Nelson, a veteran animator and longtime hand at DreamWorks Animation, seems almost embarrassed by the distinction.
"It's . . . weird," said the soft-spoken Nelson, who claims she's being completely truthful when she says the box office is the furthest thing from her mind when she's making a movie.
And, like many female directors, she's not completely crazy about being separated from the pack, placed in the "Lady Director" bin.
"I have mixed minds about it. For me, working on the film, it's something that I never considered. The people who work with me, they don't look at me as being 'The Woman Director.' In fact, one of the animators took offense, saying all this fluff about my gender shouldn't be considered. But I don't mind as long as it doesn't affect my daily life," Nelson said.
And she does get a kick out of the way younger people, particularly students of animation, recognize her achievement.
"When students come up to me and say they are inspired, that's a wonderful thing. If I could encourage young women to consider this as a career, so much the better. But I'm not a person who goes around saying, 'Hey, I'm a woman director.' "
One whose movie made a ton of money, at that.
"I'm not that kind of person. I really don't dwell too much on box office."
I suggest to Nelson that there may be something feminine in this modesty - a male director would have a plaque above his desk trumpeting his bankability. And so would his agent.
Most dudes would also brag about the way "KP2" bested "Cars 2" ($551 million) to rank as the most successful animated movie of the year.
Take that, John Lasseter and Pixar.
