Mike Gabriel

Michael Richard "Mike" Gabriel is an American animator, director, and storyboard artist, who is best known for his work at Walt Disney Animation Studios and as co-director of the Disney films The Rescuers Down Under (1990) and Pocahontas (1995). He also played Eddie Valiant in test footage of Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Gabriel was born in Long Beach, California, although he grew up in various small towns (such as Salina, Kansas) while moving around due to his father's Air Force job. He was very inspired with animation after watching Sleeping Beauty (1959) at the age of five. Soon after, he started drawing and practicing it for six hours every day to meet his goal as an Animation Director. It was in 1979 when he got his first chance to make his debut. Gabriel studied in the Character Animation program at the California Institute of the Arts. He originally began his career helping animate on The Fox and the Hound (1981) and later went on to animate on the 1982 animated short Fun with Mr. Future. He was mentored under Eric Larson's training program, and went on to work on the The Black Cauldron (1985). He also served as an animator on The Great Mouse Detective (1986) and Oliver & Company (1988). Hendel Butoy joined Gabriel to direct The Rescuers Down Under, a sequel to the successful 1977 Disney film The Rescuers, while Eric Goldberg and Gabriel collaborated on Pocahontas. Goldberg and Gabriel later reunited with each other in Wreck-It Ralph to work on animating Sour Bill.
In 2004, Gabriel directed an animated short for Disney entitled Lorenzo, a hybrid of traditional and computer animation about a lazy cat who has a spell cast on his tail that forces it to tango with him. Lorenzo was nominated for the 2005 . It was also included in the of Shows in 2004.
Gabriel conceived, storyboarded, did all development pieces, directed, and art directed the opening Walt Disney Pictures logo castle sequence that has opened Disney movies since 2006 to 2022. 
==Filmography==
Year	Film 	Position
1981	The Fox and the Hound 	Animator (Uncredited)
1982	Fun with Mr. Future 	Animator
1985	The Black Cauldron 	Character Animator
1986	The Great Mouse Detective 	Character Animator: Toby and Felicia
1988	Oliver & Company 	StoryCharacter DesignerSupervising Animator: Oliver
1990	The Rescuers Down Under 	Director
1995	Pocahontas 	DirectorBased on an Idea byVisual Development
1998	Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World	Characters (Uncredited)
1999	Fantasia 2000 	Yo-yo Tricks
2004	The Cat That Looked at a King 	Character Designer
2004	Lorenzo 	DirectorStoryProduction Designer
2008	Bolt 	Additional Story Artist
2009	The Princess and the Frog 	Additional Art Director
2011	Winnie the Pooh 	Visual Development Artist
2012	Brave 	Development Artist
2012	Wreck-It Ralph 	Production Designer
2012	Frankenweenie 	Art Department Illustrator: Los Angeles
2014	Big Hero 6 	Departmental Leadership: Walt Disney Animation Studios
2016	Zootopia 	Departmental Leadership: Walt Disney Animation Studios
==Role==
ZZ3C1C811F.jpg|Eddie Valiant(Who Framed Roger Rabbit; test footage only)
==Gallery==
===Artwork===
Toby-0.png|Toby
Great-mouse-detective-disneyscreencaps.com-7128.jpg|Felicia
Oliver.jpg|Oliver
===Miscellaneous===
Joe Grant Mike Giaimo and Mike Gabriel.JPG|L-R: Joe Grant, Mike Giaimo, Mike Gabriel
Michael Giamo and mike gabriel.JPG|Mike Gabriel with Michael Giaimo in Once Upon a Dream: The Making of Sleeping Beauty.
Mike gabriel interview.JPG|Mike Gabriel in Still the Fairest of Them All: The Making of Snow White.
==References==
==External links==
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Category:Animators
Category:Males
Category:Directors
Category:Disney people
Category:Articles with Wikipedia content
Category:The Fox and the Hound
Category:The Black Cauldron
Category:The Great Mouse Detective
Category:Oliver & Company
Category:Pocahontas
Category:Bolt
Category:Home on the Range
Category:The Princess and the Frog
Category:Winnie the Pooh
Category:Disney Renaissance
Category:Wreck-It Ralph
Category:Walt Disney Animation Studios
Category:Storyboard artists
Category:1950s births
Category:People from California
Category:Screenwriters
Category:The Rescuers
Category:Zootopia
Category:Big Hero 6
Category:American people