Andreas Deja is a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

-born

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

-American character animator, most noted for his work at

Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene fro ...

. Deja's work includes serving as supervising animator on characters in several Disney animated films, including the Disney villains

Gaston Gaston is a masculine given name of French origin and a surname. The name "Gaston" may refer to: People First name *Gaston I, Count of Foix (1287–1315) *Gaston II, Count of Foix (1308–1343) *Gaston III, Count of Foix (1331–1391) *Gaston ...

in ''Beauty and the Beast'', Jafar in ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of ...

'', and

Scar A scar (or scar tissue) is an area of fibrous tissue that replaces normal skin after an injury. Scars result from the biological process of wound repair in the skin, as well as in other organs, and tissues of the body. Thus, scarring is a na ...

in ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance, it ...

'', the titular character in ''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

'', and

Lilo Pelekai Disney's ''Lilo & Stitch'' is an American science fiction media franchise that began in 2002 with the animated film of the same name written and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. The franchise, which consists of four animated films ...

in ''

Lilo & Stitch ''Lilo & Stitch'' is a 2002 American animated science fiction comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 42nd Disney animated feature film, it was written and directed by Chris Sande ...

''.

Early life

Deja was born in Poland, but moved with his family to Germany. He credits seeing Disney's ''

The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, ...

'' as an 11-year-old with inspiring him to become an animator."Deja views"
Features, ''

The Northern Echo ''The Northern Echo'' is a regional daily morning newspaper based in the town of Darlington in North East England, serving mainly southern County Durham and northern Yorkshire. The paper covers national as well as regional news. In 2007, its t ...

'', 30 January 2010 At that young age, he promptly wrote to Walt Disney Productions to express his interest in working there, and received back a form letter which he has kept ever since. Deja later summarized the letter and how he acted on it as follows: "Please, do not send us any copies of

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

. We can teach you that. You need to become an artist in your own right first. Watch the world around you. Draw your brothers and sisters. Go to the zoo. Sketch the animals a lot ... I took it very seriously ... I knew I had to be good. I knew I had to be above average." After graduating from Theodor-Heuss Gymnasium (secondary school), he studied graphic design at the

Folkwang Hochschule The Folkwang University of the Arts is a university for music, theater, dance, design, and academic studies, located in four German cities of North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 1927, its traditional main location has been in the former Werden Abbey in E ...

Essen, Germany Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dor ...

Career

Andreas Deja Studio Technique Masterclass 1

A lifelong fan of Disney animated films, Deja was hired by the studio in August 1980 after he had corresponded with

Eric Larson Eric Cleon Larson (September 3, 1905 – October 25, 1988) was an American animator for the Walt Disney Studios starting in 1933, and was one of the "Disney's Nine Old Men". Biography Born in Cleveland, Utah, Larson was the son of Danish ...

, one of Disney's senior

Nine Old Men Disney's Nine Old Men were Walt Disney Productions' core animators, some of whom later became directors, who created some of Disney's most famous animated cartoons, from '' Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' (1937) onward to ''The Rescuers'' (197 ...

of animation who ran the studio's training department. The first film on which he worked for was '' The Black Cauldron'', during which time he shared a cubicle with future film director

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...

. During his rookie days at Disney, Deja sought mentorship and practical advice from seven of the then-living Nine Old Men, who were already retired before his tenure.Andreas Deja shares the lessons he learned from those animation masters, Disney's Nine Old Men
Jim Hill Media, 28 July 2016 Deja has collected information on the Nine Old Men over the years, and has stated that one of his ambitions is to publish one book for each of the Nine Old Men. Deja is best known as the supervising animator of some of the most memorable Disney villains:

in ''Beauty and the Beast'', Jafar in ''

'',

in ''

'' and Queen Narissa in '' Enchanted''. He also animated

Roger Rabbit Roger Rabbit is an animated anthropomorphic rabbit. The character first appeared in author Gary K. Wolf's 1981 novel, ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' In the book, Roger is second banana in a popular comic strip, "Baby Herman". Roger hires private ...

in ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American live-action/animated comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely adapted by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman from Gary K. Wolf's 1 ...

