It was a day of great learning for UAE’s animation enthusiasts as they got a rare peek into the select works of Disney legend Andreas Deja as part of a much sought-after masterclass at the Sharjah Animation Conference (SAC) on Saturday.

The renowned Polish-born American animator/director, most noted for his 30-year career at Walt Disney Animation Studios, took to the stage for over an hour, wowing his audience with his deep industry knowledge and contagious passion for the art of animation.

“It would be nice if animators are given the chance to express themselves today. [The creative freedom] has slipped over the last few years with technology having taken over,” said Deja whose work includes supervising animation on characters in many Disney animated films, including villains Gaston in Beauty and the Beast, Jafar in Aladdin, and Scar in The Lion King.

“With technology entering the field, a lot of things have changed forever”, he opined.  

“What used to be impossible then is now super cheap,” he said when asked if the ‘old magic’ from today’s works was going away while referring to the multiplane camera, once used in the traditional animation process to move a number of pieces of artwork past the camera at various speeds and at various distances from one another to create a sense of parallax or depth. 

An early example is the scene in Walt Disney’s first animation film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, where the Evil Queen drinks her potion, and the surroundings appear to spin around her.

On talking about the creative process and the role feedback plays, he said: “I would show [my work] to people whose judgement I would trust. It’s always good to get feedback. You might think your creation is good but show it to other people who can give you honest feedback.”

Deja, who credits Disney’s The Jungle Book for inspiring him to become an animator, also spoke about his early days. “My parents secretly hoped that I would never go to America,” he said, recalling his early days. 

“They thought I would be an art teacher at best with a [secured] pension and once I told them about my one-way ticket to Los Angeles, they were in disbelief. But when I gave my first interview after being in Disney for two years and it aired on German TV, I realised I had made my mum proud, especially when the baker she visited told her that she saw me on TV. That made them finally change their opinion about animation.”

The participants also got a unique opportunity to uncover the secrets behind creating unforgettable characters and expressing emotions through animated drawing. Through hands-on demonstrations, in-depth analysis, and personalised advice, attendees will learn the techniques and strategies used by Deja to bring characters to life on screen.

Deja is best known for his work with Walt Disney Animation Studios, where he served as a lead animator on classic films such as ‘The Little Mermaid,’ ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ and ‘The Lion King.’ His iconic characters, including Scar, Jafar, and Gaston, have become beloved by audiences around the world.