Mike Johnson is an American

stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

animator who has worked on films such as ''

James and the Giant Peach ''James and the Giant Peach'' is a popular children's novel written in 1961 by British author Roald Dahl. The first edition, published by Alfred Knopf, featured illustrations by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. There have been re-illustrated versions of ...

'' and ''

The Nightmare Before Christmas ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (also known as ''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas'') is a 1993 American stop-motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increme ...

'', short films such as an animation of "

The Devil Went Down to Georgia "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" is a song written and performed by the Charlie Daniels Band and released on their 1979 album '' Million Mile Reflections''. The song is written in the key of D minor. Vassar Clements originally wrote the basic ...

" (used by Primus and

Rednex Rednex is a Swedish musical group whose style is a mix of American country music and modern Eurodance, with their appearance and stage names taking inspiration from the American redneck stereotypes. The band originally consisted of the lead si ...

for promotional videos for their covers of the song), and TV programmes such as ''

The PJs ''The PJs'' is an American adult animated stop-motion black sitcom created by Eddie Murphy, Larry Wilmore, and Steve Tompkins. It portrayed life in an urban public housing project, modeled after the Cabrini–Green housing projects in Chicago. ...

''. He is best known for directing ''

Corpse Bride ''Corpse Bride'' (also known as ''Tim Burton's Corpse Bride'') is a 2005 stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film directed by Mike Johnson and Tim Burton with a screenplay by John August, Caroline Thompson and Pamela Pettler based o ...

'' with

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as '' Beetlejuice'' (1988), '' Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), '' The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993 ...

; they were jointly nominated for the 2005 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. He was set to direct ''Ping Pong Rabbit'', from a script by

Peter Barsocchini Peter Barsocchini is an American screenwriter, author, former journalist, and television producer best known for his scripts for the ''High School Musical'' series. Early life and education Barsocchini began his professional writing career whi ...

. The film was planned to be released by

Mili Pictures Worldwide Mili Pictures Worldwide ( zh, 米粒影业) is a feature film animation company based in Shanghai, China. The company's first film, ''Dragon Nest: Warriors' Dawn'', based on the online game ''Dragon Nest'', was released in China in July 2014. The ...

. Johnson was also attached to direct ''Oz Wars'', a CGI/Stop-motion hybrid film. In 1996, he set up his own animation company, Fat Cactus Films. He currently teaches stop-motion at the

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

and

University of California Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

References

External links

*
Podcast interview with Mike Johnson

Interview with Mike Johnson
American animated film directors American animators American film directors Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Stop motion animators Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-animator-stub