Daniel A. Haskett (born August 20, 1952) is an American veteran animator who, according to Variety, was one of a "group of young animators trained by Disney's 'Nine Old Men' that were confined to one small room in the Disney Feature Animation Building in the 1970s."

Career

He started his career in 1969 when he graduated from the High School of Art and Design, and the first thing he did was a commercial for a coffee called Brim. According to Haskett, the commercial was "very psychedelic". Haskett was worried when he first entered the company in 1977 due to Disney's reputation at that time. He designed the character Belle for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, as well as Ariel for The Little Mermaid, and Tod as an adult for The Fox and the Hound. Haskett also did earlier designs for Ursula; some were inspired by singer Patti LaBelle, and the character's hair almost looked like fins. Haskett was the main designer of the characters Minerva Mink for Steven Spielberg's Animaniacs and Radio AAHS's mascot disc jockeys Ozzie and Kazoo. Haskett also has credits for Tom and Jerry: The Movie, Toy Story, The Pagemaster, The Prince of Egypt, Sesame Street and The Simpsons. He has been drawing characters for Looney Tunes since 1979 and has recently worked as a character designer for the web series Looney Tunes Cartoons.

Credits