Michael Giaimo

Michael Joseph "Mike" Giaimo is an American animator and character designer, who worked on several Disney productions throughout the last five decades.
Giaimo was born in 1954 with his twin sister and lived in Glendale, a Los Angeles suburb. He went to La Canada High School, St. Francis Catholic School, and Eagle Rock High School before attending Glendale Collage for a few years before getting accepted to California Institute of the Arts to study animation in 1976 to June of 1978. Several classmates included Chris Buck, Darrell Van Citters, Ed Ghertner, Bruce Morris, Michael Cedeno, Phil Nibbelink, and Tim Burton.
Giaimo started his Disney career in the same way that many others did. He in-betweened on production while making a personal animation reel while being mentored by Peter Young and Eric Larson before moving up to assistant animator, working under Sylvia Mattinson, Andy Gaskill, and later with John Musker on The Fox and the Hound. During the remainder of the decade, he worked on Van Citters' Fun with Mr. Future, the cancelled Mickey Columbus featurette, early designs for Who Framed Roger Rabbit as well as developing animation for Audio-Animatronics for Tokyo Disneyland and designs for Epcot's seas' pavilion. He left the company in 1986 and started freelancing for other studios, such as Hanna-Barbera, Southern Star Productions, Kroyer Films, Hyperion Films, and Warner Brothers Animation.
Giaimo returned to the studio as art director for 1995's Pocahontas. He has since taught classes at CalArts and worked on various film projects for Disney, most predominantly the Frozen franchise.
==Filmography==
Year	Film 	Position
1981	The Fox and the Hound 	Assistant animator
1982	Fun with Mr. Future 	Story
1983	Backstage at Disney 	Self
1985	The Black Cauldron 	Assistant animatorStoryboard artist (uncredited)
1986	The Great Mouse Detective 	Assistant animatorStoryboard artist (uncredited)
1987	Sport Goofy in Soccermania	Story
1987	The Brave Little Toaster 	Character Designer
1988	Who Framed Roger Rabbit 	Character Designer (uncredited)
1995	Pocahontas 	Art DirectorCharacter designVisual development
1996	Quack Pack 	Character Designer
2004	Home on the Range 	Visual development artist
2013	Frozen 	Art DirectorVisual development
2015	Frozen Fever 	Art Director
2017	Olaf's Frozen Adventure 	Production Designer
2019	Frozen II 	Production Designer
2020	Once Upon a Snowman 	Production Designer
2023	Wish 	Production Designer
==Gallery==
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.
Michael Giaimo interview.jpg|Giaimo in The Art of Mary Blair.
Michael Giaimo at the Frozen premiere.JPG|Giaimo at the world premiere of Frozen.
==Trivia==
*He credits Mary Blair, Eyvind Earle's work on Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and Jay Ward cartoons as his inspiration and influence in his career in animation.
*He maintained strong friendships with his CalArts classmates over the years, such as Tim Burton where the two carpooled each other during their school years and served as best man at Chris Buck's wedding.
==External links==
*
*Animation Guild - Michael Giamio
*Disney History 101 - Michael Giamio
*John Cawley Interview with Mike Giaimo: 07/23/1990
Category:Males
Category:1950s births
Category:People from California
Category:American people
Category:Animators
Category:Storyboard artists
Category:Character Designers
Category:Writers
Category:Visual development artists
Category:Goofy
Category:Mickey Mouse
Category:The Fox and the Hound
Category:The Black Cauldron
Category:The Great Mouse Detective
Category:The Brave Little Toaster
Category:Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Category:Pocahontas
Category:Quack Pack
Category:Home on the Range
Category:Frozen
Category:Wish
Category:Disney Renaissance
Category:The Disney Afternoon
Category:Walt Disney Animation Studios
Category:Epcot