Jane Baer obit

Jane Baer, Animator on ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ ‘The Rescuers’ and ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit,’ Dies at 91

The Winnipeg native also provided services to the industry with her companies Baer Animation and Baer Animation Camera Services.

 She was not on the list.

Jane Baer, whose half-century in animation including work on such films as Sleeping Beauty, The Rescuers and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, has died. She was 91.

Baer died Monday in her sleep at her home in Van Nuys, a spokesperson for Walt Disney Animation announced.

In 1984, she and second husband Dale Baer launched Baer Animation, and she supervised the Toontown sequences and the character Benny the Cab for the landmark Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).

Under her supervision, Baer Animation expanded to become one of the few, fully self-contained and independent animation facilities in the U.S., with departments for every facet of animation production, including digital ink and paint, compositing, recording and effects. She oversaw a staff ranging from 50 to 100-plus artists and personnel, based on the production.

Baer also expanded with Baer Animation Camera Services, which shot major portions of Disney’s The Little Mermaid (1989) and The Prince and the Pauper (1990), plus Rover Dangerfield (1991), FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992), The Swan Princess (1994) and a variety of projects for Warner Bros. Animation and Hanna-Barbera.

Following her husband’s departure in the early 1990s — he would join Disney full-time in 1998 — she continued to run the company until her retirement in the early 2000s. (Dale Baer died of complications from ALS in 2021.)

Born on Oct. 30, 1934, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Jane Maureen Shattuck trained at the Art Center in Pasadena and in 1955 became an assistant animator on Sleeping Beauty (1959), working alongside the legendary “Nine Old Men” at Disney. While there, she met animator Iwao Takamoto, and they married in 1957 before divorcing two years later.

In the early 1960s, she worked on commercials and animated series at Ed Graham Animation and lived briefly in Europe before returning to the U.S. At Pantomime Studios, she worked within its layout department on such animated series as Skyhawks and Speed Racer.

After working at Filmation Studios on series including Aquaman and Journey to the Center of the Earth, Baer returned to Disney in 1975 as an assistant to animator Milt Kahl on The Rescuers (1977), where she drew the villain Medusa.

She also worked on films including The Fox and the Hound (1981), Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983) and The Black Cauldron (1985), then handled freelance storyboarding work for The Smurfs and other series at Hanna-Barbera.

Baer’s résumé also includes animation work for Fletch Lives (1989), Last Action Hero (1993) and The Beautician and the Beast (1997) and service as a writer and executive producer on Annabelle’s Wish (1997).

She was featured in Mindy Johnson’s acclaimed 2017 book Ink & Paint: The Women of Walt Disney’s Animation and in the documentary Pencils vs. Pixels (2023).

Baer was a founding member of Women in Animation and a longtime member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the Animation Guild and Women in Film.

In her later years, she shared her years of experience with the next generation of animation artists at panel events, festivals and classrooms.

She was also proud of the fact that Baer Animation was the champion of the Animation Beach Volleyball League, beating out Hanna-Barbara and Disney Feature Animation Studios three years running.

Survivors include her son, Michael, and his partner, Beth; her brother, Gerald; her sister-in-law, Marlene; her nieces, Lauri-Jane and Erin; her great-niece, Lily-Jane; and her great-nephew. Justin.

Donations in her memory can be made to the Best Friends Pet Adoption Center in West Los Angeles.

Art Department

'Tis the Season to Be Smurfy (1987)

'Tis the Season to Be Smurfy

6.3

TV Short

story director

1987

 

Lucille Bliss, Danny Goldman, Don Messick, and Alan Oppenheimer in The Smurfs (1981)

The Smurfs

7.2

TV Series

story director

1987

36 episodes

 

The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang (1980)

The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang

5.5

TV Series

story director

1981

11 episodes

 

Laverne & Shirley in the Army (1981)

Laverne & Shirley in the Army

5.7

TV Series

story director

1981

1 episode

 

Animation Department

Fran Drescher and Timothy Dalton in The Beautician and the Beast (1997)

The Beautician and the Beast

5.5

animation producer

1997

 

Anthony Quinn, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito, F. Murray Abraham, Charles Dance, Tom Noonan, Austin O'Brien, and Bridgette Wilson-Sampras in Last Action Hero (1993)

Last Action Hero

6.5

animation supervisor (uncredited)

1993

 

Robby Benson and Paige O'Hara in Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Beauty and the Beast

8.0

assistant animator (uncredited)

1991

 

Rodney Dangerfield, Susan Boyd, Bill Farmer, Barbara Goodson, Christopher Collins, Patricia Parris, Ronnie Schell, Ned Luke, and Tom Williams in Rover Dangerfield (1991)

