Glen Keane

Who He Is

Glen Keane is one of the most celebrated character animators in Disney history, known for bringing to life some of the most iconic animated characters ever created. He joined Walt Disney Animation Studios in 1974 and over the following decades was the lead animator behind characters including Ariel from "The Little Mermaid," the Beast from "Beauty and the Beast," Aladdin, Pocahontas, Tarzan, and Rapunzel from "Tangled." Keane is known for his expressive, emotionally powerful drawing style and his belief that great animation is fundamentally about performance, not just movement. After leaving Disney in 2012, he directed the Academy Award-winning short "Dear Basketball" in collaboration with Kobe Bryant, and later directed the Netflix feature "Over the Moon." He is also a pioneering voice in the development of virtual reality as an artistic medium.

Why He Matters

Glen Keane's career shows that the animator's true job is to act. The characters he created do not just move across the screen. They breathe, struggle, want things, and change. His work has influenced generations of animators who study his drawings to understand how to give a character a genuine inner life through line and motion. Keane's willingness to explore new media, including his experiments with drawing in virtual reality, also demonstrates the importance of staying curious and open to technology as a tool for expanding what art can do. For young people who love to draw and tell stories, his career is a direct line from a sketchbook to the screen.