Dan Hansen earned his BA degree in Motion Picture and Television Production from the University of California at Los Angeles. After graduating from UCLA he attended Art Center College of Design where he was recruited by Walt Disney Pictures in 1975. For 27 years he was a layout artist, artistic coordinator, layout department supervisor and art director with Walt Disney Feature Animation where he worked on 12 animated features including Aladdin, Pocahontas, Hercules and The Emperor's New Groove. While working full time at Disney Dan taught night classes at CalArts from the mid 1980s through 1990. His students include Mark Andrews (co-director John Carter, Academy Award winner for co-directing Brave for Pixar), Brenda Chapman (Academy Award winner for co-directing Brave for Pixar, Head of Story on Lion King), and Pete Docter (Pixar director Monsters, Inc., Academy Award winner for UP). In 2002 he returned to CalArts where he taught full time 2002-2014, and was Program Director of Character Animation from 2008 to 2014.