Rover Dangerfield

5.9

supervisor: The Baer Animation Company (as Jane M. Baer)

1991

 

Charlie Adler, Wayne Allwine, Tony Anselmo, Arthur Burghardt, and Bill Farmer in The Prince and the Pauper (1990)

The Prince and the Pauper

7.1

Short

additional animation services: The Baer Animation Company

1990

 

Kathleen Turner, Charles Fleischer, Lou Hirsch, and April Winchell in Tummy Trouble (1989)

Tummy Trouble

7.2

Short

animation producerassistant animator (as Jane M. Baer)

1989

 

Chevy Chase in Fletch Lives (1989)

Fletch Lives

6.1

animation producer

1989

 

Frank Sinatra, Christopher Lloyd, Kathleen Turner, Joanna Cassidy, Bob Hoskins, Jim Cummings, and Charles Fleischer in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

7.7

coordinating animator: additional animation (as Jane M. Baer)

1988

 

Vincent Price, Val Bettin, Eve Brenner, Candy Candido, Diana Chesney, Barrie Ingham, Melissa Manchester, Susanne Pollatschek, Frank Welker, and Alan Young in The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

The Great Mouse Detective

7.1

assistant animator (uncredited)

1986

 

John Hurt, Nigel Hawthorne, Grant Bardsley, John Byner, Phil Fondacaro, and Susan Sheridan in The Black Cauldron (1985)

The Black Cauldron

6.3

assistant animator

1985

 

Christopher Atkins, Kristy McNichol, John Hostetter, Theodore Lehmann, and Mike Reynolds in Aladdin and the Magic Lamp (1982)

Aladdin and the Magic Lamp

6.8

character designer (as Jane Bear)

1982

 

Charlie Callas and Sean Marshall in Pete's Dragon (1977)

Pete's Dragon

6.3

assistant animator (uncredited)

1977

 

Eva Gabor, Joe Flynn, Jim Jordan, James MacDonald, Bob Newhart, and Geraldine Page in The Rescuers (1977)

The Rescuers

6.9

assistant animator (uncredited)

1977

 

The Naked Ape (1973)

The Naked Ape

5.2

animation assistant (as Jane Takamoto)

1973

 

Milton Berle, Paul Lynde, Mickey Rooney, Ethel Merman, Liza Minnelli, Risë Stevens, and Danny Thomas in Journey Back to Oz (1972)

Journey Back to Oz

5.7

coordinating animator (uncredited)

1972

 

Santa and the Three Bears (1970)

Santa and the Three Bears

6.6

layout artist (as Jane Takamoto)

1970

 

Hot Wheels (1969)

Hot Wheels

7.2

TV Series

layout artist (as Jane Takamoto)

1969

16 episodes

 

Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Sleeping Beauty

7.2

key clean-up artist (uncredited)

1959

 

Additional Crew

Wayne Allwine, Tony Anselmo, Jodi Benson, Kyle Menke, Mark Moseley, Ernie Sabella, Kevin Schon, Russi Taylor, and Paigie Sparkletasia in House of Mouse (2001)

Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse

6.6

Video

the creative talent of (segment "Mickey's Christmas Carol")

2001

 

Henry Gibson, Dana Hill, Tony Jay, Richard Kind, Anndi McAfee, Charlotte Rae, and Rip Taylor in Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992)

Tom and Jerry: The Movie

5.5

studio executive: The Baer Animation Company (as Jane M. Baer)

1992

 

Wayne Allwine, Dick Billingsley, and Alan Young in Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983)

Mickey's Christmas Carol

8.0

Short

the creative talent of

1983

 

Writer

Kay E. Kuter and Kath Soucie in Annabelle's Wish (1997)

Annabelle's Wish

7.2

Video

written by

1997

 

Producer

Kay E. Kuter and Kath Soucie in Annabelle's Wish (1997)

Annabelle's Wish

7.2

Video

executive producer: The Baer Animation Co. (as Jane M. Baer)

1997

 

Visual Effects

Anthony Quinn, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito, F. Murray Abraham, Charles Dance, Tom Noonan, Austin O'Brien, and Bridgette Wilson-Sampras in Last Action Hero (1993)

Last Action Hero

6.5

animation supervisor: The Baer Animation Company

1993

 

Self

Pencils vs Pixels (2023)

Pencils vs Pixels

6.8

Self

2023

 

Floyd Norman in Floyd Norman: An Animated Life (2016)

Floyd Norman: An Animated Life

7.4

Self

2016