Tom McGrath isn’t like the wild-eyed cartoons that made him a success.
The director, who grew up in Lynnwood, doesn’t evoke the grotesque mania of “The Ren and Stimpy Show,” one of his early jobs in animation. Instead, the 43-year-old speaks quietly. And while a bit tall, his proportions are normal, unlike the characters he has developed in the “Madagascar” films.
Really, his success seems to be the only cartoonishly outsized thing about him.
The first “Madagascar” film, which he co-wrote and co-directed with Eric Darnell, made more than $500 million worldwide. Its sequel, “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,” scheduled for release today, seems ready to continue his winning run. Variety called it “a notable improvement on its predecessor in every department,” and it already broke box office records in the Ukraine and Russia last week.
Yet McGrath, who now lives in Burbank, Calif., almost didn’t go into animation. After doodling his way through childhood, he graduated from Meadowdale High School with a different plan.
“I thought I should get a job,” he said. “I always did drafting and drew and stuff, so I went to the UW for industrial design.”
Animation kept calling, though, and he ended up transferring to the California Institute of the Arts, the famed school of animation founded by Walt Disney. It was a fitting move, McGrath’s mother said.
“He did have amazing talent, even when he was young,” Cecelia McGrath-Swain of Marysville said. “… I have one (picture) that he did — probably I think he was in high school then. It looks like a ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ ship. It’s got minute detail,”
After graduation in 1990, he gigged around for awhile, working on the Brad Pitt flop “Cool World” and some commercials. Eventually, he wound up at Imagine Entertainment, working in conceptual design for Ron Howard on “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”
“He was a great mentor for me, because even after I was done with the job, he knew I was interested in directing, so he let me sit with him behind monitors when he was shooting,” McGrath said.
He jumped over to DreamWorks in 2000, where he met Darnell. The two spent five years crafting the first “Madagascar.” The zany result found zoo animals which were raised in New York City getting transplanted into the wilds of the island nation. The directors used a style of animation that was more Warner Bros. than Disney.
“There wasn’t really that approach to features, as far as, like, going for the Tex Avery style,” he said, referring to the famed creator of Looney Tunes characters. “And Eric and I both grew up on Bugs Bunny.”
Despite receiving mixed reviews, the flick became the top grossing animated film of 2005. It made more money in the U.S. than either “Ice Age” or “Toy Story.” And yet, while both of those movies spawned sequels, McGrath said he and Darnell still had to pitch “Madagascar 2.”
The men decided to focus on character development. The result: The animals, voiced by comics such as Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and Sacha Baron Cohen, escape from Madagascar, only to crash land in the African savannah, where they reconnect with their roots.
Sound a little touchy-feely? Well it is, but not at the expense of comedy.
“Instead of just big broad slapstick, we were able to have that, and try to do something a little more sophisticated with the acting,” he said.
Since the sequel leaves one big plot point up in the air, McGrath is already thinking about “Madagascar 3.” Granted, he’s doing that to distract himself; he tends to get nervous before a film opens, he said.
More than anything, he’s looking forward to seeing audiences react to the film, which took 3½ years to make.
“It’s a big ‘whew’ if you hear laughter,” he said. “That’s probably the most gratifying thing.”
Reporter Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455 or arathbun@heraldnet.com.
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