During this time, he also worked on non-Disney animated films, including Looney Tunes: Back in Action, and Barnyard.
At one point he was attached to direct an animated prequel to Disney's 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but he dropped out due to creative differences, and the project was cancelled.
[2] He grew up in a large Irish Catholic family and served as an altar boy at St. Francis of Assisi Parish, where his uncle was a pastor.
[3] Disa attended St. Joseph High School and graduated from Northern Illinois University in 1987 with degrees in art and computer programming.
He eventually joined as an animator at the Walt Disney Company, where he worked on Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Mulan (1998), Tarzan (1999), Fantasia 2000 (2000), The Tigger Movie (2000), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), Treasure Planet (2002), Home on the Range (2004), and Pooh's Heffalump Movie (2005).
He also worked on Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), before spending a year developing a film called Wings with Warner Bros. that ultimately was not produced.
He left over creative differences when executives wanted Dopey to talk, a decision that he felt disrespected the original film in which the character is silent.
[7] Growing frustrated with the creative restraints of working on studio produced films, Disa left to become an independent filmmaker.