Glen Keane facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Glen Keane
Keane in 2017
Born	(1954-04-13) April 13, 1954 (age 71) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Animator author illustrator cartoonist
Years active	1973–present
Employer	Filmation (1973) Walt Disney Animation Studios (1974–2012)
Spouse(s)	Linda Hesselroth ​ (m. 1975)​
Children	Claire Keane Max Keane
Awards	Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film Dear Basketball (2017)
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Glen Keane, born on April 13, 1954, is a famous American animator, director, author, and illustrator. For 38 years, from 1974 to 2012, he worked as a character animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios. He helped bring many beloved characters to life in classic Disney movies. Some of these films include The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Tarzan, and Tangled.

Glen Keane has received many awards for his amazing work. He won the 1992 Annie Award for character animation. In 2007, he received the Winsor McCay Award for his lifetime contributions to animation. He was also named a Disney Legend in 2013, which is a very special honor. In 2017, Keane directed Dear Basketball, a short animated film. He and basketball star Kobe Bryant won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for this movie.

Early Life and Inspiration

Glen Keane was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father was Bil Keane, the cartoonist who created the popular comic strip The Family Circus. Glen grew up in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

Glen's interest in art started by watching his father draw cartoons. His father even based the character of Billy in The Family Circus on a younger Glen. To help Glen with his drawing, his father gave him a book called Dynamic Anatomy. He encouraged Glen to study how bodies move and to practice drawing from real life.

After high school, Glen applied to the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). He chose art school over a football scholarship. By accident, his application went to the Experimental Animation program. There, he was taught by a mentor named Jules Engel.

Glen Keane's Animation Career

Glen Keane showing how he storyboards, June 2015

Glen Keane joined Disney in 1974 after leaving CalArts. He spent three years working with the famous animator Ollie Johnston. Together, they worked on characters like Bernard and Penny in the movie The Rescuers. After that, he animated Elliott the Dragon in Pete's Dragon. He also animated the exciting bear fight scene in The Fox and the Hound.

In 1982, Keane worked with animator John Lasseter on a short test scene. This test combined traditional hand-drawn animation with computer-generated backgrounds. It was Disney's first time trying out digitally drawn characters. Even though it was a big step forward, Disney decided not to continue the project because it was too expensive.

Keane became a lead character animator at Disney. He was part of a group of young animators who learned from the original "Disney's Nine Old Men". He helped create some of Disney's most famous characters during what is called the "New Golden Age" of Disney Animation.

Bringing Disney Characters to Life

Glen Keane designed and animated Ariel in The Little Mermaid (1989). He also animated the giant eagle Marahute in The Rescuers Down Under. He was the main animator for the main characters in three other big Disney movies:

• Beast in Beauty and the Beast
• Aladdin in Aladdin
• Pocahontas in Pocahontas

Keane lived in Paris with his family for three years while working on Disney's 1999 film Tarzan. He drew the main character, Tarzan, for this movie. He later returned to Disney's studio in California. There, he was the lead animator for John Silver in Treasure Planet.

Directing and New Adventures

In 2003, Glen Keane started working as the director for Disney's animated film Tangled. This movie, based on the story of Rapunzel, was released in November 2010. Keane and his team wanted to mix the classic feel of hand-drawn animation with computer animation. In 2008, he stepped down as director due to health reasons. However, he stayed on as an executive producer and animating director for the film.

On March 23, 2012, Glen Keane left Walt Disney Animation Studios after 37 years. He felt that in a big studio like Disney, there were too many different ideas pulling people in different directions. He wanted to explore new ways of animating.

After leaving Disney, Keane joined Motorola's Advanced Technology and Projects Group. He helped engineers create interactive hand-drawn animation. In 2014, he released his first animated short film called Duet. This film was special because it was the first hand-drawn cartoon made at 60 frames per second. It was part of a series of shorts that explored new ways to tell stories using mobile devices.

In 2015, Keane was one of many artists hired by the Paris Opera. He created an animated short called Nephtali, working with a ballet dancer named Marion Barbeau.

Besides his animation work, Glen Keane has written and illustrated children's books. These books are based on Bible stories and feature characters like Adam Raccoon. He also directed the Chinese animated film Over the Moon. This movie is about a girl who builds a rocket to fly to the moon and meet a legendary moon goddess. It was released on Netflix on October 23, 2020.

At the 2018 Oscars, Keane won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for Dear Basketball. He shared this award with Kobe Bryant. In May 2018, Keane also received the Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year.

Personal Life

Glen Keane married Linda Hesselroth in 1975. They have two children who are also involved in art: their daughter Claire Keane is an author and illustrator, and their son Max Keane is an animator.

Glen Keane is a Christian. He has also been described as having aphantasia. This is a condition where a person cannot form mental images in their mind.

Filmography

See also

In Spanish: Glen Keane para niños