Mike Johnson (animator)
Encyclopedia
Mike Johnson is a stop motion
animator who has worked on films such as James and the Giant Peach
and The Nightmare Before Christmas
, short films such as an animation of The Devil Went Down to Georgia
, and TV programmes such as The PJs
. Most recently, he co-directed Corpse Bride
with Tim Burton
; they were jointly nominated for the 2005 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
In 1996, he set up his own animation company, Fat Cactus Films. He currently teaches stop-motion at the California Institute of the Arts
.
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
animator who has worked on films such as James and the Giant Peach
James and the Giant Peach (film)
James and the Giant Peach is a 1996 musical fantasy film directed by Henry Selick, based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Roald Dahl. It was produced by Tim Burton and Denise Di Novi. The film is a combination of live action and stop-motion animation....
and The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Nightmare Before Christmas, often promoted as Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, is a 1993 stop motion musical fantasy film directed by Henry Selick and produced/co-written by Tim Burton. It tells the story of Jack Skellington, a being from "Halloween Town" who opens a portal to...
, short films such as an animation of The Devil Went Down to Georgia
The Devil Went Down to Georgia
"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" is a song written and performed by the Charlie Daniels Band and released on their 1979 album Million Mile Reflections....
, and TV programmes such as The PJs
The PJs
The PJs is an American stop-motion animated television series created by Eddie Murphy, Larry Wilmore, and Steve Tompkins. It portrayed life in an urban public housing project, modeled after the Brewster-Douglass housing projects in Detroit that once housed Diana Ross & Lilly Tomlin...
. Most recently, he co-directed Corpse Bride
Corpse Bride
Corpse Bride, often promoted as Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, is a 2005 stop-motion-animated fantasy musical film directed by Mike Johnson and Tim Burton. It is set in a fictional Victorian era village in Europe. Johnny Depp led an all-star cast as the voice of Victor, while Helena Bonham Carter ...
with Tim Burton
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
; they were jointly nominated for the 2005 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
In 1996, he set up his own animation company, Fat Cactus Films. He currently teaches stop-motion at the California Institute of the Arts
California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, in Los Angeles County, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States created specifically for students of both the visual and the...
.