Andreas Deja

Andreas Deja is a Polish-born German-American animator, who joined the animation department of Walt Disney Productions in the 1980s, and soon established himself as a supervising animator on several villains in Disney animated features. He is also known for his work for animating Mickey Mouse in his more recent animated appearances.
==Early life==
Deja was born in Gdańsk, Poland on April 1, 1957, but moved with his family to Dinslaken, Germany, in 1958. He credits seeing Disney's The Jungle Book as an 11-year-old with inspiring him to become an animator. After graduating from Theodor-Heuss Gymnasium (secondary school), he studied graphic design at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, Germany.
==Career==
A lifelong fan of Disney animated films, Deja was hired by the studio in 1980 after he had corresponded with Eric Larson, one of Disney's senior Nine Old Men of animation who ran the studio's training department. The first film on which he worked was The Black Cauldron, during which time he shared a cubicle with future film director Tim Burton.
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. 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: Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, Jafar from Aladdin, and Scar from The Lion King. He also animated Roger Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, King Triton from The Little Mermaid, the titular character of Hercules, Lilo from Lilo & Stitch, Queen Narissa from Enchanted, Mama Odie from The Princess and the Frog, and Tigger from Winnie the Pooh. In addition, he is the current resident specialist for the animation of Mickey Mouse.
In 2006, at the 35th Annie Awards, Deja was awarded the Winsor McCay Award for outstanding contribution to the art of animation. Recently, he began a blog where he shares some of his collection of the work of the early Disney animators.
In 2015, he was named a Disney Legend at the D23 Expo.
In 2017, The Walt Disney Family Museum hosted the one-man exhibition: Deja View: The Art of Andreas Deja.
==Personal life==
Deja is openly gay. His sexuality has been discussed as an influence on the development of some Disney characters.
==Filmography Credits==
Year	Film 	Position
1985	The Black Cauldron 	Supervising Animator: Taran, Eilonwy, Dallben, Gurgi, Doli, Horned King, and Fair Folk/Character Designer
1986	The Great Mouse Detective 	Character Animator: Queen Mousetoria
1986	The Animated Atlas of the World 	Character Animator: Atlas
1988	Who Framed Roger Rabbit 	Supervising Animator: Roger Rabbit
1988	Oliver & Company 	Character Designer
1989	The Little Mermaid 	Character Designer/Directing Animator/Supervising Animator: King Triton
1990	The Prince and the Pauper 	Supervising Animator: Mickey Mouse and The Prince
1991	Beauty and the Beast 	Supervising Animator: Gaston
1992	Aladdin 	Supervising Animator: Jafar
1994	The Lion King 	Supervising Animator: Scar
1995	Runaway Brain 	Supervising Animator: Mickey Mouse
1996	Quack Pack 	Animation Director/Supervising Animator: 1 Episode: Ducky Dearest
1997	Hercules 	Supervising Animator: Adult Hercules
2000	Fantasia 2000 	Animator: Segment Rhapsody in Blue/Character Animator: Mickey Mouse in the Host Sequences
2000	The Emperor's New Groove 	Additional Visual Development Artist
2002	Lilo & Stitch 	Supervising Animator: Lilo
2004	Home on the Range 	Animator: Slim and Junior
2004	Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas 	Animation Consultant
2006	Bambi II 	Animation Consultant
2007	Enchanted 	Supervising Animator: Queen Narissa
2007	How to Hook Up Your Home Theater	Animator: Goofy
2009	The Princess and the Frog 	Supervising Animator: Mama Odie and Juju
2011	The Ballad of Nessie 	Supervising Animator: Nessie
2011	Winnie the Pooh 	Visual Development Artist/Supervising Animator: Tigger
2017	Happily Ever After 	Animator: Snake Jafar
==Gallery==
===Artwork===
File:30317372.jpg
Taran Excited.jpg|Taran
File:2nrou90.jpg|Eilonwy
File:Black-cauldron-disneyscreencaps.com-4859.jpg|Gurgi
File:Blackcauldron062.jpg|Dallben
File:Black-cauldron-disneyscreencaps.com-7876.jpg|Horned King
File:Blackcauldron361.jpg|Fair Folk
File:Basil screencaps190.jpg|Queen Mousetoria
File:Roger Rabbit.png|Roger Rabbit
File:Epcot Atlas.jpg|Atlas(The Animated Atlas of the World, The Living Seas at Epcot)
File:Mermaid-1080p-disneyscreencaps.com-3884.jpg|King Triton
File:1990-prince-02.jpg|Mickey Mouse & The Prince
File:Beauty-and-the-beast-disneyscreencaps.com-541.jpg|Gaston
File:Aladdin-disneyscreencaps com-1535.jpeg|Jafar
File:Lion-king-disneyscreencaps.com-3408.jpg|Scar
File:Tumblr lxgn7cZdDb1qhcrb0o1 1280.jpg|Mickey Mouse
File:Runaway Brain screenshoot 28.jpg|Julius in Mickey's body
File:Hercules-disneyscreencaps com-4129.jpg|Adult Hercules
File:Mickey-Levine.jpg|Mickey Mouse
File:Lilo & Stitch - 'Sometimes five times a day with bricks.'.png|Lilo
File:Home-on-the-range-disneyscreencaps.com-3309.jpg|Alameda Slim
File:Home-on-the-range-disneyscreencaps.com-5995.jpg|Junior
File:How to hook up your home theater2.jpg.jpg|Goofy
File:Princess-and-the-frog-disneyscreencaps.com-7405.jpg|Mama Odie
File:Princess-and-the-frog-disneyscreencaps com-7287.jpg|Juju
File:Tigger is telling the narrator he's the only one.jpg|Tigger
File:Enchanted Queen Narissa 01.jpg|Queen Narissa
===Miscellaneous===
File:Walt-Disney-Animators-Andreas-Deja-walt-disney-characters-22959893-651-773.jpg
File:Walt-Disney-Animators-Andreas-Deja-walt-disney-characters-22959915-650-725.jpg
Aladdin Character animators.jpg|L-R: David Pruiksma, Glen Keane, Duncan Marjoribanks, Eric Goldberg, Will Finn, Randy Cartwright, Andreas Deja.
Andreas deja interview.JPG|Deja in Still the Fairest of Them All: The Making of Snow White.
Andreas Deja Glen Keane Mark Henn.JPG|L-R: Andreas Deja, Glen Keane, Mark Henn
==Trivia==
*He was the original animator behind Yzma back when production was known as Kingdom of the Sun. When production shifted into The Emperor's New Groove, Deja left the project as he felt that the new version of Yzma did not suit his style.
==Refences==
==External links==
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*Deja View, Andreas Deja's blog
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*Andreas' Facebook Account
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