Michaël Dudok de Wit (; born 15 July 1953) is a Dutch

animator An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...

, director and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He won an

Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year ...

for '' Father and Daughter'' (2000) and was nominated in the same category for '' The Monk and the Fish'' (1994) as well as for an

Academy Award for Best Animated Feature The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is an Academy Awards, Academy Award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best animation, animated feature film. An animated feature is defined by the a ...

for '' The Red Turtle'' (2016).

Early life and education

Michaël Dudok de Wit was born in Abcoude in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. After his high school education in the Netherlands, he attended the

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

School of Fine Arts. In 1978, he graduated from the West Surrey College of Art & Design (now the

University for the Creative Arts The University for the Creative Arts is a specialist art and design university in Southern England. It was formed in 2005 as University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester when the Kent Institu ...

) with his first film ''The Interview''. Dudok de Wit has a son, the journalist and writer Alex Dudok de Wit.

Career

After working for a year in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, he settled in London where he directs and animates award-winning commercials for television and cinema. In 1992, he created the short film '' Tom Sweep'', followed by '' The Monk and the Fish'' (1994), which was made in France with the studio Folimage. This film was nominated for the

at the

67th Academy Awards The 67th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) took place on March 27, 1995, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the cer ...

, Best Short Animated Film at the 48th British Academy Film Awards and has won numerous prizes including a

César Award Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * César (film), ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama * César (film), ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt Places * Cesar, Portugal * Cesar Department, Colombia * Cesar R ...

for ''Best Short Film'' and the Cartoon d'or. Michael also writes and illustrates children's picture books and teaches animation at art colleges in England and abroad. His film '' Father and Daughter'' (2000) won an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

, a

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to f ...

, the Grand Prix at

Annecy Annecy ( , ; , also ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Haute-Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, regi ...

, Grand Prix at

Animafest Zagreb World Festival of Animated Film Zagreb (), best known as Animafest Zagreb, is a film festival entirely dedicated to Animation, animated film held annually in Zagreb, Croatia. Initiated by the International Animated Film Association (ASIFA), the e ...

and dozens of other major awards. In 2006, he made the short film ''The Aroma of Tea'', which was drawn entirely with tea. His films '' The Monk and the Fish'' and '' Father and Daughter'' were included in the Animation Show of Shows. In 2016, he released the feature-length film '' The Red Turtle''. It was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the

89th Academy Awards The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best 2016 in film, films of 2016, and took place on February 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Californ ...

Style

Since '' Tom Sweep'', all Dudok de Wit's films have his trademark brush stroke drawing and his use of ink and watercolour.

Filmography

Animation

*''The Interview'' (1978) *'' Tom Sweep'' (1992), short film *'' The Monk and the Fish'' (''Le Moine et le poisson'') (1994), short film *'' Father and Daughter'' (2000), short film *'' The Aroma of Tea'' (2006), short film *'' The Red Turtle'' (2016), feature film

Commercials

*"Actifed Germ" The Welcome Foundation, Cough Medicine *"Heinz Egg" Heinz Salad Cream *"The Long Sleep" Mcallan Malt Whiskey *"VW Sunrise" Volkswagen *"Pink Foot" Owen's Corning Roof Insulation *"Smart Illusions" Nestlé Smarties *"Noah" The Irish Lottery" *"AT&T" five TV commercials *"A Life" United Airlines

Film and television animation contributions

*''The Canterbury Tales''/''The Knight's Tale'' (Television series, Pizazz/S4C, UK) *''

The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' is a portal fantasy novel written by British author C. S. Lewis, published by Geoffrey Bles in 1950. It is the first published and best known of seven novels in ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' (1950–1956 ...

'' (TV Feature, US, UK and Spain) 1979 *''Den'' segment of '' Heavy Metal'' (Film featuring the animation of Gerald Potterton, Canada, US & UK) 1980 *''Mickey's Audition'' (Mickey Mouse Special, Disney, US) 1989 *''Prince Cinders'' (Television special, UK) 1991 *''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

'' (Storyboarding,

Walt Disney Feature Animation Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that produces animated feature films and short films for the Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a s ...

, US) 1992 *''T.R.A.N.S.I.T.'' (Short film directed by Piet Kroon, UK and NL) 1997 *''Charlie's Christmas'' (Television Special, Folimage, France) 1998 *''

Fantasia 2000 ''Fantasia 2000'' is a 1999 American animated musical anthology film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. Produced by Roy E. Disney and Donald W. Ernst, it is the sequel to Disney's 1940 animated feature film '' Fantasia''. Like its p ...

'' (Walt Disney Feature Animation) 2000 *'' Raining Cats and Frogs'' (Folimage) 2003

Illustrations in books

*"Snakes and Ladders" (card game, 1991) *"The History of Geneva" (Editions Chenoises, Geneva 1991) *"Oscar & Hoo" (HarperCollins 2001) (translated in various languages) *"Oscar and Hoo Forever"(HarperCollins 2003) (translated in various languages) *"Vader en dochter" (Leopold, NL, 2001) (translated in various languages) *"Vier bevertjes in de nacht" (Leopold, NL, 2004) (translated in various languages) *"Vier bevertjes en een kastanje" (Leopold, NL, 2007) (translated in various languages)

References

External links

* *
Michaël Dudok de Wit
at USA representative Acme Filmworks {{DEFAULTSORT:Dudok de Wit, Michael 1953 births Alumni of the University for the Creative Arts César Award winners Directors of Best Animated Short Academy Award winners Dutch animators Dutch animated film directors Dutch expatriates in the United Kingdom Dutch film directors Dutch illustrators Living people People from Abcoude