge*. Those shared credits matter when we try to identify what belongs to Johnson. We can credit his adaptability without pretending that every joke or choice of tone belongs to him alone.

By *Home* (2015), he was directing a feature alone, adapting a book by Adam Rex into a story built around friendship and cultural misunderstanding. Its long development involved new animation software for closer shots and improvisation. That is a useful way for a director with a computer-animation background to spend his technical experience, making room for comic performance rather than merely finding more things to put in the picture.

*Over the Hedge* gets much of its personality from Bruce Willis and Steve Carell, who distinguish themselves within a crowded voice cast. That is the practical value of Johnson's handling of actors, shared here with Kirkpatrick: the predictable story remains worth following. At 83 minutes, it also knows when to stop. Start here for a good family evening, provided the jokes about suburban consumption appeal more than the prospect of a surprising plot.

## Biography

Tim Johnson is an American animator and film director. He was born on 27 August 1961 in Chicago, Illinois, and studied English literature at Northwestern University.

Johnson began his career in computer animation in the 1980s and joined DreamWorks Animation in 1996. He co-directed the studio's first feature *Antz* (1998) and later directed *Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas* (2003), *Over the Hedge* (2006) and *Home* (2015). He also served as executive producer on *How to Train Your Dragon* (2010) and directed television specials including *Kung Fu Panda Holiday* (2010).

Johnson has received Annie Awards for directing *Antz* and *Over the Hedge*.

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

## On Fi1m (2)

### Directed (1)

- *Over the Hedge* (2006), Fi1m 73, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/over-the-hedge.md)

### Produced (1) — the average rests on these

- *How to Train Your Dragon* (2010), Fi1m 82, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/how-to-train-your-dragon-2010.md)

## Complete filmography (17)

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

- *SATAN'S GUIDE TO THE BIBLE* (2023), as Satan · Producer
- *Metal Lords* (2022), Additional Second Assistant Director
- *How to Train Your Dragon: Snoggletog Log* (2019), Director
- *How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming* (2019), Director
- *Abominable* (2019), Executive Producer
- *Home* (2015), Director
- *Almost Home* (2014), Executive Producer
- *Dreamworks: Holiday Classics* (2012), Director
- *Kung Fu Panda Holiday* (2010), Director
- *How to Train Your Dragon* (2010), Executive Producer — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/how-to-train-your-dragon-2010.md)
- *Hammy's Boomerang Adventure* (2006), Creative Consultant
- *Over the Hedge* (2006), Director — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/film/over-the-hedge.md)
- *Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas* (2003), Director
- *Antz* (1998), Director
- *The Wizard of Id*, Director, Producer, Writer
- *B.C.*, Producer
- *The Book of the Dun Cow*, Producer

---
© 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/tim-johnson