Glen Keane - The Much Cherished and Sincere Animator Who Was Responsible For the Renaissance Leads

Hi folks! Welcome to my My Own Personal Nerdy Disney and Animation Scrutinizing Analysis blog. A blog where I'm analyzing several Disney films, Disney or Animation in general! These entries are just meant to be my analyses. Not reviews or statements. Just fun analyses! Though I'll make some personal remarks now and then, the content of these entries are meant to be depicted objectively. They're made for entertainment purpose only and the pictures/clips are copyright Disney or other companies. 

Make sure to leave a comment if you like this site! And if there's something you think could be improved, please let me know. But in a constructive way, please. And just a note; I'm not a Native English writer, so my incorrect grammar may be notable.

And finally; If you haven't seen the films, beware of spoilers! And the funny lines aren't meant to be nothing than funny. So I hope you won't find them offensive. If so, I apologize

This was my first entry about a Disney Animator. Not so coincidentally, since it was written to honor his belated 65th Birthday. 

While Disney has often been credited for Walt, there`s of course been several other contributors to his huge and ongoing legacy. Most of these contributors have been various cast and crew. But most of these acknowledges heroes have been the animators. Through all of Disney's years of existence, there's been several animators who've made their mark on the company's legacy. They've created the everlasting and memorable characters that Disney are practically synonymous with. And most of them has received praise for their work. 

However, each of these animators have been on different generations. So there's always been a generational gap between their certain eras, where the old groups have managed to pass on to the upcoming generation.

Of course some of these renowned heroes which are often mentioned, where the Nine Old Men that worked through Walt's time. Since we live in a time where hand drawn animation unfortunately has deceased at Disney, most of the former hand drawn animators has left the studio and not having just retired.

However, if we're going to look at one of these animators themselves, one of the most pivotal and
cherished of them of the recent past generation is none other than Glen Keane. Often said to be one of the most renowned animator of Disney, Keane has managed to be one of the most acclaimed and public animator through four decades. And therefore used to be an A-lister on Disney`s animated division. So this entry was meant to honor both his 65th Birthday and legacy.

The History of Glen Keane

Born 13th April 1954 in  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Glen Keane was raised in the desert Paradise Valley, Arizona in a Roman Catholic home. Glen got his drawing talents from his cartoonist father Bil Keane, creator of The Family Circus (which he's even won an Award for. In the Oscars equivalent of cartoons, Reuben. From the National Cartoonists' Society in 2018).

We're dressed as commoners
for this occassion :)

Bil introduced Glen for various forms of arts of all kinds. Raised in a
family of five kids (with an Aussie mother), Glen also fell in love with American football. At the age of 18 considered to join the football team for University and was torn about that call or going to art school. He eventually chose the latter, saying that "art was a much quieter voice calling him, but a lot deeper one".

Determined to not follow his fathers footsteps, Glen (who was often referenced for looking like Huckleberry Finn) sent his portfolio to CalArts in the school of painting. Yet he didn`t wanted to be an animator. Yet his portfolio arrived by accident to the school of animation and he was accepted into The School of Film Graphics. However, he's always loved animation, but never felt like that it was his destiny in life.

He discovered that animation was a combination of all arts together and loved the idea of drawing things that would move (and he's officially labeled himself as a ham actor). Disney had pretty much written off CalArts as a place that was not turning out artists who had the classical training that they needed. Since Disney were not interested at him first, he worked at a company called Filmation where they had done Fat Albert. Where he worked for three months and gained praise from the head of the studio. Yet the job was ultimately limiting, so he quitted. But he was ultimately accepted at Disney in September 1974.

Keane`s Assignments

It's the violent ride :)
 No recommended :)

Despite me being Pete's,
I could borrow myself
to someone else ):

Glen's very first scene was on The Rescuers. On a little tiny scene of Bernard sweeping the floor. He also assisted Ollie Johnston in animating Penny. Apparently Glen was able to learn pretty fast, so he also worked a bit on Pete's Dragon as well. He also collaborated with Tim Burton on Vixey in The Fox and the Hound. Which also was the movie where he made his first memorable contribution on the big, black bear. Which has also been one of his most cherished works (and was even shown on Disney Animation and Animators segment in New York City's Whitney Museum of American Art in 1981). 

You're my bell
for this occassion :)

Even Excallibur can't
glow this much :)

He also worked a little on some animation of fairies and designed a lot of different characters in The Black Cauldron. Doing some animation of Gurgi and Eilonwy. He came up with a whole different design on Eilonwy. But the director didn't want something as cartoony. Glen also worked on the Giant in Mickey's Xmas Carol. Afterwards he did Ratigan in The Great Mouse Detective. Which was a task of creating a character with strength and dimension. Glen also designed most of the characters (which he received praise for). Afterwards Glen had a brief period of freelancing in 1983 to work on his own Commercials.