'',

King Triton This article lists information of animated original characters from Disney's ''The Little Mermaid (franchise), The Little Mermaid'' franchise, covering the The Little Mermaid (1989 film), 1989 film, its The Little Mermaid (TV series), prequel , i ...

in ''

The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a h ...

'', the title character in ''

'',

in ''

'', Mama Odie in ''

The Princess and the Frog ''The Princess and the Frog'' is a 2009 American Animation, animated musical film, musical fantasy film, fantasy romantic comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The List of Walt Disney Anima ...

'' and

Tigger Tigger is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic stuffed tiger. He was originally introduced in the 1928 story collection '' The House at Pooh Corner'', the sequel to the 1926 book ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' by A. A. Milne. Like other Pooh char ...

in ''

Winnie the Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character w ...

''. In addition, he is the current resident specialist for the animation of Mickey Mouse. In 2011, he began a blog where he shares some of his collection of the work of the early Disney animators. In 2015, Deja authored ''The Nine Old Men: Lessons, Techniques, and Inspiration from Disney's Great Animators'' published by

Focal Press Focal Press is a publisher of creative and applied media books and it is an imprint of Routledge/Taylor & Francis. Company history The firm was founded in London in 1938 by Andor Kraszna-Krausz, a Hungarian photographer who migrated to England ...

. As of June 2022, he is currently working on the animated film ''Mushka''. Deja was the guest curator for the exhibition titled ''Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book: Making a Masterpiece'' which took place at

The Walt Disney Family Museum The Walt Disney Family Museum (WDFM) is an American museum that features the life and legacy of Walt Disney. The museum is located in The Presidio of San Francisco, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco. The museum r ...

from June 23, 2022 to January 8, 2023 to celebrate the film's 55th anniversary. A Members Only Preview of the exhibition which included a special talk with Deja,

Darleen Carr Darleen Carr (born Darlene Farnon) is an American actress, singer, and voice-over artist. She is also known as Darlene Carr or Darleen Drake. She has two sisters, both actresses (Shannon Farnon and Charmian Carr). Early years Carr was born in ...

Floyd Norman Floyd E. Norman (born June 22, 1935) is an American animator, writer, and comic book artist. Over the course of his career, Norman has worked for various animation companies, among them Walt Disney Animation Studios, Hanna-Barbera Productions, ...

and

Bruce Reitherman Bruce Reitherman (born September 15, 1955) is an American filmmaker and former child actor. He voiced Christopher Robin in '' Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree'' and Mowgli in ''The Jungle Book''. Life and work Born in Burbank, California, R ...

took place on June 22, 2022. Deja also wrote an extensive companion book for the exhibition which was originally slated to be published by Weldon Owen on September 20, 2022, before it was changed to November 1, 2022.

Personal life

Deja is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. His sexuality has been discussed as an influence on the development of some Disney characters.

Filmography

Awards

In 2006, at the

34th Annie Awards The ceremony for the 34th Annual Annie Awards, honoring the best in animation in 2006, was held on February 11, 2007, at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, California. The nominations were announced on December 4, 2006. Winners are marked in bold ...

, Deja was awarded the

Winsor McCay Award The Winsor McCay Award is given to individuals in recognition of lifetime or career contributions to the art of animation in producing, directing, animating, design, writing, voice acting, sound and sound effects, technical work, music, profession ...

for outstanding contribution to the art of animation.''Winsor McCay Award''
The Annie Awards, annieawards.org retrieved on 2008-10-26 At the 2015

D23 Expo D23: The Official Disney Fan Club is the official fan club for The Walt Disney Company. Founded in 2009, the organization is known mainly for its biennial exposition event, the D23 Expo. The name ''D23'' refers to ''D'' for ''Disney'' and ''23' ...

, he was honored as a

Disney Legend The Disney Legends Awards is a Hall of Fame program that recognizes individuals who have made an extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company. Established in 1987, the honor was traditionally awarded annually during a speci ...

References

External links

*
Deja View
Andreas Deja's blog
IGN Interview with Deja (2003)Animated News Interview with Deja (2005)Interview with Deja, DVD Movie Guide (2003)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deja, Andreas Living people American animators German emigrants to the United States Walt Disney Animation Studios people LGBT artists from the United States Gay artists LGBT animators LGBT film directors LGBT artists from Poland Folkwang University of the Arts alumni Annie Award winners Year of birth missing (living people)