Basic Brainheart

Brenda grew up as the youngest of 5 children. Her mother helped foster her genuine interest in art and eventually Brenda attended CalArts where she eventually met her husband, fellow filmmaker, Kevin Lima. Once she graduated, Brenda landed a position with Disney where she was a story trainee on the Disney animated film The Little Mermaid. She was one of several key story artists on Disney's Beauty and the Beast, where she worked closely with future Disney director Roger Allers to define many of the key sequences and motifs used in the film. She later served as head of story, the first woman to do so in an animated feature film, for Disney's animated classic The Lion King. Brenda also worked in story and development for other Disney animated films such as The Rescuers Down Under, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Fantasia 2000. She joined DreamWorks Animation at its inception in the fall of 1994. She co-directed the Disney·Pixar film Brave, becoming the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Animated