Mike Gabriel (born November 5, 1954) is an American

animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple 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 gam ...

and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

, best known for his work at

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

and as co-director of the Disney animated films ''

The Rescuers Down Under ''The Rescuers Down Under'' is a 1990 American animated adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 29th Disney animated feature film and the second movie to be produced during the Disney Ren ...

'' (1990) and ''

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...

'' (1995). He was born in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, although he grew up in various small towns like

Salina, Kansas Salina is a city in, and the county seat of, Saline County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,889. In the early 1800s, the Kanza tribal land reached eastward from the middle of the Kansas Territory. In 1 ...

while moving around due to his father's

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

job. Gabriel was inspired with animation after watching ''

Sleeping Beauty ''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...

'' (1959) at the age of five. Soon after, he started drawing and practicing it for six hours every day to meet his goal as an

Animation Director An animation director is either the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or television, and animated segment for a live action film or television show, or the animator in charge of co ...

. It was in 1979 when he got his first chance to make his debut. Gabriel originally began his career as an assistant on ''

The Fox and the Hound ''The Fox and the Hound'' is a 1981 American animated buddy drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and loosely based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Daniel P. Mannix. The 24th Disney animated feature film, the film tells the st ...

'' (1981). He later was assigned as a Disney animator on the animated short '' Fun with Mr. Future'' (1982). He was mentored under

Eric Larson Eric Cleon Larson (September 3, 1905 – October 25, 1988) was an American animator for the Walt Disney Studios starting in 1933, and was one of the "Disney's Nine Old Men". Biography Born in Cleveland, Utah, Larson was the son of Danish ...

's training program, and went to work on '' The Black Cauldron'' (1985). He also served as an animator on ''

The Great Mouse Detective ''The Great Mouse Detective'' (also known as ''The Adventures of the Great Mouse Detective'' for its 1992 theatrical re-release and ''Basil the Great Mouse Detective'' in some countries) is a 1986 American animated mystery adventure film produc ...

'' (1986), ''

Technological Threat ''Technological Threat'' is a 1988 American animated short made by Brian Jennings and Bill Kroyer and was produced by Kroyer Films. It was an example of early computer animation, integrated with traditional animation, and is itself an allegory fo ...

'' and ''

Oliver & Company ''Oliver & Company'' is a 1988 American animated musical adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released on November 18, 1988, by Walt Disney Pictures. The 27th Disney animated feature film, it is loosely based on the Charl ...

'' (1988). Hendel Butoy joined Gabriel to direct ''

'', a sequel to the 1977 Disney animated film ''

The Rescuers ''The Rescuers'' is a 1977 American animated adventure comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution. The 23rd Disney animated feature film, its story follows Bernard and Bianca, two members ...

'', while Eric Goldberg and Gabriel collaborated on ''

''. In 2004, Gabriel directed an animated short for Disney entitled '' Lorenzo'', a hybrid of

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

and

computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...

about a lazy cat who has a spell cast on his tail that forces it to

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

with him. ''Lorenzo'' was nominated for the 2005

Academy Award for Best Animated Short 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 ...

. It was also included in the Animation Show of Shows in 2004. He was hired to re-design the Walt Disney cinematic logo which plays before every Walt Disney picture since 2006.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1954 births Living people American storyboard artists Animators from California American art directors American production designers American animated film directors American male screenwriters Animation screenwriters Film directors from California Walt Disney Animation Studios people People from Long Beach, California {{US-animator-stub