Biographie
From an early age, Brian Mitchell aspired to become an animator. Growing up, he was passionate about Disney, Warner Bros., and MGM cartoons. With interests spanning movies, music, puppetry, and drawing, he pursued his dream with dedication. At 19, Brian received a job offer from Don Bluth Studios to work on feature-length cartoons but declined to focus on improving his drawing skills. Soon after, Filmation's feature unit offered him a position, but that opportunity ended abruptly when the division shut down. A year later, armed with a portfolio of ten drawings, Mitchell was hired by renegade animator Ralph Bakshi. Relocating to Los Angeles, Brian contributed to many beloved and influential TV shows and films. His credits include Animaniacs, Tiny Toon Adventures, Ferngully, The Last Rainforest, Casper, Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, Rock-a-Doodle, Disney's The Prince & The Pauper, Little Dogs on the Prairie, The Pink Panther, Slimer and The Ghostbusters, Kissyfur, and many others. In 1995, Mitchell won an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Animation for Animaniacs.
Returning to New York in 1995, Mitchell founded The Center For Character Animation, which offered cartoon animation classes. Several former students have since entered the animation industry. The school received coverage from ABC Television, The New York Times, Newsday, and The Daily News, before closing in 2003. Mitchell also established Brian Mitchell Productions, an animation studio based on Long Island, where he developed projects for his studio and other companies, as well as subcontracted animation and design work.
Brian Mitchell occasionally lectures on animation nationwide. In the summers of 2000, 2001, and 2002, he lectured at the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Annual Disney Animation Events at Walt Disney World, Florida. He served as the keynote speaker at the Long Island Media Arts Show and was a featured speaker at The Animation Destination Event at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh in November 2001. In 2004, he storyboarded for Christopher Reeve's CG final project, Yankee Irving, which was released in the late 2000s as Everyone's Hero. In 2006, he worked on episodes of WB's Tom & Jerry Tales and animated a popular Saturday Night Live 'TV Funhouse' segment.
Mitchell is developing a series of original holiday cartoons slated to premiere online in fall 2012. He maintains a personal blog called Mitchell's Sketchbook, where he shares sketches and material from past animation projects. The blog has become popular among animation fans, and Mitchell plans to reveal new projects through it in the future.
