Mike Mitchell

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, Kate &amp; Chris, Shrek Forever After, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Wate r, Trolls, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, and Twentieth Toons: Quest for the Toon Temple.

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, 20th Century Fox, 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. Alongside joining DreamWorks, Mitchell went to 20th Century Fox Animation to direct the movie adaptation of Kate & Chris with Rob Letterman, which was released into theaters on September 28, 2007.

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 then came back to 20th Century Animation where he directed Twentieth Toons: Quest for the Toon Temple with Kevin Lima, which was released on April 29, 2022, to positive reviews. Mitchell will also direct Nightcrawlers, a supernatural action comedy, and a sequel to Sky High.