Mike Gabriel
Introduction '''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.He was hired to re-design the Walt Disney cinematic logo which played before every Walt Disney picture from 2006 to 2023.
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 1986 ''The Great Mouse Detective''  Character Animator 1988 ''Oliver & Company''   Writer: StoryCharacter DesignerSupervising Animator ''Technological Threat''  Character Designer 1990 ''The Rescuers Down Under''  With Hendel Butoy1994''The 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 ''Fantasia 2000''  Yo-yo Tricks2000''Dinosaur''Additional 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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