'Celebrate Mickey: 75 InspEARations' Statue - Fruits of the Mouse - ANDREAS DEJA is considered one of the world's top animators. Born and raised in Germany, Andreas loved Disney animation from childhood. His heroes were legendary Disney animators Marc Davis and Milt Kahl, and Andreas became close friends and colleagues with both artists when he himself became a Disney artist. His first Disney assignment was designing characters for The Black Cauldron (1985). Since then, Andreas has served as supervising animator for such favorite characters as Gaston (Beauty and the Beast, 1991), Jafar (Aladdin, 1992), Scar (The Lion King, 1994), Hercules (Hercules, 1997), Mickey Mouse (Runaway Brain, 1995 and Fantasia/2000, 1999) and Lilo (Lilo & Stitch, 2002).