Andreas Deja, Lion King and Animal Animation

Andreas Deja and Alex Williams outside the Disney Animation Building

Yesterday at Disney in Los Angeles I met up with Andreas Deja, Disney lead animator and the man responsible for bringing "Scar" to life.

I was lucky enough to work on Andreas' team on Lion King back in 1992, when he took me under his wing and helped train me as a Disney animator.

I got to animate a few memorable shots on Scar, but it was Andreas who designed the character and, working with actor Jeremy Irons, gave him life and personality, creating one Disney's most memorable villains.

An Evening with Gabriel Arnold: 30th Sept

Join us for one of our "Evening with..." events at Escape Studios on Monday 30th September as we welcome MPC artist Gabriel Arnold, to talk about the making of The Lion King.

Gabriel Arnold was Groom Lead at MPC, leading the team that created the breathtakingly realistic and believable muscle systems and fur on the creatures who made up the blockbuster Disney re-make. 

El Suliman Reveals the Secrets of Lion King

Escape Studios was proud to welcome MPC lead animator El Suliman to Escape Studios last night to talk about his work on the Disney blockbuster "The Lion King", now one of the top ten most successful films ever made.

El spoke at one of our regular "Evening With" events.  El Suliman was an animation lead on The Lion King, and he animated many of the key shots on the film.

El explained how the animators approached the animation on this hugely complex and ground-breaking movie, which raises the bar for creature animation. 

"Evening With" The Lion King 22 August

MPC has recently confirmed our very special guest for our next "Evening With" event - with El Suliman, animation lead on The Lion King.

The event will be taking place at Escape Studios on the evening of 22nd August.

Like all our "Evening With..." events, all are welcome; the event is free and open to students and prospective students. 

Lion King Raises The Bar for Animal Animation

Lion King (2019)

MPC have raised the bar for animal and creature animation with Disney's release of The Lion King, the re-make of the Disney classic which I was fortunate enough to work on back in 1993.

I went to a preview of the film last night fully prepared to dislike it - how could anyone top the original? And why bother with a re-make, other than to please the shareholders?

But the Lion King is a triumph not just of technology but of great storytelling, as the film-makers kept most of the original film but wove in new elements to keep the story fresh.