Mike Johnson is an American

stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

animator who has worked on films such as ''

James and the Giant Peach ''James and the Giant Peach'' is a children's novel written in 1961 by British author Roald Dahl. The first edition, published by Alfred Knopf, featured illustrations by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. There have been re-illustrated versions of it over ...

'' and ''

The Nightmare Before Christmas ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (formerly known as ''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas'') is a 1993 American stop motion Animation, animated Gothic film, gothic musical film, musical fantasy film directed by Henry Selick in his f ...

'', short films such as an animation of "

The Devil Went Down to Georgia "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" is a song written and recorded by American music group Charlie Daniels Band and released on their 1979 album '' Million Mile Reflections''. The song is written in the key of D minor. Although uncredited, Vassar ...

" (used by Primus and

Rednex Rednex is a Swedish musical group whose style is a mix of American country music and modern eurodance, with their appearance and stage names taking inspiration from the American redneck stereotypes. The band originally consisted of the lead s ...

for promotional videos for their covers of the song), and TV programmes such as ''

The PJs ''The PJs'' is an American adult stop motion-animated black sitcom created by Eddie Murphy, Larry Wilmore, and Steve Tompkins for Fox. It portrays life in an urban public housing project. The series starred Eddie Murphy, and it was produced by ...

''. He is best known for directing ''

Corpse Bride ''Corpse Bride'' (also known as ''Tim Burton's Corpse Bride'') is a 2005 stop-motion-animated fantasy musical film, directed by Mike Johnson (in his directorial debut) and Tim Burton from a screenplay by John August, Caroline Thompson, and ...

'' with

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer. Known for popularizing Goth subculture, Goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his Gothic film, gothic horror and dark fantasy films. ...

; they were jointly nominated for the 2005

Academy Award for Best Animated Feature The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is an Academy Awards, Academy Award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best animation, animated feature film. An animated feature is defined by the a ...

. He directed ''Ping Pong Rabbit'', from a script by

Peter Barsocchini Peter Barsocchini is an American screenwriter, author, former journalist, and television producer best known for his scripts for the ''High School Musical'' series. Early life and education Barsocchini was born in San Francisco, California. He a ...

. The film was released by Mili Pictures Worldwide in 2017 in Turkey and 2019 in the United States. Johnson was also attached to direct ''Oz Wars'', a CGI/Stop-motion hybrid film. In 1996, he set up his own animation company, Fat Cactus Films. Johnson attended the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

, where he majored in Film/Animation/Video. He currently teaches stop-motion at the

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a Private university, private art school in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for ...

and

University of California Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the Cal ...

References

*https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/oct/20/features *https://www.slashfilm.com/512756/corpse-bride-codirector-mike-johnson-helm-cgstopmotion-hybrid-oz-wars/ *https://www.animationmagazine.net/2019/02/whos-teaching-stop-motion-today/ *https://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/article/nightmare-before-christmas-mike-johnson-19831436.php *https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1131 *https://web.archive.org/web/20201201031901/https://www.austinchronicle.com/screens/2005-09-23/292559/

External links

*
Podcast interview with Mike Johnson

Interview with Mike Johnson
American animated film directors Film directors from Texas Living people Place of birth missing (living people) American stop motion animators Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-animator-stub