Yet there's no doubt that Keane really got credit and fame through the Disney Renaissance and beyond. He went to supervise the Ariel in The Little Mermaid (a task that he shared with Mark Hehn), Marahute in The Rescuers Down Under, Beast in Beauty and the Beast and the titular characters of Aladdin, Pocahontas and Tarzan. And last, but not least Silver in Treasure Planet. With Tangled he took a more prominent role as a director. A project that he supervised entirely. But unfortunately he stepped down due to a heart attack in 2008, so the directing was left over to Byron Howard and Nathan Greno.

Keane`s Reputation and His Assignments on Ariel and the Beast

If I'm going to dare to be truly outspoken and compare Keane's reputation to his other animators at his prime, it would be easy to assume that Keane has received more praise than his other fellow colleagues at Disney. While this remark isn`t meant to discredit any of the other animators at his tume, at least Keane's credit is genuinely deserved. Perhaps the hoopla surrounding Keane's may be for to the simple fact that he supervised five of the main leads of the Renaissance. Which is a simple theory, yet plausible enough. And since the Renaissance characters has been his most recognized ones, it's relevant to summarize their process. And he's managed to expand his horizons with each single one character.

"I'm so excited and no,
I won't hide it" :)

To take consideration of his previous resume, he was afraid for being typecasted for just animating villains or giants. He was pleading to do Ariel for being intrigued when he first heard Part of Your World (and according to a Facebook chat some of years ago, Ariel was listed as his favorite character among all of them).

Ariel was the first supervision of a beautiful woman, inspired by his wife Linda Hesselroth (and also inspired by Shanti, the village girl from The Jungle Book). According to Keane, Ariel made him tap into emotions more than ever before. He was given the task to design her differently than previous Disney heroines. The reprise of Part of Your World, where Ariel is singing to Eric, has been one of his favorite moments of animation, because of it's sheer power. And apparently a swimming intructor told him that girls wanted to swim like Ariel after seeing Mermaid.

At least we're not
dancing into the fire :)

With Beast (let's swap the Adam theories under the rug for this time, shall we?), he had an heckuva challenge to create a Beast that was actually looked like a transformed animal. And not just a man in a beast suit. Wanting to create a character that was bigger than life and making his eyes being the catalyst to his emotion. Blending a combination of different animals (which he took inspiration from his visits in London Zoo). 

Glen said that it would`ve been easy to design an alien-looking creature. With Beast he wanted to create a character who was trapped between two worlds and not being comfortable in neither of them. And taking consideration to his own tantrums as a child.

Yet Jeffrey Katzenberg actually didn't wanted Glen to meet Robby Benson. In order to not model the Beast after him. Glen called it to be an "evolutionary mess". Beast's transformation has been said as his best animation through his whole career, having declared  to be very spiritual.



Aladdin & Pocahontas

We're so in love that we need to sit :)

With Aladdin, however, he wanted to transfer the Disney Princess spunk to the male lead. He was inspired by Tom Cruise's intensity, eyebrows and smile (where Top Gun was watched more than often). Cruise's confident poses and likable persona was the main inspiration for Aladdin. While initially Glen based Aladdin from certain volleyball players he observed. 

His pants were inspired from M.C. Hammer's U Can't Touch This-video. Michael J. Fox was also an inspiration. For his unluckily nature at first, but for having his redemption afterwards (yet that reference were changed when Jasmine was designed). Keane wanted to give Aladdin some fearless attitude taken from Cruise. Even some Calvin Klein models were used as reference. Yet Aladdin went through his own change of design, since he initially looked younger than he was supposed to. Struggling with Aladdin's lying nature was a callenge to Keane.

My hair would've been
perfect for Loreal :)

However, probably the work that truly took Keane to another level, was Pocahontas. Which he was the first choice for. He turned down The Lion King in favor to work on Pocahontas, where he also served as a storyguy. He began drawing concepts for her while working on Aladdin and left his then-sorely needed vacation with some new storyboards. As with the lovebirds first meeting and the execution, which were barely changed from the storyboards to film.

