Michael Paraskevas is an American illustrator, cartoonist, and animation producer best known for co-creating along with his mother Betty in the Canadian animated children's television series Maggie and the Ferocious Beast. The show was based on the 1996 book The Ferocious Beast with the Polka-Dot Hide and its sequels, all of which were also created by the Paraskevases. Together, they authored 20 children's books. and created three animated series: Maggie and the Ferocious Beast, Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse, and The Kids from Room 402. They also produced and created The Tangerine Bear as a direct-to-video Christmas special.