Glen Keane
Glen Keane's interests in art began as a kid, observing his father's work as a cartoonist. In his early attempts to draw, his dad gave him a copy of Burne Hogarth's Dynamic Anatomy, and instructed him to analyze the body forms, and creative approach to life drawing. After high school, Glen applied to the California Institute of the Arts-School of Art, opting out of accepting a football scholarship from another college. In a lucky twist of fate, his application was accidentally sent to the Program in Experimental Animation (then called Film Graphics), where he was mentored under the now-renowned animation teacher, Jules Engel.
He joined Disney in 1974 and his debut work was featured in The Rescuers as an animator for the character of Penny, alongside the famed Ollie Johnston, and Bernard. He then went on to animate Elliott the Dragon in Pete's Dragon. Keane animated the climactic bear showdown in The Fox and the Hound. In 1982, after being inspired by the groundbreaking film Tron, he worked with director John Lasseter (Toy Story, Toy Story 2) on Where the Wild Things Are, a 30-second test greenlighted by Tom Willhite that integrated traditional character animation and computer-generated backgrounds. But the project turned out to be too expensive, and the studio was unwilling to invest further in the planned featurette. Where the Wild Things Are was revolutionary for its time, and a predecessor to the famous ballroom scene in Beauty and the Beast.
Keane left Disney officially for some time, working as a freelance artist on Ratigan in The Great Mouse Detective. He returned to work on the characters of Fagin, Sykes and Georgette for Oliver & Company. Keane rose to lead character animator, becoming one of the group sometimes referred to as the "Nine New Men". In this post he was responsible for animating some of Disney's most memorable characters in what has been referred to as the "New "Golden Age" of Disney Animation.
Most recently Keane was the lead animator for Long John Silver in Treasure Planet. Currently, he is returning to his foray into the computer generated world as the director of Disney's upcoming CGI film, Rapunzel, slated for release in 2009. In Rapunzel, Glen and his team hope to bring the unique style and warmth of traditional cel animation to computer animation.