Pres Romanillos: The Pen Behind The Man

Supervising animator for Shan Yu, Pres Romanillos has worked on two of Disney's best films (the superb Little Mermaid, and Pocahontas).  He went directly from animating Pocahontas herself to animating Shan Yu, which must have been a bit of a shock!  But he liked the way the character had been developed.  He says, "Shan-Yu is not one of the Disney comic villains.  He had to be a very real, believable threat to make the story work." I'd say he succeeded in making Shan Yu all of that!  And thank you, Disney, for not giving Shan Yu a song and dance. Pres also said about the character, "Shan-Yu is at the top of the food chain.  He feels that he's the strongest and the smartest and he can go anywhere he wants.  The challenge in animating him was to convey his weight and gravity.  He's almost like this force of impending doom that's coming.  He's definitely not someone you want to meet in a dark alley.  Miguel Ferrer's voice gave the character just the right intensity, mystery and threat that was needed." Click here to see more about Pres!

The Voice of Shan Yu

Shan Yu's deep, sexy, dark-honey voice is provided by the actor Miguel Ferrer, whose voice, he claims, is the result of "nothing but good genes and too many cigarettes".  He comes from a show-biz family, being the son of Jose Ferrer and Rosemary Clooney, nephew of Nick Clooney, cousin of George Clooney, and brother-in-law of Debbie Boone.

Besides having that glorious voice, Miguel is a talented member of that underrated faternity, character actors.  He has acted in almost 50 films (including Robocop and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock) and numerous TV shows (including a role in Twin Peaks).  Personally, I think Shan Yu is his best role yet.

Pres Romanillos says about Miguel: "I think Miguel Ferrer is awesome...he's a great person and a wonderful actor. He also does a lot of voice over work for theatrical trailers...Every time I see a trailer with his voice I always say hey that's Shan-yu."

Home	Facts about Shan Yu | The "True History" of Shan Yu | Links | The Pen Behind the Man ~ Pres Romanillos Galleries ~ The Imperial Scouts scene | The "doll scene" | The Tung Shao Pass scene | A pen sequence | A different look | Fan Art | Screen caps #1 | Screen caps #2 | Scans & screen caps

Shan Yu is the property of Walt Disney Pictures - we only wish we owned him!