Cal Brunker is a Canadian animator, storyboard artist, and filmmaker. He is best known for directing The Weinstein Company's animated film Escape from Planet Earth (2013), The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature (2017), Nickelodeon's Paw Patrol: The Movie (2021) and its sequels Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie (2023) and Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie (2026), all of which he co-wrote with his business partner Bob Barlen.
Career Cal Brunker has frequently collaborated with his partner Bob Barlen since 2009's Ollie & the Baked Halibut. Before his directorial debut with Ninjamaica and then 2013's Escape from Planet Earth, Brunker has worked as a storyboard artist and an animator on films such as Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Horton Hears a Who!, and Despicable Me. He directed films such as Escape from Planet Earth and The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature. Brunker and Barlen have written screenplays for Arctic Dogs, Cranston Academy: Monster Zone, and The Son of Bigfoot in which they co-executive produced.
He also directed the film Paw Patrol: The Movie, a feature film adaptation of the Nick Jr. Channel's Paw Patrol animated series. Serving as the director and co-writer and once more collaborating with Barlen alongside Billy Frolick, it was produced by Spin Master and Nickelodeon Movies, and released by Paramount Pictures in August 2021.
By May 2026, Brunker wrote the screenplay for Doctor Dolittle: King of the Wild, an animated reimagining of the Dr. Dolittle franchise, for Sycamore Studios.
Filmography Film Year Title Role 2003 Looney Tunes: Back in Action Clean-up in-between artist 2005 Kronk's New Groove AnimatorDirect-to-video 2008 Horton Hears a Who! Storyboard artist 2009 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 9 Ollie and the Baked Halibut AnimatorShort film 2010 Jonah Hex Pre-visualization Despicable Me Storyboard artist 2012 Ice Age: Continental Drift Additional storyboard artist 2013 Escape from Planet Earth DirectorWriter (with Bob Barlen) 2015 Minions Additional storyboard artist 2016 Ratchet & Clank Storyboard artistDesigner The Secret Life of Pets Storyboard artist 2017 The Son of Bigfoot Writer & co-executive producers (with Bob Barlen) The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature DirectorWriter (with Bob Barlen and Scott Bindley)Voice of Charming Chipmunk 2019 The Puppet Master DirectorWriter (with Bob Barlen)Short film Arctic Dogs Writer (with Bob Barlen, Matt Lyon, Aaron Woodley, and Bryan Thompson) 2020 Cranston Academy: Monster Zone Writer (with Bob Barlen) Bigfoot Family Writer (with Bob Barlen)Executive producers 2021 Paw Patrol: The Movie DirectorWriter (with Bob Barlen and Billy Frolick) 2023 Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie DirectorWriter (with Bob Barlen) 2026 Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie DirectorWriter (with Bob Barlen) TBA Doctor Dolittle: King of the Wild Writer (with Bob Barlen)Upcoming film
Television Year Title Role 2005 Cyberchase Designer 2009 Ninjamaica DirectorStoryboard artistTelevision filmDirectional debut 2009–2010 Spliced Storyboard artist
See also Bob Barlen
References
External links
Cal Brunker's Twitter