Ash Brannon

Ash Brannon (born 1969 in Columbus, Georgia) is an American animator, writer and director. He was a story artist and directing animator on Toy Story and co-director on Toy Story 2. Besides working at Pixar he has also worked with DreamWorks Animation on Over the Hedge and Sony Pictures Animation on Surf's Up. Brannon studied visual arts at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in Jacksonville, Florida for high school and went on to CalArts for further education. Studying in CalArts Character Animation program, Brannon likewise practiced his skills in animation as a trainee for Disney Animation's 1989 film The Little Mermaid. From 1990-92. In the meantime, Brannon served as an animator for such projects as Nike's Hare Jordan Super Bowl ad in 1992 and the television series That's Warner Bros.!. He won an Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Feature Production and Outstanding Individual Achievement for Writing in an Animated Feature Production on Toy Story 2. He was also nominated for an Oscar in 2007 on Surf's Up. According to the Toy Story 2 DVD audio commentary, Al McWhiggin's license plate "LZTYBRN," is Brannon's actual license plate.