Glen Keane Wiki: 5 Facts To Know About The 'The Little Mermaid' Animator

From The Little Mermaid to Beauty and the Beast, animator Glen Keane has drawn it all. Check out his story, Oscar 2018 bid and net worth

By M Wellman
Glen Keane Wiki: 5 Facts To Know About The 'The Little Mermaid' Animator

Glen Keane - the face of Disney animation

Glen Keane is a famous animator, author and illustrator. Glen Keane may not be known by name but Glen Keane is known by his work. Glen Keane was one of the main animators for Walt Disney’s Animation Studio. Glen Keane worked on The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Tarzan and Tangled. Glen Keane was influenced by his father who was a well-known cartoonist. Glen Keane’s father Bil Keane was the creator of Family Circus. One of the favorites of the newspaper comic strip realm told the tales of everyday life with children in a hilarious manner. Glen Keane was a muse for his father’s work, the character Billy was Glen Keane himself. Glen Keane first job was high profile, Glen Keane was drafted to work for the Disney picture The Fox and the Houd. Glen Keane’s mentor was John Lounsbery. After graduating from high school at Brophy College Preparatory, Glen Keane joined California Institute of the Arts-School of Art, in the Program in Experimental Animation. After Glen Keane left school Glen Keane got a job with Disney that same year. Glen Keane first real top to bottom creation work was The Rescuers. During this time in 1975 Glen Keane married Linda Hesselroth. After The Rescuers was completed, Glen Keane went on to animate Elliott the Dragon in Pete's Dragon. In 1983 Glen Keane became a freelance artist, still working for Disney but not under an exclusive contract. Glen Keane worked on The Great Mouse Detective and Oliver & Company. Glen Keane became lead character animator, and by animating some of the most popular characters of all time ushered in what was known as the Golden Age of Disney. Glen Keane was involved with The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Pocahontas. In 1999 Glen Keane completed Tarzan then started work for Treasure Planet. After working for Disney for 37 years Glen Keane left. “I owe so much to those great animators who mentored me – Eric Larson, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston – as well as to the many other wonderful people at Disney whom I have been fortunate to work with in the past nearly 38 years. I am convinced that animation really is the ultimate form of our time with endless new territories to explore. I can’t resist its siren call to step out and discover them.”

Glen Keane

Glen Keane at his animation desk. Here Glen Keane is working on The Beast, who Glen Keane was in charge of for the movie.

Glen Keane and technology

Glen Keane joined a project that involved interactive drawing through Motorola's Advanced Technology and Projects Group. Through this medium, Glen Keane created a short called Duet. Glen Keane and Duet created major buzz on the internet for the beauty of Glen Keane 's movie.

The work of Glen Keane

My Favorite Martians Layout Artist Star Trek: The Animated Series Layout Artist Lassie's Rescue Rangers Layout Artist Mission: Magic! Layout Artist 1977 The Rescuers Character Animator Pete's Dragon Character Animator 1979 A Family Circus Christmas (TV Movie short) 1981 The Fox and the Hound Supervising Animator 1983 Mickey's Christmas Carol (Short) Animator 1985 The Black Cauldron Character Animator 1986 The Great Mouse Detective Supervising Animator 1987 The Chipmunk Adventure Animator / Storyboard Artist The Brave Little Toaster Character Designer / Developmental Animator / Directing Animator 1988 Oliver & Company Character Designer / Supervising Animator 1989 The Little Mermaid Character Designer / Supervising Animator 1990 The Rescuers Down Under Storyboard Artist / Supervising Animator / Character Designer / Visual Development 1991 Beauty and the Beast Supervising Animator 1992 Aladdin Supervising Animator 1995 Pocahontas Story / Supervising Animator / Visual Development / Character Designer 1999 Tarzan Story / Supervising Animator 2002 Treasure Planet Supervising Animator 2003 Mickey's PhilharMagic (Short) Animator 2008 Bolt Special Thanks 2010 Tangled Executive Producer / Animation Supervisor / Character Designer 2011 Adam and Dog (Short) Film Consultant 2012 Paperman (Short) Character Designer Wreck-It Ralph Additional Visual Development 2014 Duet (Short) Director / Animator 2016 Invasion! (Short) Special Thanks 2017 Dear Basketball (Short) Director

Glen Keane - his work on Rapunzel

Glen Keane was in charge of the animation of Rapunzel for the Pixar movie Tangled; in addition to Dear Basketball

Glen Keane about his characters

"I always get these characters who have more hair than I can ever hope for. Aladdin, Pocahontas, even The Beast. It's one of those cruel ironies (about the transformation scene in Beauty and the Beast (1991). It's really about an inner spiritual transformation that is taking place with the Beast and I saw it as a parable of my life that I got to express that. It was sincere. It was real for me. It was very real for the prince. I don't know that there ever is an illustration more clear as to what really can take place in a person's life spiritually than this animated character transforming from an animal to the prince."- Glen Keane

Glen Keane, the present day animator

Trying to keep hand drawn animation alive, Glen Keane teamed up with several projects like master class and Netflix for the film Over the Moon. The Glen Keane Netflix Movie Glen Keane is directing Over the Moon, which is a collaboration between Netflix and the Chinese animation company Pearl Studio. The estimated release is in 2020. “I am powerfully drawn to characters who believe the impossible is possible,” Keane said in a statement accompanying the announcement of his new project. He continued: “OVER THE MOON has just such a heroine as its centerpiece. The compelling script by Audrey Wells has tremendous heart and humor that called to me and I had to respond. I’m honored to bring this story to life alongside my producer Gennie Rim. We are both looking forward to creating a wonderful film and partnership with Melissa Cobb at Netflix and Peilin Chou at Pearl Studio.”

Glen Keane net worth and awards

Looking at all of Glen Keane's work it no surprise his net worth crossed the million dollar mark. In fact, Glen Keane net worth is $2 million. Glen Keane net worth is thanks to all of his years with Disney.

Glen Keane received these awards 1992 Annie Award for character animation, 2007 Winsor McCay Award for lifetime contribution to the field of animation 2013 named a Disney Legend. Oscar 2018 nomination

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