Lake Arrowhead chateau of Disney, ‘Dear Basketball’ animator Glen Keane nabs $11.5M

Water surrounds the former Lake Arrowhead chateau of Glen Keane, the longtime Disney character animator and Oscar-winning director of the Kobe Bryant film short “Dear Basketball.” The house recently set a sales record when it sold for $11.5 million. (Google Earth)

A waterfront Lake Arrowhead estate designed by Walt Disney animator and Oscar-winning “Dear Basketball” director Glen Keane has set a local sales record for $11.5 million.

The buyers are Comcast President and CEO David Watson and his wife, Ellen. Records show they bought the property April 8 through an LLC registered to a Pennsylvania address owned by the couple, paying 8% less than the $12.55 million asking price sought in the November 2023 listing. The property originally hit the market in June 2023 for $14.5 million.

Sited on over 1.5 acres of manicured grounds surrounded by water on three sides, the gated 8,974-square-foot French château with six bedrooms and eight bathrooms was built in 2002 as the vision of Keane and his wife, Linda.

“No expense was spared, and the property has been meticulously maintained,” the listing reads.

Stone and imported roof tiles adorn the home’s facade. A pair of stone-carved bears flank a pediment rail of swag garland surmounting the front door.

Beyond the rotunda entry with a curved staircase is the living room, which has chandeliers hanging from the high wood-carved ceiling, a decorative stone fireplace and French doors on opposite sides of the room.

Other highlights include a gourmet kitchen, casual and formal dining rooms, a 20-seat screening room, a wine-tasting cellar, a billiard lounge and a library with a minibar and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.

A fireplace warms the primary suite on the main level. Another primary suite has a fireplace and a separate exterior entrance.

At the shore, a fully-equipped dock house, a covered pier and a single dock with a rare second dock right add to the perks.

Lynne B. Wilson of Lynne B. Wilson & Associates held the listing, while Malyn Dahlin and Alice Cannington of The Agency represented the buyers.

Keane, 70, is the son of cartoonist Bil Keane, the creator of The Family Circus comic strip. Inspired by his father’s work, he joined Walt Disney Animation Studios in 1974. Over his 38-year career, he created memorable characters for “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin,” “Pocahontas,” “Tarzan,” and “Tangled.”

For his work on the short film “Dear Basketball” based on Kobe Bryant’s retirement poem in The Players’ Tribune, he and Bryant received an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 2018.