After first applying for a job as a Disney animator at just ten years old, Andreas Deja fulfilled a lifelong dream by building a celebrated 30-year career at Walt Disney Animation Studios. In 2015, he was named an official “Disney Legend,” a prestigious honor recognizing individuals who have made extraordinary and integral contributions to the Walt Disney Company.

Born in Poland and raised in Germany, he remembers writing to the studio immediately after seeing The Jungle Book (1967). "I'd never seen a Disney feature before," he recalled. "It was one of those key experiences, because I just couldn't believe what I'd seen--all those drawings moving, thinking, and acting so real. I knew immediately I must be a part of it."

The studio wrote back to Deja explaining that there were no openings, but they were always on the lookout for outstanding new talent. This offered him the encouragement he needed and the motivation to work hard toward that goal. At the age of 23, after completing his studies, he applied again and, this time, he was accepted.

Working with Eric Larson, one of Disney's legendary "nine old men," Deja completed several tests and went on to do early character design, costume research, and animation for The Black Cauldron (1985). His next assignment was on The Great Mouse Detective (1986), for which he animated the mouse queen and her robotic twin. Deja helped design many of the characters for Oliver & Company (1988) and did some animation before spending a year in London as a lead animator on the groundbreaking animation/live-action hybrid Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), under the direction of Richard Williams.

On The Little Mermaid (1989), Deja oversaw the animation of Triton, a powerful figure that required expert skills in draftsmanship and acting ability. For Disney's Academy Award-winning animated musical Beauty and the Beast (1991), he served as the supervising animator for the first of his many Disney villains, the very pompous and narrow-minded Gaston.

Deja continued to explore his darker side by designing and animating the evil vizier, Jafar, for Disney's animated musical hit Aladdin (1992). He went on to supervise the animation of the power-hungry villain, Scar, in The Lion King (1994), which quickly earned a place as one of the industry's biggest films of all time.

For his next assignment, Deja relocated to Disney's Paris animation facility for a stint overseeing the animation of Mickey Mouse in Runaway Brain (1995), the studio's first new Mickey short since 1953 and an Oscar nominee in 1996 for Best Animated Short Film. Following that, he returned to Burbank, where he took on the challenging assignment of bringing life and personality to the title hero in Disney's 35th full-length animated feature, Hercules (1997).

He went on to design and supervise the animation for the charming and unpredictable little Hawaiian girl Lilo in Lilo & Stitch (2002), which has been hailed as one of the studio’s most entertaining and imaginative features.

Deja contributed animation for several characters in Disney’s live-action/animated musical Enchanted (2007) and served as one of the supervising animators on Goofy’s big-screen return in the short film How to Hook Up Your Home Theater (2007). He was a supervising animator for the character of Mama Odie on Disney’s hand-drawn animated feature, The Princess and the Frog, released in 2009. Deja also supervised the animation of Tigger for a new Winnie the Pooh feature, which was released theatrically in 2011.

In 2007, he was honored with the Winsor McCay Award from the International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood. 

In addition to his film work, Deja regularly shares animation insights and artwork on his popular blog Deja View. He is also an accomplished author, having written several books, including The Nine Old Men: Lessons, Techniques, and Inspiration from Disney’s Great Animators and Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book: Making a Masterpiece.  He co-authored Mickey Mouse: From Walt to the World and is currently collaborating with Disney Publishing Worldwide on an upcoming art book celebrating legendary Disney animator Milt Kahl, whose genius helped shape so many iconic Disney characters.

Deja has also curated two major exhibitions for the Walt Disney Family Museum, one dedicated to The Jungle Book and another to Mickey Mouse, with accompanying books published alongside each exhibition. Most recently, his independent hand-drawn animated short Mushka was released in late 2025 and is now available across all major VOD and streaming platforms. He was also announced as a consultant for Villains Land, an upcoming addition to Disney’s Magic Kingdom in Orlando.

Currently, Deja is continuing work on his upcoming Milt Kahl art book, developing a new feature-length documentary project, and remaining deeply engaged in preserving and celebrating the legacy of hand-drawn animation, Disney artistry, and animation history through his artwork, appearances, lectures, and creative projects.