Disney animator Mark Henn will be honored on Sunday, August 11, 2024, as a Disney Legend in the category of Animation. This will be the final major event at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event. Henn joined The Walt Disney Company in 1980. Throughout the course of his career, he would animate Mickey Mouse, favorite Disney princesses, and many other Disney characters. He also painted the official portrait of Mickey Mouse for his 90th anniversary. This portrait was called Spreading Happiness Around the World. This is what Henn has done throughout this career.
Henn will be joining several other incredible new Disney Legends during the Disney Legends Award Ceremony on Sunday. Other incoming Disney Legends include Colleen Atwood, Angela Bassett, Martha Blanding, James L. Brooks, James Cameron, Jamie Lee Curtis, Miley Cyrus, Steve Ditko, Harrison Ford, Mark Henn, Frank Oz, Kelly Ripa, Joe Rohde, and John Williams. Each of these people have contributed to Disney and “pushed the envelope of creativity, challenged conventional wisdom, and broken the restraints of the status quo in search of new possibilities and excellence.” The ceremony will be hosted by Ryan Seacrest.
Ahead of the ceremony, Henn sat down to answer a few questions which Disney has now released. Check out this interview with incoming Disney Legend Mark Henn here:
How does it feel to be honored as a Disney Legend?
It feels both exciting and humbling being honored as a Disney Legend.
What inspired you to be an animator?
I was inspired by Disney Animation growing up as a small boy. Both Cinderella and The Reluctant Dragon played an important role in inspiring me to become a Disney animator.
Your first major assignment at Disney was animating Mickey Mouse in Mickey’s Christmas Carol. How would you summarize that experience, and—given that he is one of Walt’s original creations—did it deepen your appreciation for the character?
Animating Mickey Mouse for Mickey’s Christmas Carol was a major opportunity for me. I always thought how cool it was to start my animation career animating Mickey Mouse. Needless to say, I had rather large shoes to fill.
From Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine to Mulan, Giselle, and Tiana, you’re the Disney Princess expert. What’s the key to making them unique but also distinctly Disney?
Having animated many of Disney’s princesses, the challenge is making each one a unique personality. They each must support the role they perform in their respective films. Each princess needs to be accessible so the audience can relate to them. Plus, I think all of our princesses are just very nice people.
What’s it like to mentor the next generation of hand-drawn animators at Disney?
It’s hard to believe I’m now at the other end of my career acting as the “elder statesman,” when it seems just like yesterday I could go to [Disney Legend] Eric Larson to get help and inspiration from him. I thoroughly enjoy working with our new animators. They come into the studio with the same drive and energy to carry on the tradition of Disney Animation that my generation had following Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men. It has been my role to help in any way that I can to pass along all the knowledge I have and to encourage them along their way.