Please support the one
who's raccoonless :)

With Pocahontas, he truly managed to get animated acting to a new level. By drawing complex, yet subtle emotions to a Disney heroine (and loving the idea of that subtle animation). Where the mantra truly was "less is more". Having already supervised a previous, headstrong Princess, Glen was truly inspired to make a more mature and complex heroine. Which he envisioned by supervising the strengths of Native American women that he met. Some of them having nobility and dignity and others with an adventurous spirit. Five different actresses modeled for Pocahontas, including her voice actress, Irene Bedard (while Judy Kuhn's mannerisms and expressions were also used). The aforementioned first moment where Pocahontas and John Smith meets and her hair is blowing, was also a favorite moment of his. "It was just that the girl in the scene was difficult and I think that it succeeded in what it had to do. To say that this girl... there was a depth to her... something incredibly intriguing about her, but you could not move her".



Tarzan, Silver & Tangled

With Tarzan, however, Glen supervised the adult version of the Ape Man. Yet he's deliberately compared Tarzan to the Beast, for them struggling with basically a similar hurdle; Internal animalism vs. humanity. At least he managed to create something that was truly fresh with his Tarzan; A Jungle Man who surfed on the trees, inspired by his son Max. Yet Max wasn't his only inspiration for Tarzan. Since the moment of how Tarzan stares at Jane at the treetops, was taken from when he saw himself in his daugther Claire when she was born. And Tarzan's gnarly toes was taken from Linda.

I'm the Man in Red, as
opposed to the Lady :)

Yes, since we're from pre-feminist
times, I can pull you :)

However, Glen had already moved to France to pursue studies in anatomy and sculpture at the École des Beaux-Arts. So the compromise he managed to get when he supervised Tarzan was to get to supervise him there. Glen actually managed to tackle the language (while funny enough, he had no plans to work at the Disney studio in Paris. And didn't knew exactly why he even came to Paris. But he fell in love with the city's architecture, nonetheless). Tarzan was also inspired by a sculpture of a man riding a lion on the Place de la Nation. Whereas the dreadlocks of an animator inspired Tarzan's hair. Glen also went to Africa with his family in late 1996 to do research. And fell in love with the paradise and realizing why Tarzan's decision to leave the jungle would be difficult.

This fist may not look bad,
but it can be :)

With Treasure Planet, Glen supervised Silver. Perhaps not first villain, but at least an antagonist who was complex and were torn between his lust for his treasure and his affection for his surrogate son, Jim Hawkins. But he also served as a storyguy for the I'm Still Here sequence, where he depicted Jim Hawkins backstory.

But with Tangled, he took a more active part. Wanting to adapt the Rapunzel tale and making it a sincere fairy tale, rather than the snarky, post-modern version. While the project was originally going to be hand drawn, Keane was afterwards intrigued by the possibilites of transferring the drawings to CGI. And he even got to have Claire be a part of the project. Where she designed the mural paintings on Rapunzel's iconic and famous Tower. Not surprisingly, Claire happens to be an artist of her own right, as an illustrator and development artist and worked on other Disney properties.

Keane`s Policies, Influence From Mentors, Non-Disney Work and Inspirations

Keane is known for being a heartfelt, sincere guy. And has been praised by his collaborators for his friendly and collaborative nature. Glen's policy towards his characters is that the Disney versions are usually perceived as the pivotal versions of the stories. So that's why he wants to make his characters memorable. At least Glen should be credited for not only working on fairy tale adaptations (yes, let's swap the Princess-staple this time, shall time?). And actually expanding Disney's thematic and storytelling horizons. 

Color by Technicolor and
Non-Technicolor :)

Perhaps how his Renaissance characters are so worshipped makes them overshadowing his prior work. But to overall summarize his characters, at least Keane managed to supervise three villains, three heroes and two girls. One of his most used quotes in interviews, which has been an advice from old animator Eric Larsson (who was his biggest influence), is that his lesson would be "to animate with sincerity" (which subliminally meant that the animator has to believe in the character). Glen has also given people like Chris Buck, Henry Selick (director of The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach), John Lasseter, Tim Burton, John Musker scenes to animate. Convincing the studio they could be animators at their learning period. Glen says that the greatest challenge is to animate emotions where action is less requiered. And also declaring that people who animates from the heart can usually do the broad as well as the subtle.

I'm the Ylvis-Version of 
Bart Simpson :)

At least I'm not Dennis the Menace :)

But Glen has also worked on some less known, yet crucial projects. Like The Wild Things, a short he worked with John Lasseter in 1983. Based on Maurice Sendax's Where The Wild Things Are, the short was an amalgam of hand drawn animation and CGI backgrounds. But because of certain reasons, it couldn't be completed.

