# Mike Mitchell (director)

Mike Mitchell is an American film director, writer, producer, actor and animator. He is known for directing Sky High (2005), Shrek Forever After (2010), Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011), Trolls (2016), The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019), and Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024).

## 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 is 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

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 1999 | Herd | Short Film, Also writer and producer |
| 1999 | Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo | |
| 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 | |
| 2024 | Kung Fu Panda 4 | Also Executive Producer |

### Story artist

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 1998 | Antz | Additional story artist |
| 2004 | Shrek 2 | Additional story artist |
| 2007 | Shrek the Third | Additional story artist |
| 2009 | Monsters vs. Aliens | Story artist |
| 2016 | Sausage Party | Additional storyboard artist |

### Voice roles

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2001 | Monkeybone | Miss Hudlapp |
| 2009 | Monsters vs. Aliens | Advisor "Nerd" Wedgie |
| 2010 | Shrek Forever After | Tour Guide/Camp Ogre/Ogre Naysayer/Baba Witch/Melty Witch/Witch Guard #2/Butter Pants |
| 2010 | 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 |
| 2016 | Trolls | Darius, Vinny the Phone, Captain Starfunkle, Spider, Wedgie Bergen #1, Chad, Card |

### Other credits

Actor
| Year | Title | Role |
| 1999 | Herd | Mailman |
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–) (based on characters created by)
* The Barbarian and the Troll (2021)