Tennessee Native and Feature Animation Director of ‘Mulan’ to speak at Watkins

A native of Nashville, TN, Cook began making films when he was just ten years old. Inspired and encouraged by artistic parents - his mother a quilt-maker, his father a painter - Cook began making his own films using the family’s super 8 camera. At age 12, he won top prizes in the local PBS-sponsored Young Filmmakers Festival with his horror genre send-ups, “The Vampire” and “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”.

In 1977, at the age of 18, Cook moved to California to pursue a career in motion pictures. He studied at Columbia College in Hollywood and spent his spare time helping fellow students edit their films. An internship at Hanna-Barbera gave him his first job in the industry as an assistant animator.

In 1981, Cook joined Disney as an effects animator on the film, “Tron.” He went on to animate or supervise effects for such other Disney projects as “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Little Mermaid,” and “Aladdin.” He made his feature film directing debut on the animated Disney film “Mulan…learn more by clicking here.