North Wing

Jørgen Klubien: at Disney and Pixar

February 7, 2026 – October 4, 2026

Few artists have helped shape the look and emotional power of modern animated films as quietly — and as profoundly — as Jørgen Klubien. Born and raised in Denmark, Klubien emerged in the international animation world during one of the most important creative eras in the history of Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios. His drawings, storyboards, and character explorations helped form the invisible architecture beneath many of the films that defined a generation.

After studying art and animation in Denmark, Klubien moved to the United States in the 1980s, just as Disney Animation was entering its great creative renaissance. Over the next two decades, he became a key visual storyteller on some of the most beloved animated features ever made: The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Pocahontas, Mulan, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc. and — most famously — Cars, for which he was a co-creator and screenwriter.

Klubien’s gift lies in his ability to translate emotion, movement, humor and dramatic tension into fast, energetic drawings that communicate story long before a single frame of animation exists. The lively sketches and storyboards in this exhibition reveal animation at its most essential stage: ideas taking form, characters discovering themselves, and entire worlds being imaged on paper.