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 animator Storyboard artist (uncredited) |
| 1986 | The Great Mouse Detective | Assistant animator Storyboard 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 Director Character design Visual development |
| 1996 | Quack Pack | Character Designer |
| 2004 | Home on the Range | Visual development artist |
| 2013 | Frozen | Art Director Visual 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[]
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[]
Michael Giaimo on IMDb- Animation Guild - Michael Giamio
- Disney History 101 - Michael Giamio
- John Cawley Interview with Mike Giaimo: 07/23/1990
