Andreas Deja's working relationship with Lilo & Stitch's co-writers and co-directors Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois was unusually close since there was no story department to go through. All images © Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights re

We're honored to be speaking to Andreas Deja, a master Disney craftsman who brought cutely stumpy Hawaiian girl Lilo to animated life. Deja's two-decade tenure has seen him animate Disney heavies -- Gaston, Jafar and Scar -- along with numbskull hero Hercules and two Mickey Mouses (Mickey Mice?) in Runaway Brain and Fantasia 2000.

This interview was conducted in the Dorchester Hotel next door to Chris Sanders, who was recording a Stitch 'voice-over' for a Disney TV special. Somehow a serious conversation about animation technique gains an extra something when it's punctuated by crazy growls and howls...

Andrew Osmond: What was your move to the Florida Disney studio like?

Andreas Deja: I had been involved in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? in London and I worked on the Mickey Mouse short Runaway Brain in Paris. So I was a little bit used to this kind of change, working with a different group of people. This move was in a way the easiest because I knew most people in Florida; a lot of them started in L.A.

They have the most beautiful building in Florida. It seems to me that they've learned from all the mistakes they made before, building new studios. There's lots of space, all the offices have windows, and it's terrific to work in. It was fairly easy getting set up. There's a smaller crew, which is good, because if you work tighter, it seems there are more immediate results and fewer meetings. Chris and Dean didn't have a story department, for example; they storyboarded practically everything themselves. It was pretty much their vision on paper to the animators.

During a research trip to Hawaii, Deja was impressed by the honest and uncomplicated way Hawaiians communicate.

AO: Tell us about your research trip to Hawaii.

AD: I'm really glad I went. On these research trips, it's usually the art directors and background people who go and look at the local colors and sunsets and mountains. People had this idea I might want to check into a local school that teaches Hawaiian tradition and language. We had this Hawaiian tour guide who said, "Well, I don't know if we'll be able to get in because they're very protective of their heritage." But I talked to the teachers a little bit, with the kids looking out of the door, thinking, "Who's this person?" I explained that I worked for Disney and that I worked on these movies and the kids were all going, "Yeah!"

After I was led in, the kids did drawings for me and I sketched for them before class. At one point the teacher said, "The kids would like to greet you now." I thought they would all line up and shake my hand or something. Instead, they stood in front of me and sang the most beautiful Hawaiian greeting song. Just witnessing this, I almost became teary-eyed. It was so genuine and emotional and I felt so privileged. I think that feeling carried over into the movie characters. There was something so honest and uncomplicated about the Hawaiian culture, the way people communicate.