Award-Winning Filmmaker, Animator, and Creative Entrepreneur

 

Angelus Alister Borsu Rafipoor Highson—known professionally as Borsu Highson—is an award-winning filmmaker, animator, and creative entrepreneur whose career bridges the golden age of Disney hand-drawn animation with the creative frontiers of 21st-century innovation. Borsu has built an extraordinary legacy as a protégé of Disney legends Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, and Oscar-winning filmmaker Richard Williams. His work spans feature animation, live-action cinema, documentary storytelling, and the creation of original character universes that captivate global audiences.

As the founder and CEO of Borsu Highson Productions and the creative visionary behind Peterman—a character franchise envisioned as Germany’s first truly international character universe—Borsu continues to honor the craftsmanship of animation’s founding masters while pioneering new storytelling frontiers. His feature film The Mad King (2023, released internationally in 2025) earned the United Nations Sustainability Award and international critical acclaim, cementing his reputation as a filmmaker whose work combines artistic excellence with meaningful social impact.

 

Name Origins & Heritage

The name “Borsu” carries deep European roots, originating from the medieval Belgian village of Bois-et-Borsu in the Liège province of Wallonia. The settlement—formed by merging the villages of Bois and Borsu in 1808—dates back to the Middle Ages, with “Borsu” believed to derive from Old French or Walloon roots reflecting the region’s rich linguistic heritage. Over centuries, the Borsu family name migrated from Belgium through Southern France and eventually to Canada, where it became established among French-speaking communities.

The surname “Highson” traces its lineage to Scotland and Northern England, evolving from the patronymic “Hughson”—literally “son of Hugh.” The name Hugh itself derives from the Old Germanic Hugi or Hugu, from Proto-Germanic hugiz, meaning “heart,” “mind,” “spirit,” and “thought.” Many Hughson and Highson families migrated to New York in the early 1900s, including William Highson, whose father was part of this transatlantic migration wave. The convergence of these two names—Borsu from continental Europe and Highson from the British Isles—reflects a unique multicultural heritage that would profoundly shape Borsu’s artistic identity.

 

Early Foundations & German Academic Heritage

Borsu was born on January 16, 1980 in Tehran to a German-speaking family with deep academic and cultural ties to Germany. His father, Professor Dr. Fary Rafipoor, was a distinguished social scientist who earned his Habilitation from the prestigious Universität Hohenheim in Stuttgart, where he developed the theory of “Dynamic Needs” (Bedürfnisdynamik)—a groundbreaking contribution to development economics published by Campus Verlag in 1989. Growing up in this intellectually rigorous household instilled in Borsu a commitment to excellence, systematic thinking, and the belief that creative work must serve both artistic and societal purposes.

 

The Disney Masters: An Unannounced Door Knock

Borsu’s journey into professional animation began at White Shark Entertainment (1997-1999), where he animated Mickey Mouse for the first time using original model sheets developed by Disney legends Frank Thomas and Fred Moore in the 1930s and 1940s. Determined to learn directly from the masters, Borsu obtained Frank Thomas’s home address and made an unannounced visit that would change his life.

When he knocked on the door, Jeanette Thomas answered. As fate would have it, Ollie Johnston—Frank’s lifelong friend and fellow member of Disney’s legendary “Nine Old Men”—was already inside visiting Frank. Jeanette invited the young animator in, and both legends sat with Borsu, reviewing his work, sharing stories from the golden age of Disney, and welcoming him back for multiple visits. During this same period, Borsu met Richard Williams, the Oscar-winning animator and creator of Roger Rabbit, to whom he famously said, “You are god.” Williams granted Borsu access to his personal notes and early drafts that would later form the foundation of The Animator’s Survival Kit.

 

Preserving the Legacy of Hand-Drawn Animation

From 1999 to 2007, Borsu worked as a character animator for Disney attractions, voiced Mickey Mouse in three commercials, narrated Disney’s Crystal Clear Editions promotional trailers, and portrayed Walt Disney himself in a live stage production at Disneyland Paris (2006). In 2004, he became Executive in Charge of Production at Shamrock Entertainment, founded by Roy E. Disney and Martin Katz, where he contributed to the revival of Feature Animation Paris.

In November 2006, with the support of Roy Disney and Martin Katz, Borsu founded Borsu Film Studios Hollywood —a global network of studios dedicated to preserving the heritage of traditional Disney hand-drawn animation. At its peak, the company employed approximately 3,700 artists and technicians across seven countries and nine locations, including the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Argentina, the Philippines, Dubai, and the United States. This international structure made Borsu Film Studios one of the world’s largest independent animation collectives devoted to classical craftsmanship and artistic mentorship.

From 2013 to 2015, Borsu served as President of René Borg Productions, collaborating with the “Father of French Animation,” René Borg, to establish Paris Feature Animation—a state-of-the-art facility designed to train and inspire a new generation of animators.

 

 

The Mad King: A Climate Parable Under Pressure

In January 2022, Borsu was invited to Germany as Chief Creative Officer of Film Studio Lüneburg, where he developed a personalized script structure framework based on cutting-edge audience engagement research and Frank Daniel’s Sequence Approach techniques. After presenting his screenplay “The Unconventional” at Cannes 2022, Borsu was encouraged to produce a film on sustainability and climate change.

On the flight back to Germany, inspiration struck: The Mad King—a satirical film about a tyrannical monarch who denies environmental crises while his kingdom faces climate catastrophe. Shot at Schloss Schwerin in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the production faced a crisis when the lead actor dropped out one week before shooting. Borsu played the Mad King himself, juggling the roles of Director, Producer, Chief Creative Officer, Cinematographer, and Lead Actor simultaneously.

Completed in less than one year, The Mad King earned the 2023 United Nations Sustainability Award, Best Producer at the London Big Syn International Film Festival (2023), was screened on Europe’s largest screen at Piccadilly Circus, London, and received Honorable Mention as First-Time Feature Film Director at the Hollywood Independent Film Awards (2024), along with nominations for Best Actor (New York Film Actors Awards 2024) and Best Cinematography (New York Cinematography Film Awards 2024). The film secured worldwide distribution through Summer Hill Entertainment and is currently available on Amazon Prime Video and other VOD platforms.

 

Academic and Artistic Vision

Having spent decades at the intersection of art, education, and innovation, Borsu’s academic and artistic work continues to merge the disciplines that have defined his life. From 2018 to 2021, Borsu earned an MBA in Leadership of Innovation and Change from York St. John University, conducting research on emotional intelligence in creative leadership, audience engagement techniques at Walt Disney Studios (1930-1966), and organizational culture’s impact on innovation in film production.

In July 2025, Borsu founded Borsu Highson Productions (Bleckede, Germany), specializing in creative project management, professional film and marketing production, visual AI consultancy, animation and live-action development, and book project management. His flagship project, Peterman, is being developed as a multi-platform character franchise with German government backing, encompassing animation, merchandise, theme park attractions, publishing, and digital media.

Borsu also produces the Disney Legacy documentary series on the Borsu Highson Film Productions Channel – also known as Borsu.Animation – preserving rare stories and wisdom from his time with animation’s founding legends.

 

Personal Life

Borsu Highson lives in Bleckede, Germany, with his wife Niki, their son Liam, and his two Huskies, Oscar and Valentino, where he continues to honor Roy Disney’s enduring advice: “You should be Walt Disney, not a Walt Disney employee.”