Andreas Deja Exhibit: The Walt Disney Family Museum Presents Deja View: The Art of Andreas Deja

Andreas Deja Exhibit at the Walt Disney Family Museum

The Walt Disney Family Museum Presents Deja View: The Art of Andreas Deja  

San Francisco, CA, February 22, 2017—The Walt Disney Family Museum is pleased to introduces an original exhibition of works from one of the most accomplished and versatile character animators working today, Andreas Deja. On view from March 23 to October 4, 2017, Deja View: The Art of Andreas Deja will showcase original works on paper and maquettes of Deja’s most iconic Disney characters, from menacing villains such as Scar and Jafar to larger-than-life muscle men like Gaston and Hercules, and the much beloved Mama Odie and Lilo Pelekai.

Andreas Deja exhibit
Andreas Deja Exhibit: Gaston visual development; Beauty and the Beast (1991); Graphite, colored pencil, and ink on paper; Courtesy of the Walt Disney Animation Research Library, © Disney

In addition to his work for The Walt Disney Studios, Deja is known for independent projects, including his upcoming short film Mushka. The film—featuring a young girl and her tiger in “a story of love and sacrifice set in Russia”—is animated in a colored pencil style. Art from Mushka is showcased in this new exhibition, along with Deja’s Disney application portfolio and wire-frame sculptures.

Andreas Deja exhibit
Andreas Deja Exhibit: Visual development sketch; Mushka (2017); Graphite and colored pencil on paper; Courtesy of Andreas Deja, IL2016.15.25

In 1967, when Deja was 13 years old and living in Germany, Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book inspired him to become an animator for the Walt Disney Animation Studios. He wrote the company a now well-known letter to inquire about the application process, and he began to realize the dedication and skill it would take to get there.

Andreas Deja exhibit
Andreas Deja Exhibit: Disney Application Portfolio; Charcoal on paper; Courtesy of Andreas Deja, IL2016.15.7

“The day I received a letter back from Walt Disney Productions expressing the necessity to become a master in the mechanics of drawing, it lit a fire in me to truly become an outstanding animator,” said Deja. “After years of art school and dedicating my personal time to studying animal anatomy and behavior, I was accepted into the animation training program at The Walt Disney Studios in August 1980 and didn’t look back once.”

Deja View: The Art of Andreas Deja is organized by The Walt Disney Family Museum and is being presented in the Theater Gallery from March 23 to October 4, 2017.

Are you going to check out the Andreas Deja exhibit at the Walt Disney Family Museum?


ABOUT THE MUSEUM 

The Walt Disney Family Museum presents the fascinating story and achievements of Walt Disney, the man who raised animation to the level of fine art, transformed the film industry, tirelessly pursued innovation, and created a global yet distinctively American legacy. Opened in October 2009, the 40,000 square foot facility features the newest technology along with a vast collection of historic materials and artifacts to bring Disney’s achievements to life, myriad interactive galleries presenting early drawings and animation, movies, music, listening stations, a spectacular model of Disneyland and much more. The museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in the scenic Presidio of San Francisco.

The Walt Disney Family Museum has created many world-class exhibitions, such as Disney and Dalí: Architects of the Imagination; MAGIC, COLOR, FLAIR: the world of Mary Blair; and Water to Paper, Paint to Sky: The Art of Tyrus Wong, several of which have traveled to other museums around the world. The most recent, Deja View: The Art of Andreas Deja, is the seventeenth exhibition organized by the museum since 2012. The museum will present it eighteenth exhibition, Awaking Beauty: The Art of Eyvind Earle, open May 28, 2017 through January 8, 2018.

Hours: 10am to 6pm, Wednesdays through Monday; closed on Tuesdays and the following public holidays: January 1, Thanksgiving Day, and December 25. Early closure at 4pm on December 24 and December 31.

Tickets: Museum admission is free for members and children 5 and under General admission: $25 adults, $20 seniors and students, and $15 youth ages 6 to 17

Where: The Presidio of San Francisco, 104 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA 94129

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