For Mark Henn, it was all started by a mouse… and a princess.
Restoring Disney’s brightest star, Mickey Mouse, to the silver screen was only the start of a long and distinguished career for this Disney animator. A native of Dayton, Ohio, Mark told everyone at the age of seven that he wanted to be an animator after seeing Walt Disney’s Cinderella (1950). “It was a boyhood dream. I had my blinders on with that goal in mind. I didn’t quite know how to do it or what, but I kept at it.”
In 1978, Mark moved to California to attend the California Institute of the Arts (aka CalArts), where he studied in the Character Animation program. In 1980, Mark was brought aboard the Walt Disney Animation Studios team, where he became an assistant animator on The Fox and the Hound (1981). His first major assignment was animating Disney’s most beloved character in Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983)—Mickey’s first big-screen appearance in 30 years. “I started with Mickey,” recalls Mark, who also animated the character and his royal double in the featurette The Prince and the Pauper (1990), “and every time I get the chance to animate Mickey, he’s always a lot of fun.” His first time out as a supervising animator involved more mice, including Basil and Dr. Dawson, in The Great Mouse Detective (1986).
Mark is also known as Disney’s “Princess guy,” having been the supervising animator of five female leads—more than any one artist in the history of the studio: Ariel (supervised with fellow Disney Legend Glen Keane), Belle (supervised with James Baxter), Jasmine (whose look was inspired by a high school graduation photo of his younger sister, Beth Henn-Post), Mulan, and Tiana. Mark also brought his expertise to young Simba from The Lion King (1994), the title character in Pocahontas (1995), and Giselle from Enchanted (2007).
Perhaps one reason animating some of Disney’s most notable princesses has fit him like a glove (or a glass slipper) is that at the start of his animation career, he was mentored by one of Walt Disney’s legendary “Nine Old Men” of animation, Disney Legend Eric Larson who just happened to have been a directing animator for Cinderella. “Cinderella, like Belle, is a very sincere character,” Mark observes. “I have always tried to have that same sincerity in my characters.”
He’s also lent that signature sincerity to several recent projects, applying principles of traditional hand-drawn animation through overlays on digital character poses. In this way, he’s helped other Disney artists better bring “the illusion of life” to character animation in CG features such as Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) and Encanto (2021). Mark was the lead 2D animator on Frozen (2013) and Big Hero 6 (2014) and served as a 2D animator for the “Mini Maui” character featured in Moana (2016)—along with a plethora of legacy Disney characters seen in the studio’s centenary short film Once Upon a Studio (2023).
In 2000, Mark brought his vast animation experience to directing with the acclaimed short John Henry, created in the tradition of other classic Disney animated “tall tales” such as Pecos Bill (1948) and Paul Bunyan (1958). He embarked on another artistic journey in 1998 when he started sculpting as a way of expressing his interest in American history. “My goal is to create sculptures that depict the people and events that have shaped our nation,” the artist explained. His pieces include Abraham Lincoln; Civil War drummer boy Willie Johnston; and Ohio’s own heroes of aviation, the Wright brothers.
Recently, Mark has added painting to his artistic repertoire and broadened his subject matter to include his passion for football, wildlife, and his faith. In 2013, Mark received the prestigious Winsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement, ASIFA’s highest award in animation. And in 2018, befitting his longtime association with Mickey Mouse, Mark was commissioned to paint Mickey’s official portrait for the character’s 90th anniversary. “I was floored,” he said. “I had to pinch myself. I had seen the portraits [Disney Legend] John Hench had done throughout the years, and I always admired them and always thought it would be fun to paint Mickey.”
From Mickey Mouse to a little mermaid and beyond, the enchantment of Disney animation is personal for this animator. “You are the character,” says Mark, “but it’s not you on screen. None of us are on the screen physically. But, our hearts, our emotions, are as much on screen as if we filmed it ourselves. The drawing is simply the means to that end. And I think that’s part of the magic. And then we can be anything we can draw, which is a wonderful thing.”