James Straus is an alumnus of Sheridan College in Ontario, Canada. He earned an Academy Award® nomination in 1997 for his work on the knights and dragons epic DRAGONHEART (1996). His sophisticated, innovative influence is also evident in such films as JURASSIC PARK (1993), FORREST GUMP (1994), THE FLINSTONES (also 1994), JUMANJI (1995), and AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN PARIS (1997). He has been Animation Director at Santa Barbara Studios since 1996, where his projects included STAR TREK: INSURRECTION (1998) and PAULIE: A PARROT'S TALE (1998). He was an uncredited animation director for SHREK (2001). As an animation supervisor at CafeFX, he worked on THE MIST (2007). Straus previously worked as Key Animator at Kennedy Cartoons in Toronto, where his projects included DARKWING DUCK and PIRATES OF DARKWATER, among other features.  Nominated for Achievement in Visual Effects 1996: DRAGONHEART (w. Scott Squires, Phil Tippett & Kit West) 1 nomination