Mike Gabriel

Mike Gabriel (born November 5, 1954) is an American animator and film director, best known for his work at Walt Disney Animation Studios and as co-director of the Disney animated films The Rescuers Down Under (1990) and Pocahontas (1995). He was born in Long Beach, California, although he grew up in various small towns like Salina, Kansas while moving around due to his father's Air Force job.
Gabriel was inspired with animation after watching Sleeping Beauty (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. 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 (1981). He later was assigned as a Disney animator on the animated short Fun with Mr. Future (1982). He was mentored under Eric Larson's training program, and went to work on The Black Cauldron (1985). He also served as an animator on The Great Mouse Detective (1986), Technological Threat and Oliver & Company (1988). Hendel Butoy joined Gabriel to direct The Rescuers Down Under, a sequel to the 1977 Disney animated film The Rescuers, while Eric Goldberg and Gabriel collaborated on Pocahontas.
In 2004, Gabriel directed an animated short for Disney entitled Lorenzo, a hybrid of traditional and computer animation about a lazy cat who has a spell cast on his tail that forces it to tango with him. Lorenzo was nominated for the 2005 Academy Award for Best Animated Short. It was also included in the Animation Show of Shows in 2004.
==Filmography==
Year	Title 	Director	Writer	Animator	Actor	Role 	Notes
1981	The Fox and the Hound 	 	 	 	 	 	Assistant Animator (Uncredited)
1982	Luau 	 	 	 	 	Bob 	
1982	Fun with Mr. Future 	 	 	 	 	 	
1985	The Black Cauldron 	 	 	 	 	 	Character Animator
1986	The Great Mouse Detective 	 	 	 	 	 	Character Animator
1988	Oliver & Company 	 	 	 	 	Writer: StoryCharacter DesignerSupervising Animator	
1988	Technological Threat 	 	 	 	 	Character Designer 	
1989	The Little Mermaid 	 	 	 	 	 	Character Animator (Uncredited)
1990	The Rescuers Down Under 	 	 	 	 	 	With Hendel Butoy
1994	The Lion King 	 	 	 	 	 	Character Animator: Restoration Artistic Supervisors
1995	Pocahontas 	 	 	 	 	 	With Eric GoldbergWriter: Based On An IdeaVisual Development ArtistCharacter Designer
1996	Quack Pack 	 	 	 	 	 	One episodeCharacter DesignerSupervising Animator
2000	Dinosaur 	 	 	 	 	 	Additional Visual Development
2004	Lorenzo 	 	 	 	 	 	Production Designer
2004	Home on the Range 	 	 	 	 	 	Visual Development Artist
2004	The Cat That Looked at a King	 	 	 	 	 	Character DesignerSupervising Animator
2008	Bolt 	 	 	 	 	 	Additional Story Artist
2009	The Princess and the Frog 	 	 	 	 	 	Additional Art Director
2011	Winnie the Pooh 	 	 	 	 	 	Visual Development Artist
2012	Brave 	 	 	 	 	 	Development Artist
2012	Frankenweenie 	 	 	 	 	 	Art Department Illustrator: Los Angeles
2012	Wreck-It Ralph 	 	 	 	 	 	Production Designer
Category:1954 births
Category:Animators from California
Category:American animated film directors
Category:Film directors from California
Category:Walt Disney Animation Studios people
Category:Living people
Category:People from Long Beach, California