American film director, screenwriter, and animator
Michael Disa
(born February 14, 1965) is an American film director, screenwriter, and animator. He began working as an animator at
Disney
in the mid-1990s, where he was involved with several films up until the late-2000s. During this time, he also worked on non-Disney
animated
films, including
Looney Tunes: Back in Action
, and
Barnyard
. He made his directorial debut with
The Origin of Stitch
, Disney's 2005
direct-to-DVD
short sequel to
Lilo & Stitch
. At one point he was attached to direct an animated prequel to Disney's 1937 film
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
, but he dropped out due to creative differences, and the project was cancelled. After growing disillusioned with Disney, Disa left the studio to become an independent filmmaker. His first feature film,
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil
was released in 2011. Disa followed this with
Postman Pat: The Movie
, which was released in 2014.
Early life
[
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]
Disa was raised on the
south side of Chicago
, Illinois, near
Marquette Park
. His parents, Mike and Judy, were both graduates of
Northern Illinois University
,
[1]
and his father worked as an art teacher for forty-two years at
Curie Metropolitan High School
and
Harper High School
.
[2]
He grew up in a large
Irish Catholic
family and served as an
altar boy
at St. Francis of Assisi Parish, where his uncle was a pastor.
[3]
Disa attended
St. Joseph High School
and graduated from Northern Illinois University in 1987 with degrees in art and computer programming.
[4]
Career
[
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]
Disa moved to Los Angeles, California in 1990, where he was homeless for six months until he found a job doing digital cleanup of individual animation frames on educational CDs for $1.50 a frame. He went on to do effects works on films,
video game design
, freelance work on the
animated
television series
Tiny Toon Adventures
, and animation for
Hanna-Barbera Productions
. He eventually joined as an animator at the
Walt Disney Company
, where he worked on
Pocahontas
(1995),
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
(1996),
Hercules
(1997),
Mulan
(1998),
Tarzan
(1999),
Fantasia 2000
(2000),
The Tigger Movie
(2000),
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
(2001),
Treasure Planet
(2002),
Home on the Range
(2004), and
Pooh's Heffalump Movie
(2005). He also worked on
Looney Tunes: Back in Action
(2003), before spending a year developing a film called
Wings
with
Warner Bros.
that ultimately was not produced.
[3]
[5]
He then directed and co-wrote
The Origin of Stitch
(2005), a
direct-to-DVD
short sequel to Disney's 2002
Oscar-nominated
film
Lilo & Stitch
.
The Origin of Stitch
earned a DVDX award nomination for best additional original material.
[2]
Disa worked as a storyboard artist on Nickelodeon's animated film
Barnyard
(2006) and Disney's direct-to-DVD, animated film
Tinker Bell
(2008). He left Disney for a time, but was asked to return to the studio to develop
The Seven Dwarfs
, an animated prequel to
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
, which would have been produced by
DisneyToon Studios
. He left over creative differences when executives wanted Dopey to talk, a decision that he felt disrespected the original film in which the character is silent.
[3]
[6]
The film was cancelled by 2007.
[7]
Growing frustrated with the creative restraints of working on studio produced films, Disa left to become an independent filmmaker. He spent a year working on
Rob Zombie
's animated film
The Haunted World of El Superbeasto
(2009), and was then asked to direct a sequel to the 2005 independent, animated film
Hoodwinked!
. Although he had not previously seen the original film, he was impressed with the script for the sequel
[8]
and was announced as the film's director in March 2007.
[9]
The film finished production in 2009
[8]
and was originally scheduled for release in January 2010, but its release was delayed by its distributor,
The Weinstein Company
.
[10]
The film's production company,
Kanbar Entertainment
, claimed that this breached an agreement and sued The Weinstein Company in March 2010.
[11]
This gave Disa six months to direct the direct-to-DVD animated films
Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic
and
Dead Space: Aftermath
, both adaptations of video games by
EA
.
[8]
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil
was released in April 2011.
[12]
Disa also voiced several characters in
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil
such as Helmut, Spider, Rhino and HEA Agents 1 and 2.
In September 2011, Disa was announced as the director of
Postman Pat: The Movie ? You Know You're the One
, an animated, feature film adaptation of the British
stop motion
, children's television series
Postman Pat
.
[13]
The film's release date was originally scheduled for May 2013,
[14]
but was moved until May of the following year.
[15]
Disa also teaches at the
California Institute of the Arts
.
[16]
Personal life
[
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]
Disa met his wife, Laura Hogan, while at Northern Illinois University.
[1]
He is a Catholic and his
patron saint
is
St. Michael
, the patron saint of
police officers
. Many of his family members were police officers, including his grandfather, and St. Michael was his father's patron saint as well.
[3]
Filmography
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Mark McGowan (Fall 2011).
"Movie Mentor"
.
myniu.com
. Retrieved
January 17,
2013
.
- ^
a
b
Jessica Sabbah (April 28, 2011).
"Hollywood quite a draw for Southwest Side native"
.
Chicago Sun-Times
. Retrieved
January 17,
2013
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Peggy Bowers (April 28, 2011).
"An Interview with Catholic Hollywood Director Mike Disa"
.
integratedcatholiclife.org
. Retrieved
January 17,
2013
.
- ^
"2012 Alumni Awards"
.
myniu.com
. Retrieved
January 18,
2013
.
- ^
"Mike Disa linkedin"
.
linkedin.com
. Retrieved
January 19,
2013
.
- ^
Sarah Baisley (April 2, 2007).
"Mike Disa to Helm Hoodwinked 2: Hood Vs Evil"
.
Animation World Magazine
. Retrieved
January 19,
2013
.
- ^
Jim Hill (June 20, 2007).
"Say "So Long !" to direct-to-video sequels : DisneyToon Studios tunes out Sharon Morrill"
.
jimhillmedia.com
. Retrieved
January 19,
2013
.
- ^
a
b
c
Mercedes Milligan (April 25, 2011).
"Animated People: Mike Disa, Director of 'Hoodwinked Too!'
"
.
Animation Magazine
. Retrieved
January 18,
2013
.
- ^
Cory Edwards (March 25, 2007).
"Hoodwinked 2: Director Hired"
.
coryedwards.com
. Retrieved
January 18,
2013
.
- ^
Joe Flint (December 16, 2009).
"Weinstein Co. delaying 'Hoodwinked' sequel"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
January 18,
2013
.
- ^
Johnson, Ted (March 31, 2010).
"Kanbar Entertainment files suit against Weinstein"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
January 18,
2013
.
- ^
"The Trailer for Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil"
.
ComingSoon.net
. February 10, 2011
. Retrieved
January 18,
2013
.
- ^
Tom Fordy (September 16, 2011).
"Postman Pat To Finally Deliver On The Silver Screen?"
.
thehollywoodnews.com
. Retrieved
January 18,
2013
.
- ^
Mercedes Milligan (April 16, 2012).
"
'Postman Pat' Film Gets Release Date"
.
Animation Magazine
. Retrieved
January 18,
2013
.
- ^
"Postman Pat"
.
filmdates.co.uk
. Retrieved
30 May
2013
.
- ^
Chris Douvalas (February 21, 2004).
"Animator Mike Disa The state of animation"
.
animatedbuzz.com
. Retrieved
January 18,
2013
.
External links
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]
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