San Diego Comic-Con took place at the end of July as one of the largest celebrations of pop culture in the United States. The animation world recognized the thirty-year career of legendary animator Andreas Deja. Andreas Deja is known for bringing iconic Disney villains to life, including Gaston, Jafar, and Scar.

Temple of Geek spoke with him about the unique experiences and highlights of his thirty years in animation.

Andreas Deja Discusses His Animation Career at San Diego Comic-Con

During the interview, Andreas Deja reflected on animating three villains in a row. This is “extremely rare,” he says, and just happened to work out. Animating King Triton in “The Little Mermaid” catapulted him into the next few characters.

He says:

I remember I had just gotten off King Triton in the Little Mermaid, and we were starting on Beauty and the Beast, and that team from Beauty and the Beast said, ‘Well, you seem to be drawing anatomy really well, hands, you’re very expressive and we have a character like that, Gaston, who is sort of a bodybuilder and I think you would like him.’ So, I ended up doing that character. Then, we get to Aladdin, and they said, ‘Well, we liked your last villain. Do you want to do it again?’ I said, ‘Of course.’ So, I ended up doing Jafar.

By the time Disney began their work on “The Lion King,” Deja believed it was someone else’s turn to animate the villain. However, the voice of Scar drew him to the character immediately.

I found out that Jeremy Irons, the actor, had just been in the studio to record some dialogue for Scar. And I listened to it, and my brain was exploding, and I thought, ‘I got to do this character. I know it’s not my turn, but I know I can do something with that voice.’ So I talked to them. They said, ‘Yeah, of course. We had you in mind.’

The Difference Between Animating Villains and Heroes

After “The Lion King,” Deja worked on “Hercules.” Moving into a new project meant new opportunities, and he explains that he switched from animating the villain to animating the hero. He says that he was offered Hades, but he was afraid of repeating himself after working on similar characters for so long.

Deja says:

Well, villains are the ones where you can roll up your sleeves and be expressive with your acting, and you can really do really broad things ’cause villains motivate the stories, you know. And there’s a lot you can do with villains. When you have heroes, they tend to be a bit more subtle, realistic, and you have to be careful with your drawing and the movement because they have to seem real. But it’s also a challenge. It’s a good challenge to also be able to do that as well. And I really enjoyed doing Hercules.

There is a difference in mindset when it comes to animating the antagonists versus the hero of the story. Finding a balance between making the heroes interesting while also being realistic is key, whereas villains can be more open with their actions. Andreas Deja uses his incredible skill to bring these characters to life beautifully and memorably.