Mike Mitchell (director)

Early life and education

Mike Mitchell was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

He graduated from Putnam City North High School, then subsequently moved to Los Angeles to attend the California Institute of the Arts.

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. The same year, he made his feature film directorial debut with the comedy Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, starring Rob Schneider. He worked for various companies including Disney, DreamWorks, MTV, Nickelodeon, Universal, and Sony.

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, and was a story artist for Shrek the Third and Creative Consultant for Kung Fu Panda. He later directed the movie Shrek Forever After and voiced the character Butterpants.

Mitchell's short film Frannie's Christmas was preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.

He also voiced Advisor Wedgie (known as "Nerd" for most of the film) in Monsters vs. Aliens, and Andy "Jack" Beanstalk in Puss in Boots. 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. 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.

On April 26, 2023, it was announced that Mitchell was set to direct the fourth installment in the Kung Fu Panda franchise, which was released on March 8, 2024.

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)
• Movieguide Award: 2020: Won Best Movie for Families for The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) (with Trisha Gum)

Filmography

Director

Story artist

Voice roles

Other credits

Actor

Creative consultant

• Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Executive producer

• Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016)
• Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (2023)

Television

• The Itsy Bitsy Spider (1993)
• Cartoon Sushi (1998)
• Greg the Bunny (2002)
• SpongeBob SquarePants (2005–2007) (live action director, storyboard director and writer)
• The Loop (2007)
• Trolls: The Beat Goes On! (2018–2019) (based on characters created by)
• The Barbarian and the Troll (2021)

Critical reception

References

References

1. "Preserved Projects".
2. (October 19, 2009). "Director Named for 'Monster Squad', Not the Remake...".
3. (October 17, 2016). "Exclusive: Writer revealed for Dreamworks' 'Shrek 5' – 'Sky High 2' coming?". The Hollywood News.
4. D'Alessandro, Anthony. (May 29, 2020). "Columbia Pictures Acquires Geoff Rodkey Novel 'We're Not From Here' From Will Gluck's Olive Bridge, Mike Mitchell To Direct".
5. (December 9, 2016). "Peter, Paul & Mary Tune 'Puff The Magic Dragon' In Fox Deal With 'Troll's Helmer Mike Mitchell". Deadline.
6. (26 April 2023). "Jack Black, Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake Tease 'Kung Fu Panda' and 'Trolls' Sequels".
7. [https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Mike-Mitchell/ Mike Mitchell's profile on Behind the Voice Actors]
8. [https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Mike-Mitchell/ Mike Mitchell's profile on Behind the Voice Actors]
9. [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0593610/ Mike Mitchell's profile on Internet Movie Database]
10. (24 May 2023). "New Trailer Drops for 'Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken'". Animation World Network.
11. "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999)". [[Fandango Media]].
12. "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo reviews". [[CBS Interactive]].
13. "''Surviving Christmas'' (2004)". [[Fandango Media.
14. "''Surviving Christmas'' reviews". [[CBS Interactive]].
15. "Sky High (2005)". [[Fandango Media.
16. "Sky High".
17. "Shrek Forever After".
18. "Shrek Forever After".
19. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked". [[Rotten Tomatoes]].
20. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked Reviews". [[Metacritic]].
21. "Trolls (2016)". [[Fandango Media]].
22. "Trolls Reviews".
23. "The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part".
24. "The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part".
25. "Kung Fu Panda 4".
26. "Kung Fu Panda 4".