Michael Thurmeier

Canadian animator

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Michael Thurmeier

Born| 1975 (age 48-49)[1]

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Occupations|

* Film director
* animator

Years active| 1999–present
Employer| Blue Sky Studios (1999–2021)

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), which are the fourth and fifth installments in the Ice Age franchise. Along with Chris Renaud, he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for the Ice Age short film No Time for Nuts (2006).

## Early life and education

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

### Feature films

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Director | Animator | Other  | Notes

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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

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Director | Animator | Layout Artist | Other  | Notes

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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

[edit]

Year  | Film  | Role  | Notes

|
|
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2000  | The Sopranos | animator: Blue Sky Studios  | episode: "Funhouse"

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Baillie, Andrea (October 26, 2009). "Regina-born director of 'Ice Age 3' baffled by franchise success". CTV News. Archived from the original on November 11, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2014. "Thurmeier, 34,..."
2. ^ Sullivan, Karen; Schumer, Gary; Alexander, Kate (2008-02-19). Ideas for the animated short: finding and building stories. Focal Press. pp. 156–. ISBN 978-0-240-80860-4. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
3. ^ a b Christianson, Adriana (July 13, 2012). "Saskatchewan-born director helms new movie 'Ice Age 4: Continental Drift'". Rocky View Weekly. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
4. ^ Sciretta, Peter (January 6, 2011). "Watch: Ice Age Short Film 'Scrat's Continental Crack-Up'". /Film. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
5. ^ Gonzalez, Sandra (November 15, 2011). "'Ice Age' star Scrat gets into more acorn-craving mischief – EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
6. ^ Truitt, Brian (November 6, 2015). "Sneak peek: Scrat heads to space for 'Ice Age' short". USA Today. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
7. ^ Jacobson, Colin (October 17, 2016). "Ice Age: Collision Course (Blu-Ray 3D) (2016)". DVD Movie Guide. Retrieved May 14, 2022.

## External links

[edit]

* Michael Thurmeier at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Blue Sky Studios

Feature films|

* Ice Age (2002)
* Robots (2005)
* Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)
* Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! (2008)
* Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)
* Rio (2011)
* Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012)
* Epic (2013)
* Rio 2 (2014)
* The Peanuts Movie (2015)
* Ice Age: Collision Course (2016)
* Ferdinand (2017)
* Spies in Disguise (2019)

Short films|

* Bunny (1998)
* Gone Nutty (2002)
* Aunt Fanny's Tour of Booty (2005)
* No Time for Nuts (2006)
* Surviving Sid (2008)
* Cosmic Scrat-tastrophe (2015)
* Scrat: Spaced Out (2016)

Television
specials and series|

* Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas (2011)
* Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade (2016)
* Ice Age: Scrat Tales (2022)

Franchises|

* Ice Age (2002–present)
* Rio (2011–present)

People|

* Chris Wedge
* Carlos Saldanha
* Steve Martino
* Nick Bruno and Troy Quane

See also|

* 20th Century Animation
* 20th Television Animation
* Fox Animation Studios
* Walt Disney Animation Studios
* Pixar
* Disney Television Animation
* Disneytoon Studios
* Marvel Animation
* Lucasfilm Animation
* Industrial Light & Magic
* List of 20th Century Studios theatrical animated feature films
* unproduced projects

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Czech Republic
* Spain
* Netherlands
* Korea
* Poland
* Israel

Other|

* IdRef

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