Bonnie Arnold

Bonnie Arnold is an American film producer whose career is closely linked to animation at Pixar and DreamWorks Animation. She began in live-action production, working in the art department on Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and later serving as associate producer on Joe Dante’s Explorers (1985). Her move into feature animation brought her to Pixar’s first full-length film, Toy Story (1995), on which she was producer alongside Ralph Guggenheim. Directed by John Lasseter, Toy Story became the first feature-length film made entirely with computer-generated animation and introduced audiences to Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and Andy’s toys.

At DreamWorks Animation, Arnold produced the studio’s 2006 comedy Over the Hedge, directed by Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick and based on the comic strip by Michael Fry and T. Lewis. She then became a central producer on the How to Train Your Dragon films. The first film, released in 2010, adapts Cressida Cowell’s book series and follows Hiccup, a young Viking from Berk, as he befriends the Night Fury dragon Toothless. Arnold produced the film with a team led creatively by directors Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois.

She returned as producer for How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014), directed by DeBlois and set five years after the original, when Hiccup discovers his mother, Valka, and confronts the dragon trapper Drago Bludvist. Arnold also produced How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019), the trilogy’s conclusion, in which Hiccup seeks a refuge for dragons while Toothless encounters a female Light Fury.

Her DreamWorks credits additionally include the 2017 film Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, adapted from Dav Pilkey’s books and directed by David Soren. Arnold was executive producer of The Addams Family (2019), an animated version of Charles Addams’s macabre clan, and producer of The Addams Family 2 (2021).

Beyond individual credits, Arnold held senior leadership positions at DreamWorks Animation. In 2015, she and Mireille Soria were named co-presidents of the studio’s feature animation group. Arnold later served as president of feature animation at DreamWorks, overseeing development and production activities during a period when the company continued its major franchises. Her credits therefore run from Pixar’s inaugural feature to DreamWorks’ Dragon trilogy. The finale features Hiccup’s decision to separate dragons from Vikings.