John Powell

John Powell (born 18 September 1963) is an English composer best known for his film scores. He has been based in Los Angeles since 1997 and has composed the scores to over 70 feature films. He is best known for composing and/or co-composing scores for animated films, such as Antz (1998), The Road to El Dorado (2000), Chicken Run (2000), Shrek (2001), Robots (2005), the second through fourth Ice Age films (2006–2012), the Happy Feet films (2006–2011), Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! (2008), the first two Kung Fu Panda films (2008–2011), Bolt (2008), the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy (2010–2019), Mars Needs Moms (2011), the Rio films (2011–2014), Dr. Seuss' The Lorax (2012), and Ferdinand (2017). His work on Happy Feet, Ferdinand and Solo: A Star Wars Story has earned him three Grammy nominations. He was nominated for an Academy Award for How to Train Your Dragon. Powell was a member of Hans Zimmer's music studio, Remote Control Productions, and has collaborated frequently with other composers from the studio, including Harry Gregson-Williams on Antz, Chicken Run and Shrek and Zimmer himself on Chill Factor, The Road to El Dorado, and the first two Kung Fu Panda films. Early life and education John Powell was born on 18 September 1963 in London. As a child, he played the violin and viola. His skill in the violin allowed him to study at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London. There, he met John Ashton Thomas, who orchestrated many of Powell's scores. Powell played for "Faboulistics", an amateur rock and roll band.