Mike Mitchell (director)

Mike Mitchell (born c. 1970/71) is an American film director, producer, actor and former animator. He is well known for directing the films Surviving Christmas, Sky High, Shrek Forever After for DreamWorks Animation, Popeye for Sony Pictures Animation.

Life and career

Mitchell was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the son of Julia Baker and Robert Mitchell, a lawyer and former chairman of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board. He graduated from Putnam City North High School, and subsequently moved to Los Angeles to attend the California Institute of the Arts. Working for such filmmakers as Tim Burton and Spike Jonze, Mitchell became an accomplished illustrator.

He started his career as director for Matt O'Callagahan'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 Male Gigolo, starring Rob Schneider. He later directed films like Surviving Christmas and Sky High. In 2006 he joined DreamWorks Animation and was a story artist for Shrek the Third and Creative Consultant for Kung Fu Panda. He also directed the movie Shrek Forever After. He also worked as voice actor in Monsters vs. Aliens as additional voices. He also...
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