The Chosen Bird
By Mike Mitchell & Peggy Etra
Published as the Centerfold for Issue 112, April 2023
Mike Mitchell is an American film director, writer, producer, actor and animator. He directed the films Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, Surviving Christmas, Sky High, Shrek Forever After, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, Trolls and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. Working for such filmmakers as Tim Burton and Spike Jonze, Mike became an illustrator early in his career. In 2006, he joined DreamWorks Animation, and was a story artist for Shrek the Third and Creative Consultant for Kung Fu Panda. His work extends into television as well where he directed and wrote several episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants.
Peggy Etra is a series regular on The Barbarian & The Troll where she originated over 10 of the characters. She has also appeared on The Last Champion (2018), Spoken Word (2016), Crash & Bernstein (2012), Hard Sun (2014), Seinfeld (1989). She was a puppeteer on The Happytime Murders (2018), Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2017), Big Little Awesome (2017), Adam Ruins Everything (2015), No, You Shut Up! (2014), Ketchup With the Hot Dogs (2013). She was a member of The Groundlings “Always on a Sunday Show” and she has been a performing cast member of Puppet Up! (an Adult Improv puppet show produced by the Brian Henson and The Jim Henson Company) for the last 13 years.
This is Mike and Peggy’s debut with Birdy! Keep your eyes peeled for more future work by these talented creatives.