Cook made his first film when he was ten years old. Cook interned as an assistant animator beginning in December 1978 at the animation studio
Hanna-Barbera, where he contributed as an assistant animator on "The New Fred and Barney Show" and many others. He also contributed to the pilot episode of the 1981 TV series
The Smurfs. In 1981,
Disney hired Cook as an effects animator for
Tron (1982). Cook subsequently animated or supervised effects for various films including
The Little Mermaid (1989),
Beauty and the Beast (1991), and
Aladdin (1992). In 1993, Cook directed another animated short,
Trail Mix-Up, which featured the cartoon character
Roger Rabbit. His directing experience with
Off His Rockers and
Trail Mix-Up led him to the opportunity to direct
Mulan with Bancroft. Following a five-month sabbatical break after directing
Mulan, Cook began developing ideas for his second animated feature, and arrived at an idea he developed years earlier titled
The Ghost & His Gift, adapted from
Oscar Wilde's
The Canterville Ghost. In 2000, Cook pitched his idea to
Michael Eisner and
Thomas Schumacher who agreed the idea showed potential, although Eisner deterred about the simplicity while Schumacher felt the project was "too human" and more appropriate for a
live action film. Following the pitch, Cook began reconstructing the idea, and added seven folk art characters into the story. and Disney announced the closure of the
Feature Animation Florida studio on January 12, 2004. Following the closure, Cook was not offered a renewed contract with the Burbank-located animation studio, and worked consecutively with
IDT Entertainment (now known as Starz Media),
Animation Lab, and
Laika on a series of undeveloped animation projects. In February 2009, Cook signed with
Aardman Animations, Because Smith previously worked in live-action television, Cook described his involvement as "help[ing] along with the animation, from designing the film and its characters to all of the storyboarding process." but following the screening of a rough cut,
20th Century Fox executives requested a celebrity voice cast, believing it would connect audiences to the characters. In 2011, Cook wrote the screenplay for The Jesus Film Project and
Studio 4°C's short film,
My Last Day. In July 2016, it was announced that Cook was in negotiations to direct
Mean Margaret for Astro-Nomical Entertainment. ==Filmography==