She also worked on Chicken Run, and several projects in development while at DreamWorks before leaving the studio on maternity leave. She became the first female director for an animated feature by a major studio three others had previously helmed independent efforts including Lotte Reiniger of The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926), Joy Batchelor of Animal Farm (1954), and Arna Selznick of The Care Bears Movie (1985). Chapman was one of a team of three directors who worked on 1998's The Prince of Egypt, along with Steve Hickner and Simon Wells. She later served as head of story, the first woman to do so in an animated feature film, for The Lion King (1994).Ĭhapman joined DreamWorks Animation at its inception in the fall of 1994. Chapman then worked as a storyboard artist on The Rescuers Down Under (1990) and Beauty and the Beast (1991), where she worked closely with Roger Allers to define many of the key sequences and motifs used in the film. In 1987, she graduated with a BFA in character animation, and was hired as a story trainee on The Little Mermaid (1989). She then moved to California and studied animation at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts).ĭuring her summer breaks, Chapman began her professional career working in syndicated television animation. She went to Lincoln College in Lincoln, Illinois, receiving her Associate of Arts degree. Chapman was born in Beason, Illinois as the youngest of five.

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