For over 40 years, Mark Henn has brought Disney’s most iconic characters to life and now the Santa Clarita resident has retired with the company’s highest honor.

Hundreds of excited Disney fans filled the seats at the Honda Center in Anaheim on August 11 for the Disney Legends Ceremony during D23. In attendance, Miley Cyrus, Jamie Lee Curtis, Angela Bassett, Harrison Ford among other celebrities were there to receive the Disney Legend Award in a ceremony that was started 37 years ago.

Among the VIPs sat Mark Henn, a name that resonates with animation enthusiasts and Disney fans worldwide, and whose character work rivals the high profile names that surround him. With a career that spans over four decades at the studio, Henn has become widely regarded as one of the most influential animators of our generation.

The lights dimmed, and a short video played of Henn’s work throughout the years. When the retrospective finished, Jodi Benson, Paige O’Hara, Anika Noni Rose, Linda Larkin, and Ming-Na Wen emerged from backstage. Each actress voiced a separate Disney Princess that Henn had animated. Ariel, Belle, Tiana, Jasmine, and Mulan, respectively. 

“He doesn’t just design characters on paper,” started Benson. “He creates images infused with passion, vulnerability, and authenticity that connect with people for generations.”

Each actress took a moment to note just how Henn incorporated a piece of them within the characters they voiced. O’Hara commented on how Henn incorporated her hair style into the Belle character. Noni Rose admired that Henn made Tiana left-handed, just like her.

“You think that he’s drawing from his hands, but in truth, he’s drawing from his heart,” said Noni Rose.

Through roaring applause, Henn rose from his seat and hugged each actress. He reflected on his career and described the award as the “tip of the iceberg.” 

Listen to “Disney Legend Mark Henn” on Spreaker.

Henn’s story begins in Dayton, Ohio where his mother, Marge, takes credit for sparking his love of drawing from a young age. She would give him a pencil and paper to keep him quiet at church services. 

It wasn’t until Henn saw the 1941 film The Reluctant Dragon that featured a scene of animator Ward Kimball flipping through drawings of Goofy, bringing the character to life, that he caught the animation bug. 

“I saw this at a camp, and my mouth just hit the floor,” recounted Henn. “That’s what I want to do, I want to see my drawings come to life.”

Later, while in college, Henn would apply to the Disney Studio three separate times and would be rejected all three times. A friend gave Henn a catalog to CalArts that offered the Disney character animation program. 

“I took the last portfolio that the studio rejected, sent it off to CalArts and was accepted,” said Henn.

In the Fall of 1978, Henn began his animation journey at CalArts. In two years time, he would be hired by Disney Animation. 

“The simplest way to describe it was a time of transition,” said Henn. 

In the early 1980s, animation heavy-weight, Don Bluth, had grown frustrated with the studio and left in the middle of the production of Fox and the Hound. The move sent a shockwave through the animation industry, and became the main talking point for many CalArts students.

“Don Bluth led a revolution, he basically quit and took half of the animation team with him,” recounted Henn. “That was a major moment.” 

Henn believed it opened a door for him, and ultimately he was brought on as an assistant animator for the last six months of the production training under Eric Larson, one of Walt Disney’s original nine animators.

Henn quickly caught the attention of Burny Mattinson through an animation test of Mickey Mouse and was given the opportunity to animate the mouse himself for Mickey’s Christmas Carol. 

However, Henn would soon move to bringing Disney’s leading ladies to life, animating five of the now thirteen Disney princesses. He gained a reputation as “the princess guy.”

“We keep picking stories that feature a strong leading lady,” said Henn. “I usually tend to work on the leading characters, I think these heroes are the most interesting.”

During the late 1980s, Disney had continued to produce live action films, but a common complaint was a decline in the quality of animation. Henn became an integral part of what would later be known as the “Disney Renaissance,” a period of time when Disney would produce commercially successful films.

Mark Henn stands next to his statue of Willie Johnston

In 2000, the Santa Clarita City Council began a campaign to fund the design and construction of Veterans Historical Plaza in Newhall. A “Historical Veterans Memorial Committee” was established and raised additional funds for the Plaza.Around this time outside of the studio, Henn had begun a hobby of sculpting to “celebrate American history.” Henn read an article that the Committee was looking for a special piece of art to be featured in the Plaza. Henn reached out to the Committee and they shared the idea to Henn of featuring Willie Johnston, a civil war drummer with the Union Army and the youngest Medal of Honor recipient. 

“They picked Willie because he won his award not necessarily for shooting a gun, or killing anybody, or wiping out a platoon of Confederate soldiers,” said Henn. “He won it for doing his duty, and they wanted that as the emphasis.”

In 2005, the life-sized sculpture was erected at the plaza. 

During Henn’s tenure with Disney, another great transition began with the animation studio moving away from traditional 2D animation and towards 3D CGI animation.

“It was very fast, [it] seemingly happened overnight,” said Henn. “The advent of what Pixar was doing at the time, clearly laid the foundation that this was a new tool, a new way of animating that wasn’t going to go away.”

After completing work on Home On The Range, Henn spent the following year learning the new 3D tools for Chicken Little. While a new experience, Henn merely saw this transition as a “new tool change.”

Henn also began to experience a transition in his role, he spent less time animating and more time passing on the philosophy to the new generation of animators that was passed on to him when he first came to the studio.

Standing on stage at the Honda Center, accepting his Disney Legend award, he thanked his family, friends, and artistic influences. 

“All I ever wanted to be was a Disney animator,” said Henn. “And God blessed me with that opportunity.”

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