Jeff Fowler is an American animator, visual effects artist, and filmmaker. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film as writer and director of the short film Gopher Broke (2004).^[1][2] He made his theatrical directorial debut with the live-action adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), and returned to direct the 2022 sequel.^[3][4]

Career

Fowler was an animator for the 2003 short film Rockfish and the 2009 film Where the Wild Things Are. In 2004, he wrote, directed, storyboarded, did the art layout, and animated Gopher Broke. He also wrote and animated A Gentleman's Duel. Fowler worked on the CGI movie production for the 2005 video game Shadow the Hedgehog.

He directed Sonic the Hedgehog, a film based on the video game series of the same name. The film was originally set to release in November 2019, but due to widespread criticism toward Sonic's design, it was delayed to February 14, 2020 to change the design. The new design for Sonic was revealed in November 2019, garnering far more positive responses from fans and critics. Fowler directed a sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog titled Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which released on April 8, 2022. He is set to direct a reboot of The Pink Panther, which is in development, and executive producing the TV series Knuckles and Sonic the Hedgehog 3, both set for release in 2024.

Filmography

Film

Short films

Television

Video games