Blog Assignment #1: Andreas Deja

Animation itself is, by definition, a collaborative effort. On a full-length feature, the number of people working on the film can number in the hundreds in various capacities such as lead animators, storyboard artists, inbetweeners, and background artists. However, even in such a situation where absolutely everyone has a role to play, some artists stand out. Even though they may not be famous outside of the animation industry, within it, they are giants.

One such artist is Andreas Deja, a character animator at the Walt Disney Animation Studios. Since 1980, he has worked on many different animated films at the studio in different capacities.

However, what Deja is most famous for is as supervising animator for some of Disney’s best villains, namely Gaston from 1991’s Beauty and the Beast, Jafar from 1992’s Aladdin, and Scar from 1994’s The Lion King. These three films, along with 1989’s The Little Mermaid, are considered by many to be the “neo-classics” of the Disney canon. There are many factors that led to this label, but one of them has to be Deja’s portrayals of that most important of characters, the villain. For who is it but the villain that helps create the central conflict of the film?

What makes Deja’s villains stand out from other famous animated evil-doers is his energetic, realistic depictions of the character. While the story department creates the character itself, it is up to the lead animator to interpret and “act” out it’s movements and expressions. Deja’s portrayals are so good because he delves inside the character’s mind, and brings what reads flat on a script to life. On paper, Gaston is an obnoxious, boorish, arrogant hunter who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Through Deja’s pencil, the audience sees the strut he uses to walk through town, the constant preening to reassure himself of his handsomeness, and the malicious grin as he prepares to club the Beast over the head. Jafar is another character that simply seems like a power-hungry wizard on paper, but it’s only with Deja’s characterization that the audience realizes that Jafar is, in fact, crazy.

As for Scar… there is literally an entire generation traumatized by the death of Mufasa at the paws of his ruthless brother. Although the character was originally supposed to be more of a brawny tough guy, Deja slimmed the character down and made him more of a fawning, oily character who was patiently waiting for his chance, similar to the character of Iago from Shakespeare’s Othello. One of the more interesting facets that Deja put into the character was his portrayal of Scar’s face, which was modeled after the lion’s voice actor, Jeremy Irons. By using the expressions that Irons himself used while acting, Deja linked the dialogue and the art together in order to form a realistic character. Well, as realistic as a talking lion could be.

One great regret in regards to Deja is that very little of the world will ever see what was supposed to be another great villain. Disney’s Kingdom of the Sun was supposed to be a dark, epic piece set in an ancient Incan empire, similar in scope and scale to The Lion King. Deja was the lead animator for Yzma, the evil sorceress who planned to plunge the world into darkness in order to hide her disappearing beauty. However, the production was very troubled, leading to essentially two directors working on two very different films—one comedic, one dark. Eventually, the studio approved the comedic version, which became The Emperor’s New Groove.
Deja, disgusted with the direction of the film, where his vain, villainous sorceress became a humorous, crazed mad scientist, left the production. (Image: one of very few sketches of the original Yzma.)

Villains, though Deja’s specialty, has not been the only thing he’s done at Disney. Other characters he has worked on as the supervising animator include Roger Rabbit (1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit?), Adult Hercules (1997’s Hercules), and Lilo (2002’s Lilo and Stitch). He has even worked on the big cheese himself, Mickey Mouse, in segments for Fantasia 2000 and 1995’s short Runaway Brain.



In addition to being an amazing character animator, Deja is also an authority on Disney history, having visited and talked with Disney’s Nine Old Men on numerous occasions over the past thirty years. In an industry that is constantly focused on the next big thing, the next shiny new toy, it’s interesting to find someone so interested in the past and who has come before him. (That Dr. Frankenollie in the above video? Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston of course!)

There’s a saying in animation, that animators are actually just shy actors with pencils. What fascinates me the most about Andreas Deja is just the quality of his “acting,” how he manages to so effectively characterize and bring to life these totally imaginary yet realistic figures through animation. It's that creation that makes us believe in the films, and in the end, makes us care about what happens to these characters... even if they do suffer the standard "Disney villain falling death."