Mickey had just to go to
the store for this moment :)

We're the dressed
versions of Tarzan :)

To mention his non-Disney influences, one of them happens to be an French comic artist named Janry. who does Spirou. Glen likes Janry because of his sense of fun (who also inspired Tarzan). Another inspiration is an English artist named Augustus John. Because of his sense of dimension and sensitivity. Yet the animation he's admired most is The Man Who Planted Trees by Frederic Back. Since "to him the drawing is being something personal, because he believes it and his drawing is a passion for him. You look at his work and it's a moving impressionist painting with the light dappling across characters".

Glen is also known for having little sketchbooks that he always keeps of his family. And constantly drawing people wherever he goes; Their attitudes, postures and feelings (and often sketching while waiting for his wife when she's shopping). And wanting to do a book of drawings that has nothing to do with Disney, about his personal artwork. Glen has also been illustrating Christian allegories on a fifteen-book series. One of his own personal mantras is that animation shouldn't come across as just moving drawings.As if they looks as they were puppeteers. But actual characters. And due to the aforementioned knowledge that animators tap into their own emotions and experiences, he's said that they're basically animating themselves. And that they should have a real personal artistic expression.

While assisting Ollie Johnston, which was one of the pivotal moments in his career, his first goal was not to get fired for incomplete drawings. The next was to draw exactly like Ollie so that he couldn't tell the difference between his in-betweens and Glen's extremes. Which gave Glen more confidence to think that maybe he could animate (while citing that he's spent his whole life learning to draw).

Awards, Non-Disney Projects & Family

We're the Mini-Versions of the Muses :)

Keane received the 1992 Annie Award for character animation (presented by his father). And the 2007 Winsor McCay Award for lifetime contribution to the field of animation. In 2013, he was named a Disney Legend. However, Keane eventually retired in March 2012 to much dismay to his loyal fans. Many in the ani­ma­tion commu­nity were shocked by he was leav­ing the Mouse House. Yet the following year, he launched Glen Keane Productions to pursue his personal projects. Accord­ing to sources, Keane was devel­op­ing sev­eral ideas. But was not attached to any future project at Dis­ney at the time of his departure. 

Eiffel 65 influenced me :)

Yet to summarize those projects, he made an interactive hand-drawn short for Motorola’s Spotlight Stories initiative called Duet in 2014 (from his association with Google). Marrying Keane’s traditional-style elegance with ATAP’s mind-blowing interactivity. The short film garnered an Annie Award nomination and it’s on the short list for an Academy Award nomination as well. The screen is pretty small; 5.2 inches on the Moto X and 4.5 inches on the Moto G 4G LTE. Yet it was downloaded to millions of Motorola phones on Nov. 18, 2014. Users could follow either character or examine the various settings from various angles depending on how they moved their phones. Glen has said that he "could never have told this story without the technology”. Max was production designer on the film. Duet tells the story of Mia and Tosh and how their individual paths in life weave together to create an inspired duet.

I'm the cartoon version of
Flashdance :)

To talk about his other projects after Disney, Nephtali was created for the Paris Opera to coincide with their launch of their new digital stage, 3rd Stage. Nephtali, which refers to Jacob’s Blessings and Psalm 42, was born from the comparison between the grace of a dancer and that of a deer. In a choreography which Glen created with dancer Marion Barbeau, he depicts the journey of a soul that is drawn towards a higher power, fights a struggle and is eventually liberated. By using both film and drawing, Glen and Marion manage to overcome the constraints of gravity and attain the freedom towards which a dancer’s body and spirit always aspire.

I'm posing like Aladdin :)

In 2017, Glen and former NBA star Kobe Bryant directed and wrote the short Dear Basketball. Where Bryant explain his love of basketball which he narrates through his renowned retirement poem. Which Glen animated. Made in partnership with Granity Studios and Believe Entertainment Group. Scored by John Williams, the short won the Best Aimated Short Film the following year. Marking the first time an NBA player has won this Award. Keane directed the animated film, Over the Moon. Which was about a girl named Fei Fei who builds a rocket and flies to the moon in order to meet a legendary moon goddess. The film was written by Audrey Wells, and was released in 2020.

Unlike Bambi, I actually
drank this water :)

Mr. Mo would've loved this :)

However, Keane has been involved in other facets in animation. As he`s drawn life-sized versions of Ariel and Beast in a short with an HTC Vive headset and the Google-owned 3D painting app Tilt Brush. Being able to walk around his characters as if they were fully three-dimensional.

Even in the 1990's he was planning to do a style with charcoal. And possibly using the computer to keep the hand-drawn look. Yet his personal project was then interrupted by his assignment on other works. As he`s always wanted to animate to Beethoven's 9th since he heard it.

