Mike Mitchell (born October 18, 1970) is an American film director, writer, producer, actor and animator. He directed the films '' Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo'', '' Surviving Christmas'', '' Sky High'', ''

Shrek Forever After ''Shrek Forever After'' is a 2010 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 picture book '' Shrek!'' by William Steig, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The sequel to '' Shrek the T ...

'', '' Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked'', '' Trolls'' and '' The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part''.

Early life

Mitchell was born in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

, the son of lawyer and former chairman of the

Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board is the parole board of the state of Oklahoma. The Board was created by an amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution in 1944. The Board has the authority to empower the Governor of Oklahoma to grant pardons, parol ...

, Robert Mitchell and Julia Baker. According to his father, "Mitchell's gifts for artistic imagery were discovered early." He graduated from

Putnam City North High School Putnam City North High School (PCN, PC North) is a public high school situated in Northwest Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States It is accredited by the North Central Association of Secondary Schools and is one of three high schools in the ...

, and during this time was very much involved in the arts, then subsequently moved to Los Angeles to attend 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 ...

. During his time there, there was a demand for young animators, which led him into television. Working for such filmmakers as

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 ...

and

Spike Jonze Adam H. Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze, is an American filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes commercials, film, music videos, skateboard videos and television. Jonze began his ca ...

, Mitchell became an illustrator. He has one older sister, Suzanne Mitchell Robertson.

Career

He started his career as director for Matt O'Callaghan's '' The Itsy Bitsy Spider''. He first gained critical attention when he co-wrote, produced and directed the short film ''Herd'', which won several film festival awards, including the Spirit of Slamdance Award at the 1999 Slamdance Festival. That same year, he made his feature film directorial debut with the comedy '' Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo'', starring

Rob Schneider Robert Michael Schneider (; born October 31, 1963) is an American actor, comedian, and screenwriter. A stand-up comic and veteran of the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'', he went on to a career in feature films, including starri ...

. He worked for various companies including

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

, DreamWorks,

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...

and

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

. He directed the films '' Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked'', '' Surviving Christmas'' and '' Sky High''. The first two received negative reviews, while the third has received positive reviews. In 2006, he joined

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios and simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that produces animated films and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a divisio ...

, and was a story artist for '' Shrek the Third'' and Creative Consultant for ''

Kung Fu Panda ''Kung Fu Panda'' is an American media franchise that originally started in 2008 with the release of the animated feature film of the same name, produced by DreamWorks Animation. Following the adventures of the titular Po Ping (primarily voic ...

''. He later directed the movie ''

'' and voiced the character Butterpants. Mitchell's short film ''Frannie's Christmas'' was preserved by the

Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of m ...

in 2012. He also worked as a voice actor for Advisor Wedgie (known as “Nerd” for most of the film) in '' Monsters vs. Aliens'', and Andy “Jack” Beanstalk in ''

Puss in Boots "Puss in Boots" ( it, Il gatto con gli stivali) is an Italian fairy tale, later spread throughout the rest of Europe, about an anthropomorphic cat who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand of a princess in marriage for ...

''. He also directed live action sequences on '' The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water''. He not only works on movies but in television as well. He directed and wrote several episodes of ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American Animated series, animated Television comedy, comedy Television show, television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It ...

''. Mitchell also directed the animated film '' The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part'', which was released on February 8, 2019, to positive reviews. Mitchell will also direct ''Nightcrawlers'', a supernatural action comedy, a sequel to ''Sky High'', a live-action-animated adaptation of the book ''We're Not From Here'', and a live-action/animated adaptation of the song '' Puff, the Magic Dragon''.

Awards

Sundance Film Festival: "Frannie's Christmas" (1993). Aspen Shortsfest 1999: Won special recognition for "Herd" (1999). Atlanta Film Festival 1999: Won Honorable Mention for Best Narrative Short: "Herd" (1999). Birmingham Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival 1999: Won first prize for "Herd" (1999). Slamdance Film Festival 1999: Won Spirt of Slamdance Award for "Herd" (1999). HI Mom Film Festival 2000: Won first prize for "Herd" (1999). Movieguide Award 2020: Won Best Movie for Families for "The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part" (2019) (with Trisha Gum).

Filmography

Director

Animator

Voice roles

Other credits

Television

*'' The Itsy Bitsy Spider'' (TV) (1993) *''

Cartoon Sushi ''Cartoon Sushi'' is an adult-animation showcase program that aired on MTV from 1997 to 1998. It was developed by Eric Calderon and produced by Nick Litwinko, and was the successor to Liquid Television. The title screen opening was illustrated b ...

'' (TV) (1998) *''

Greg the Bunny ''Greg the Bunny'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on Fox in 2002. It starred Seth Green and a hand puppet named Greg the Bunny, originally invented by the team of Sean S. Baker, Spencer Chinoy and Dan Milano. Milano and ...

'' (TV) (2002) *''

'' (TV) (2005–2007) (live action director, storyboard director and writer) *'' The Loop'' (TV) (2007) *'' Trolls: The Beat Goes On!'' (TV) (2018–) (based on characters created by) *''

The Barbarian and the Troll ''The Barbarian and the Troll'' is an American puppet comedy television series created by Mike Mitchell and Drew Massey that aired on Nickelodeon from April 2 to June 25, 2021. Premise In the land of Gothmoria, Brendar is a fierce warrior pr ...

'' (TV) (2021)

Critical reception

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Mike 1970 births American animated film directors American film directors California Institute of the Arts alumni Living people Artists from Oklahoma City DreamWorks Animation people American storyboard artists