Mike Mitchell (director)

For the actor/comedian/podcaster, see Mike Mitchell (actor). For the Canadian Mohawk film director, see Mike Kanentakeron Mitchell.

Mike Mitchell
Mitchell at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con
Born	October 18, 1970 (1970-10-18) (age 54) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.
Occupation	Film director
Years active	1993–present

Mike Mitchell (born October 18, 1970) is an American film director, producer, actor and former animator. He directed the films Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, Surviving Christmas, Sky High, Shrek Forever After, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, Trolls and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.

Early life

Mitchell was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the son of lawyer and former chairman of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, 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, 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. During his time there, there was a demand for young animators, which led him into television.

Working for such filmmakers as Tim Burton and Spike Jonze, 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. 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 worked as a voice actor for various voices in Monsters vs. Aliens, and Andy 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 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, 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

Year	Title	Notes
1999	Herd	Also writer and producer
1999	Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo	Directorial debut
2004	Surviving Christmas
2005	Sky High
2010	Shrek Forever After
2011	Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
2015	The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water	Live-action sequences
2016	Trolls
2019	The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

Animator

Year	Title	Notes
1998	Antz	Additional story artist
2004	Shrek 2
2007	Shrek the Third
2009	Monsters vs. Aliens	Story artist

Voice roles

Year	Title	Role
2009	Monsters vs. Aliens	Advisor Wedgie
2010	Shrek Forever After	Tour Guide/Camp Ogre/Ogre Naysayer/Baba Witch/Melty Witch/Witch Guard #2/Butter Pants
	Megamind	Father in Crowd
2011	Puss in Boots	Andy Beanstalk
2014	Penguins of Madagascar	Antarctic Penguin
2016	Kung Fu Panda 3	Male Palace Goose / Smart Panda Villager
	Trolls	Darius, Vinny the Phone, Captain Starfunkle, Spider, Wedgie Bergen #1, Chad, Card
2019	The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part	Sherry Scratchen-Post

Other credits

Year	Title	Notes
1999	Herd	Actor, Mailman
2008	Kung Fu Panda	Creative consultant
2011	Kung Fu Panda 2	Special thanks
2016	Kung Fu Panda 3	Executive producer
2017	Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie	Special thanks
2020	Scoob!	Executive producer

Television

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

Trivia

• He is good friends with fellow director Tim Hill.

External links

• Mike Mitchell at IMDb