And that's me. Ignore
that I'm a raccoon :)

Otherwise, Keane has also written an eight book series of Adam Raccoon. Who lives in the Master's Wood along with his best friend, King Aren and many other memorable friends and foes. During Adam's adventures, he discovers over and over that no matter what he faces, King Aren will see him through. 

As for his personal life, Keane is married to aforementioned Linda since 1975. Which he met in a line of a Movie Theater at a screening of Godfather. And falling in love with first sight. He first lost her telephone number and drove the street the next day, believing that he would never see her again. Yet he found her in a hotel with her parents. 

Epilogue

No matter what could've ever been said about Keane, it's a pity that he left Disney. Yet unfortunately one of life's laws is that workers need to either retire and move on. But at least we could be happy that he's managed to contribute to Disney more than once and truly made his impact on Disney's legacy. And that's he managed to create and supervise memorable characters that has lived on for generations and truly showing his skills as an animator.

One of his last quotes regarding the time when he left Disney was "that 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." And that he was not driven by the technical side of things, but by the artistic, the need to say something. Which is certainly what animation should truly be about. Happy belated 65th Anniversary, Glen and may you continue to have many more.

Follow my updates on https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100035703494050 and https://twitter.com/NerdyLunada.

References:
The Making of Beauty and The Beast (Bob Thomas)
Tale As Old As Time; The Art and Making of Beauty and the Beast (Charles Salomon).
Beauty and The Beast Diamond Edition
The Making of Aladdin - A Whole New World (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH5JaYL0Cmg&t=565s)
Aladdin: The Making of an Animated Film (John Culhane)
The Art of Pocahontas (Stephen Rebello)
Pocahontas Deluxe Edition Cav Laserdisc
Tarzan Chronicles (Howard E. Green)
The Art of Tangled (Jeff Kurtti)
Tarzan Collector's Edition DVD
The Little Mermaid Walt Disney Signature Collection.
Animation Magazine July 1995
Disney Adventures Magazine July 1995
Starlog Magazine June 1999
Starlog Magazine July 1999
Waking Sleeping Beauty DVD
Disney D23 Magazine Fall 2016
The Jungle Book Platinum Edition
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Keane
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0443855/?ref_=nmawd_awd_nm
http://www.aimeemajor.com/anim/dkeane.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20140203002442/http://motorolaspotlightstories.com/post/70547431424/disney-legend-glen-keane-joins-spotlight-stories
https://archive.is/20121204140719/http://blog.bcdb.com/glen-keane-quits-disney-animation-38-years-3632/
https://web.archive.org/web/20140712004433/http://travel.usatoday.com/alliance/destinations/mouseplanet/post/2011/02/How-Basil-Saved-Disney-Feature-Animation-Part-One/144296/1#expand
https://www.cartoonbrew.com/experimental/its-official-glen-keane-will-make-interactive-hand-drawn-short-film-for-motorola-93026.html
https://variety.com/2014/film/awards/veteran-animator-glen-keane-on-his-duet-with-google-1201370375/
https://archive.is/20140702111609/http://blog.bcdb.com/glen-keanes-animated-poem-duet-7731/
https://www.awn.com/news/animator-glen-keane-debuts-new-short-film-project-duet-google-io-conference
https://www.awn.com/news/glen-keane-creates-nephtali-short-paris-opera
https://www.google.no/search?source=hp&ei=7UzjXM6OJJGzmwWe-Z6AAg&q=glen+keane&oq=Gle&gs_l=psy-ab.1.1.35i39l2j0l2j0i131j0l2j0i131j0l2.13043.17299..18202...3.0..0.201.556.5j0j1......0....1..gws-wiz.....6..35i39i19.Wz7_Ksdpqho
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuHR5ZOWp-U (The Making of The Little Mermaid - Disney Channel (1989)
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/mar/05/kobe-bryant-dear-basketball-wins-animated-short-film-at-oscars-2018
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_Basketball
https://believeentertainmentgroup.com/portfolio-item/dear-basketball/
http://www.threecommentears.com/2014/11/the-three-commentears-episode-9-the-little-mermaid-2/
http://www.threecommentears.com/2016/02/pocahontas-theatrical/
http://www.threecommentears.com/2014/09/the-three-commentears-episode-17-tarzan/
http://www.threecommentears.com/2014/11/the-three-commentears-episode-11-tangled/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claire_Keane
https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/glen-keane-will-direct-moon-pearl-studio-netflix-156413.html
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/renowned-disney-animator-glen-keanes-adam-raccoon-is-coming-to-green-egg-media-300339656.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20121025122146/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,312562_2,00.html 
https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/920151-disney-animator-glen-keane-to-direct-netflixs-over-the-moon