Mark Henn

Mark Alan Henn is one of the most famous American Disney animators for title characters and leading characters.

First hired by Disney in 1980, he is one of the longest continuously employed artists at the studio.^[1] He is well-known for drawing female characters, such as Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Giselle, and Tiana.

In more recent years, Henn has helped to instruct younger animators how to utilize the principles of traditional animation in CG animation, doing hand-drawn overlays on character poses to better help bring life to the character animation.

On December 14, 2023, Henn announced his retirement from Disney after 43 years. A year later, he was named a Disney Legend.

His final Disney project was directing the Donald Duck short D.I.Y. Duck in 2024 to commemorate 90th anniversary of the character's debut.

Animation credits[]

Year	Film	Position
1981	The Fox and the Hound	Animator: Vixey and The Bear
1983	Mickey's Christmas Carol	Animator: Mickey Mouse
1985	The Black Cauldron	Character Animator: Eilonwy, Gurgi, and Fflewddur Fflam
1986	The Great Mouse Detective	Supervising Animator: Basil, Dr. Dawson, and Olivia
1988	Oliver & Company	Supervising Animator: Oliver and Dodger
1989	The Little Mermaid	Directing Animator and Supervising Animator: Ariel and Florida
1990	The Prince and the Pauper	Character Animator
1990	The Rescuers Down Under	Supervising Animator: Bernard and Miss Bianca
1991	Beauty and the Beast	Supervising Animator: Belle and Florida
1992	Aladdin	Supervising Animator: Jasmine
1994	The Lion King	Supervising Animator: Young Simba
1995	Pocahontas	Animator: Pocahontas
1998	Mulan	Supervising Animator: Mulan and Fa Zhou
2000	John Henry	Director
2000	The Emperor's New Groove	Additional Animator
2002	Lilo & Stitch	Lead Animator: Hula Dancers
2004	Home on the Range	Supervising Animator: Grace, Wesley, Rusty, and Pearl
2006	Bambi II	Supervising Animator: Ronno
2007	Meet the Robinsons	Animator
2007	How to Hook Up Your Home Theater	Animator
2007	Enchanted	Animator: Giselle
2009	The Princess and the Frog	Supervising Animator: Tiana
2011	Winnie the Pooh	Supervising Animator: Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin
2012	Wreck-It Ralph	Additional Visual Development
2013	Get a Horse!	Animator: Pete
2013	Frozen	Animator: Anna and Olaf
2013	Saving Mr. Banks	Animator: Tinker Bell
2014	Big Hero 6	Lead 2D Animator
2016	Zootopia	Animator: Judy Hopps and Bellwether (uncredited)
2016	Moana	Animator
2018	Ralph Breaks the Internet	Animator: Mickey Mouse and Humphrey the Bear
2021	How to Stay at Home	Supervising Animator: Binge Watching
2022	Zootopia+	Animator: Title sequence
	Mickey: The Story of a Mouse	Animator: "Mickey in a Minute" short
	Strange World	Additional 2D Animator
	Oswald the Lucky Rabbit	Animator
2023	Once Upon a Studio	2D Animator: Cinderella, Tinker Bell, Snow White, Grumpy, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather
2024	D.I.Y. Duck	Director/Writer/Animator

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

Henn based the character of Princess Jasmine on his younger sister, Beth Henn-Allen.
Henn appeared in an episode of the Disney+ series Disney Sketchbook, where he taught viewers how to draw Young Simba.