From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Tim McCanlies born 1953 is a film director and screenwriter He has attracted attention for his work writing and directing Secondhand Lions and wrote the screenplays for The Iron Giant and Dennis the Menace Strikes Again McCanlies attended high school in Bryan Texas and took some college level courses at nearby Texas AampM University In 1971 he moved to Austin and enrolled at the University of Texas majoring in RadioTelevisionFilm After a couple of years McCanlies transferred back to Texas A amp M In 1975 he moved to Dallas where he worked as a police officer and took graduate film classes at Southern Methodist University McCanlies worked for Walt Disney Studios in the 1980s and wrote for all the major motion picture studios at one time or another McCanlies made his directorial debut in his own independently produced feature Dancer Texas Pop 81 1998 Description above from the Wikipedia article Tim McCanlies licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia