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IMDbPro

Sue C. Nichols(1965-2020)

  • Animation Department
  • Art Department
  • Writer
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Susan Carol "Sue" Nichols was an artist from Massachusetts, active in the field of animation from the 1980s to the 2010s. She variously worked as a story writer, a visual development artist, a character designer, a storyboard artist, and a supervising artist. She is primarily remembered as one of the credited writers for the feature films "Aladdin" (1992) and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996). In 2020,she was posthumously awarded with a Winsor McCay Award for her contributions in animation.

In 1965, Nichols was born in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts. The town is located about 5 miles (8 kilometers) from downtown Springfield. The former basis off its economy were its brownstone quarries. Nichols received her secondary education at the East Longmeadow High School, the only secondary school in her hometown. She graduated in 1983.

Nichols enrolled at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) to study visual animation. She formally graduated in 1987, and would later return to CalArts as a faculty member. Prior to her graduation, she had already served as a design artist for the syndicated television series "My Little Pony" (1986-1987). From 1986 to 1989, she served as a model designer for the long-running series "Muppet Babies" (1984-1991). She was credited as a character modeler in early episodes of the educational series "McGee and Me!" (1989-1995).

Nichols was eventually hired by the Walt Disney Animation Studios, and would remain affiliated with the animation studio for decades. Her debut film was "Beauty and the Beast" (1991), where she was a visual development artist. Her subsequent film credits included "Aladdin" (1992), "The Lion King" (1994), "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996), "Hercules" (1997), "Mulan" (1998), "Fantasia 2000" (1999), "The Emperor's New Groove" (2000), "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" (2001), "Lilo & Stitch" (2002), "The Princess and the Frog" (2009), and "Moana" (2016).

During the 2000s, Nichols started working for the sibling studio Disneytoon Studios (1990-2018). Many of the studio's films were direct-to-video productions. Her film credits for the studio included "Piglet's Big Movie" (2003), "Mulan II" (2004), and "Bambi II" (2006).While commercially successful, these films were dismissed as derivative works by critics.

In 2015, Nichols was diagnosed with breast cancer. While she continued working in animation, her output was rather limited in this period. She died in September 2020, at the age of 55. Disney commemorated her death with an online listing of her achievements in animation, and through providing photos of her character designs from the 1990s.
BornJune 10, 1965
DiedSeptember 1, 2020(55)
BornJune 10, 1965
DiedSeptember 1, 2020(55)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Add photos, demo reels
  • Awards
    • 1 win & 1 nomination

Known for:

Robin Williams, Jonathan Freeman, Gilbert Gottfried, Linda Larkin, Douglas Seale, Scott Weinger, and Frank Welker in Aladdin (1992)
Aladdin
8.0
  • Writer(as Sue Nichols)
  • 1992
Tom Hulce in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
7.0
  • Animation Department
  • 1996
Bruno Campos, Jim Cummings, Keith David, Jennifer Hale, Jenifer Lewis, Anika Noni Rose, Hynden Walch, and Michael-Leon Wooley in The Princess and the Frog (2009)
The Princess and the Frog
7.1
  • Animation Department(as Sue Nichols, Tiana's fantasy sequence)
  • 2009
Michael J. Fox, Leonard Nimoy, James Garner, John Mahoney, David Ogden Stiers, Jim Varney, Jacqueline Obradors, Steven Barr, Corey Burton, Claudia Christian, Jim Cummings, Phil Morris, Don Novello, Patrick Pinney, Florence Stanley, Cree Summer, and Natalie Strom in Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
6.9
  • Art Department
  • 2001

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Animation Department

  • Curious George: Go West, Go Wild (2020)
    Curious George: Go West, Go Wild
    • freelance character designer
    • TV Movie
    • 2020
  • Bruno Campos, Jim Cummings, Keith David, Jennifer Hale, Jenifer Lewis, Anika Noni Rose, Hynden Walch, and Michael-Leon Wooley in The Princess and the Frog (2009)
    The Princess and the Frog
    • color and design artist: Tiana's fantasy sequence (as Sue Nichols)
    • 2009
  • Eddie Murphy, BD Wong, Miguel Ferrer, Harvey Fierstein, Pat Morita, George Takei, Ming-Na Wen, Julianne Buescher, June Foray, Donny Osmond, Tom Amundsen, Arminae Austen, Mary Kay Bergman, Susan Boyd, Steve Bulen, Corey Burton, Mitch Carter, Robert Clotworthy, David Cowgill, Sally Dworsky, Beth Fowler, Donald Fullilove, Jack Gilpin, James Hong, Richard Steven Horvitz, Linda Kerns, Matthew Labyorteaux, Conan Lee, Dana Lee, Miriam Margolyes, Marni Nixon, Soon-Tek Oh, Elisa Gabrielli, Lea Salonga, Freda Foh Shen, James Shigeta, Jerry Tondo, Gedde Watanabe, Frank Welker, Matthew Wilder, and Sandie Hall in Mulan (1998)
    Mulan
    • character designer (as Sue Nichols)
    • 1998
  • Tom Hulce in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
    The Hunchback of Notre Dame
    • character designer
    • 1996
  • Matthew Broderick in The Lion King (1994)
    The Lion King
    • character designer
    • 1994
  • John Ritter, Tom Selleck, Jim Henson, Greg Berg, Barbara Billingsley, Dave Coulier, Peter Cullen, Stan Lee, Katie Leigh, Jeffrey Scott, Laurie O'Brien, Russi Taylor, Frank Welker, and Lon Zimmet in Muppet Babies (1984)
    Muppet Babies
    • model designer (as Susan Nichols)
    • TV Series
    • 1986–1989
  • Blondie & Dagwood: Second Wedding Workout (1989)
    Blondie & Dagwood: Second Wedding Workout
    • models (as Sue Nichols)
    • TV Short
    • 1989
  • Joseph Dammann in McGee and Me! (1989)
    McGee and Me!
    • character modeler (as Sue Nichols)
    • TV Series
    • 1989

Art Department

  • Gabriel Iglesias, Wanda Sykes, Leehom Wang, Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton, Janelle Monáe, Pitbull, and Nick Jonas in UglyDolls (2019)
    UglyDolls
    • story artist: additional (as Sue Nichols)
    • 2019
  • Dwayne Johnson, Stephen Kearin, Temuera Morrison, Alan Tudyk, Nicole Scherzinger, Any Gabrielly, and Auli'i Cravalho in Moana (2016)
    Moana
    • visual development
    • 2016
  • Bruno Campos, Jim Cummings, Keith David, Jennifer Hale, Jenifer Lewis, Anika Noni Rose, Hynden Walch, and Michael-Leon Wooley in The Princess and the Frog (2009)
    The Princess and the Frog
    • visual development artist (as Sue Nichols)
    • 2009
  • Susan Sarandon, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, and Amy Adams in Enchanted (2007)
    Enchanted
    • visual development (as Sue Nichols)
    • 2007
  • The Simpsons Movie (2007)
    The Simpsons Movie
    • visual development artist (uncredited)
    • 2007
  • Bambi 2: The Great Prince of the Forest (2006)
    Bambi 2: The Great Prince of the Forest
    • storyboard artist
    • Video
    • 2006
  • Mulan II (2004)
    Mulan II
    • additional story artist
    • Video
    • 2004
  • Jim Cummings and John Fiedler in Piglet's Big Movie (2003)
    Piglet's Big Movie
    • storyboard artist (as Susan Nicholls)
    • 2003
  • Chris Sanders in Lilo & Stitch (2002)
    Lilo & Stitch
    • visual development supervisor (as Sue Nichols)
    • 2002
  • Michael J. Fox, Leonard Nimoy, James Garner, John Mahoney, David Ogden Stiers, Jim Varney, Jacqueline Obradors, Steven Barr, Corey Burton, Claudia Christian, Jim Cummings, Phil Morris, Don Novello, Patrick Pinney, Florence Stanley, Cree Summer, and Natalie Strom in Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
    Atlantis: The Lost Empire
    • additional visual development
    • 2001
  • David Spade in The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
    The Emperor's New Groove
    • additional visual development artist
    • 2000
  • Fantasia 2000 (1999)
    Fantasia 2000
    • storyboard artist
    • 1999
  • Eddie Murphy, BD Wong, Miguel Ferrer, Harvey Fierstein, Pat Morita, George Takei, Ming-Na Wen, Julianne Buescher, June Foray, Donny Osmond, Tom Amundsen, Arminae Austen, Mary Kay Bergman, Susan Boyd, Steve Bulen, Corey Burton, Mitch Carter, Robert Clotworthy, David Cowgill, Sally Dworsky, Beth Fowler, Donald Fullilove, Jack Gilpin, James Hong, Richard Steven Horvitz, Linda Kerns, Matthew Labyorteaux, Conan Lee, Dana Lee, Miriam Margolyes, Marni Nixon, Soon-Tek Oh, Elisa Gabrielli, Lea Salonga, Freda Foh Shen, James Shigeta, Jerry Tondo, Gedde Watanabe, Frank Welker, Matthew Wilder, and Sandie Hall in Mulan (1998)
    Mulan
    • visual development (as Sue Nichols)
    • 1998
  • James Woods, Danny DeVito, Matt Frewer, Bobcat Goldthwait, Rip Torn, Tate Donovan, Josh Keaton, Roger Bart, and Susan Egan in Hercules (1997)
    Hercules
    • production stylist
    • 1997
  • Tom Hulce in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
    The Hunchback of Notre Dame
    • visual development
    • 1996

Writer

  • Tom Hulce in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
    The Hunchback of Notre Dame
    • story
    • 1996
  • Robin Williams, Jonathan Freeman, Gilbert Gottfried, Linda Larkin, Douglas Seale, Scott Weinger, and Frank Welker in Aladdin (1992)
    Aladdin
    • story (as Sue Nichols)
    • 1992

Personal details

Edit
  • Official site
    • Art Class and Career Advice Site
  • Alternative names
    • Susan Nicholls
  • Born
    • June 10, 1965
    • East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, USA
  • Died
    • September 1, 2020
    • East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, USA(breast cancer)
  • Spouse
    • Chester "JR" Maciorowski? - September 1, 2020 (her death, 2 children)
  • Other works
    Teaching design at ArtToDesign.com, story consulting, and freelancing story and production design work.

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Upon her death, she was cremated and her ashes returned to her family.

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