Mike Kunkel

Founder
The Astonish Factory

Mike Kunkel is first and foremost a cartoonist! Writing and drawing cartoons is something he’s wanted to do since he was a kid and now, with over 20 years of experience in the animation industry, Mike has done just that! He’s worked on numerous TV and film projects as a director, story and development artist, character designer, screenwriter, and animator. Mike has worked for studios such as Warner Bros., Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Sony Pictures Animation, Universal Pictures and Walt Disney Animation Studios.

As a published writer and artist, Mike has been nominated three times for the prestigious Eisner Award and four times for the Ignatz award; he’s the creator of the two-time Eisner Award-winning comic book series Herobear and the Kid. As a designer for TV, he won the Annie Award for Best Character Design in an Animated Television Production. He developed and teaches the Storyboarding Workshops at Animation Mentor.

Portfolio

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MIke’s Credits

Herobear and the Kid

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Tarzan

Hercules

Films

  • Wonder Park
  • Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
  • Smurfs: The Lost Village
  • Americano
  • Free Birds
  • Tarzan
  • Hercules
  • Cats Don’t Dance
  • The Pagemaster
  • Once Upon a Forest

Short Films

  • How to Haunt a House
  • The Little Match Girl

Television / Video

  • Madagascar: A Little Wild
  • Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?
  • The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age Smackdown
  • Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
  • Tom and Jerry: Santa’s Little Helper
  • Sofia the First
  • Special Agent Oso
  • Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil
  • Quest for Zhu
  • My Gym Partner’s a Monkey
  • Emperor
  • The Life and Times of Juniper Lee
  • Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows
  • My Life as a Teenage Robot
  • One by One
  • A Dairy Tale
  • The Proud Family

Courses Taught By Mike

Courses may vary from term to term.

Story I: Storyboarding
Fundamentals

6-Week COURSE

Learn basic storyboarding techniques and skills.

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Story II: Intermediate Storyboarding

6-Week COURSE

Build a story from scratch, including pitch, script, and animatic.

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