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).
Early life 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.Mike Gabriel
Career 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.
Accolades Lorenzo was nominated for the 2005 Academy Award for Best Animated Short. It was also included in the Animation Show of Shows in 2004.
Personal life He was hired to re-design the Walt Disney cinematic logo which plays before every Walt Disney picture since 2006.
Filmography Year Title Director Writer Animator Actor Role Notes 1981 The Fox and the Hound Assistant Animator (Uncredited) 1982 Luau Bob Fun with Mr. Future 1985 The Black Cauldron Character Animator: Orddu, Orwen, and Orgoch 1986 The Great Mouse Detective Character Animator: Toby and Felicia 1988 Oliver & Company Writer: StoryCharacter DesignerSupervising Animator: Oliver Technological Threat Character Designer 1990 The Rescuers Down Under With Hendel Butoy1994The Lion King Animator: Special Edition 1995 Pocahontas With Eric GoldbergWriter: Based On An IdeaVisual Development ArtistCharacter Designer 1996 Quack Pack One episodeCharacter DesignerSupervising Animator 1999 My Neighbors the Yamadas dialogue director for the 2005 English dub. 1999 Fantasia 2000 Yo-yo Tricks2000DinosaurAdditional Visual Development 2004 Lorenzo Production Designer Home on the Range Visual Development Artist 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 Frankenweenie Art Department Illustrator: Los Angeles Wreck-It Ralph Production Designer 2014 Big Hero 6 Departmental Leadership: Walt Disney Animation Studios 2016 Zootopia Departmental Leadership: Walt Disney Animation Studios 2019 Frozen II Creative Legacy: Walt Disney Animation Studios2020 Elephant in the Room Thought PainterVisual Development 2021 Raya and the Last Dragon Creative Legacy: Walt Disney Animation Studios
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