Michael Thurmeier is a Canadian film director and animator.[2] He is best known for directing the Blue Sky Studios animated films Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) and Ice Age: Collision Course (2016). Along with Chris Renaud, he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for the Ice Age short No Time for Nuts (2006).
Michael Thurmeier | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1975 (age 48–49)[1] Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Employer | Blue Sky Studios (1999–2021) |
Early life and education
Thurmeier was born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and went to Archbishop M.C. O'Neill High School.[3] Although he enjoyed drawing for much of his early life, he was more interested in becoming a lawyer, but he changed his mind after seeing Aladdin in his last year of high school.[3]
Career
After he joined Blue Sky Studios, Thurmeier served as an animator for Fight Club and The Sopranos. He later served as a supervising animator for Ice Age, Robots, and Ice Age: The Meltdown.
His first directing job was in 2006, when he co-directed the short animated film No Time for Nuts, starring Scrat for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. He was a co-director on Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009), and made his feature directing debut with Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012). Thurmeier returned to direct Ice Age: Collision Course (2016).
Filmography
Feature films
| Year | Title | Director | Animator | Other | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Fight Club | No | Yes | No | Animator: Blue Sky Studios |
| 2002 | Ice Age | No | Lead | Yes | Additional Story, Lead Animator |
| 2005 | Robots | No | Supervising | No | Supervising Animator |
| 2006 | Ice Age: The Meltdown | No | Supervising | No | Supervising Animator |
| 2008 | Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who | No | Senior Supervising | No | Senior Supervising Animator |
| 2009 | Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | Co-Director | No | No | |
| 2012 | Ice Age: Continental Drift | Yes | No | No | |
| 2016 | Ice Age: Collision Course | Yes | No | Yes | Voice of Gravedigger Beaver/Party Molehog |
| 2019 | Spies in Disguise | No | No | Yes | Senior Creative Team |
Short films
| Year | Title | Director | Animator | Layout Artist | Other | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Gone Nutty | No | Yes | 3-D | No | |
| 2006 | No Time for Nuts | Yes | No | No | No | Also 4-D extended version |
| 2010 | Scrat's Continental Crack-Up | Yes | No | No | No | Act as Ice Age: Continental Drift Teaser Trailers #1 & #2[4][5] |
| 2011 | Scrat's Continental Crack-Up Part 2 | Yes | No | No | No | |
| 2015 | Cosmic Scrat-tastrophe | Yes | No | No | No | Acts as extended Ice Age: Collision Course Teaser Trailer[6] |
| 2016 | Scrat: Spaced Out | Uncredited | No | No | No | Ice Age: Collision Course archive and deleted footage[7] |
| 2022 | Ice Age: Scrat Tales | No | No | No | Yes | Disney+ Original Short Films; Ice Age Creative Trust; Story - Episode: "Nut the End" |
Television
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | The Sopranos | animator: Blue Sky Studios | episode: "Funhouse" |