| Birth Name: | Susan Carol Nichols |
| Birth Date: | 10 June 1965 |
| Birth Place: | East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Death Place: | East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Resting Place: | Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Agawam, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Artist |
| Spouse: | Chester "JR" Maciorowski |
| Children: | 2 |
| Yearsactive: | 1986 - 2019 |
Susan Carol Maciorowski (née Nichols; June 10, 1965 – September 1, 2020) was an American artist best known for her work with Walt Disney Animation Studios predominantly during the Disney Renaissance and Post-Renaissance.[1]
Susan Carol Nichols was born to parents Brian and Julie. She graduated from East Longmeadow High School in 1983 before going on to study visual animation at the California Institute of the Arts where she later lectured, graduating in 1987.
She married Chester "JR" Maciorowski and had two children, Stephanie and Jonathan.[2]
In 2015, she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. She received treatment at D'Amour Center for Cancer Care in Springfield, Massachusetts. She died on September 1, 2020, and was buried in Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Agawam, Massachusetts.
Disney released a statement announcing her death in the same month with a long thread celebrating her work. Eric Goldberg said, "She will be sadly missed by those of us who had the good fortune to work with her, but her influence on those films will be there forever."[3] On the first anniversary of her death, her husband published one final entry on her personal website on a page she used to document her life living with cancer, detailing what happened between her last post on the page on January 16, 2020, and her death.[4]
| Year | Title | Credits | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Beauty and the Beast | Visual development artist | |
| 1992 | Aladdin | Story | |
| 1994 | The Lion King | Character designer, visual development artist | |
| 1994 | The Pagemaster | Storyboard artist | |
| 1996 | The Hunchback of Notre Dame | Story, character designer, visual development | |
| 1997 | Hercules | Production stylist | |
| 1998 | Mulan | Character designer, visual development | |
| 1999 | Fantasia 2000 | Storyboard artist | |
| 2000 | The Emperor's New Groove | Additional visual development artist | |
| 2001 | Additional visual development | ||
| 2002 | Lilo & Stitch | Visual development supervisor | |
| 2003 | Piglet's Big Movie | Storyboard artist | |
| 2004 | Mulan II | Additional storyboard artist | Direct-to-video |
| 2006 | Bambi and the Great Prince of the Forest | Storyboard artist | Direct-to-video |
| 2007 | Enchanted | Visual development | |
| 2009 | The Princess and the Frog | Visual development artist, color and design artist | |
| 2016 | Moana | Character design | |
| 2019 | UglyDolls | Storyboard artist | |
| Year | Title | Credits | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986-1989 | Muppet Babies | Model designer | 58 episodes |
| 1986 | My Little Pony 'n Friends | Designer | Special |
| 1989 | McGee and Me! | Character modeler | 5 episodes |
| 1989 | Blondie & Dagwood: Second Wedding Workout | Modeler | Television film |
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Hugo Awards | Best Dramatic Presentation | Aladdin | ||
| 2020 | Winsor McCay Award | ||||