Jimmy Hayward

Animator turner director Jimmy Hayward got his start in 1994 on the computer-animated Saturday morning cartoon "Reboot," which centered on a good versus evil battle taking place within a personal computer. The following year, he took his CGI skills to the up-and-coming animation studio Pixar, where he served as an animator on what would become their wildly popular debut "Toy Story." He went on to work as an animator on a string of Pixar features, including the insect-centered adventure "A Bug's Life," the Oscar-nominated sequel "Toy Story 2," and the wild buddy comedy "Monsters, Inc.." But after completing work on the fish rescue adventure "Finding Nemo," Hayward moved on to Blue Sky Studios, where he served as story consultant on the quirky science-fiction adventure "Robots." Having directed some of the sequences in "Robots," Hayward soon decided to step up to the director's chair. Along with collaborator Steve Martino, Hayward co-directed Blue Sky Studios' whimsical adaptation of Dr. Seuss' "Horton Hears a Who!." The animated adventure about a daffy but devoted elephant, voiced by comedian Jim Carrey, was a massive hit with audiences and was cheered by critics. In 2010, Hayward struck out on his own, directing his first live-action feature, the grisly Western revenge tale "Jonah Hex," a movie that was based on the popular DC Comics character. Though Academy Award-nominee Josh Brolin and sex symbol Megan Fox fronted the big budget production, "Jonah Hex" did not succeed with critics or audiences.