Interview with Star Disney Animator, Andreas Deja

Andreas Deja (IMDB, Wikipedia) represents the cream of the crop as far as animators are concerned. He is Disney’s nine old men (wikipedia) all rolled into one for our generation. He joined Walt Disney Feature Animation at the right time to allow him to become one of our greatest links to the wisdom of the original masters. I always learn something from him, so I’m always eager to read a new interview with him. This one was no exception.

It starts with the recent death of another Disney great, Joe Grant (wikipedia).

the way it happened is, he was finishing a beautiful drawing, I’d love
to see that drawing, I don’t know what he was drawing, but he was at
his drawing desk at home, finished that drawing, put his head down…and
died. I had heard it was a heart attack but somebody said that sounds
more like a stroke, but I don’t know what it was. But it was peaceful
and painless, which is…which is wonderful.

and other wonderful bits like this:

Pixar are the biggest supporters for hand-drawn. They just love it.

Deja also drops a huge bit of news about the future of 2D animation at the Walt Disney Studios, but you’ll have to go and read the thing yourself if you want more.

(see also the Animation Podcast with Deja)

[ttags: disney, animation, deja, andrea+deja, handdrawn, disneyana, walt+disney, waltdisney, joegrant, joe+grant ]