Lasseter takeover--good or bad?

[disneyprincess11]

I think he's doing an OK job. Yes, he's making great movies like Princess and the Frog, Tangled, and Meet the Robinsons and John's putting Disney back how they're supposed to be.

But, here are my problems with him. He replaced the epic Alan Menkin with Randy Newman for composer of Princess and the Frog, even I thought I might one of the only ones here who actually loved the songs from PATF. Of course, he fired Chris Sanders and Glenn Keane (that animator) and cancelled The Snow Queen. And he's obviously possibly the reason why Rapunzel was renamed to...you-know-what. So, I give John a C + for effort.

[Disney Duster]

I think it's a bad idea to let someone you fired and who started a kind of rival studio to be let back in and rule over so much.

American Dog may have been too weird for Disney, but only a little. If he just toned it down and Disneyfied it instead of completely turning it into the middling Bolt.

John Lasseter loves Cars so much, he's trying to make Carsland and put too much Pixar in the parks.

I don't like how there's the possibility Pixar and Lasseter's down-homey blandness and kind of humor could leak into Disney either intentionally or unintentionally, somewhat already detectable in Tangled like in Bolt, both by the same directors, also appointed by Lasseter.

I'm worried Pixar is going to influence Disney too much.

And that is what I had to say.

[Super Aurora]

Enter "Lasseter has the Midas touch" fans here.

[Big One]

I'm worried Pixar is going to influence Disney too much.

Well thankfully you're in a nonvocal minority

[Semaj]

But, here are my problems with him. He replaced the epic Alan Menkin with Randy Newman for composer of Princess and the Frog, even I thought I might one of the only ones here who actually loved the songs from PATF. Of course, he fired Chris Sanders and Glenn Keane (that animator) and cancelled The Snow Queen. And he's obviously possibly the reason why Rapunzel was renamed to...you-know-what. So, I give John a C + for effort.

The part with Glen Keane wasn't essentially Lasseter's fault. Keane suffered a heart attack while directing Tangled, and he voluntarily stepped down. Unlike Chris Sanders with American Dog, Keane still had major involvement as executive producer, character designer, and animation director, which seemed to have worked just as well as being an actual director.

I don't think Lasseter was at fault for the name change, though he probably agreed to it.

[SWillie!]

This discussion is utterly ridiculous. Regardless of what is happening at the studios right now, the fact is that without John Lasseter, there most likely would have been no Walt Disney Animation Studios to discuss at this point.

The man single-handedly saved the animation industry. While he's made a few questionable decisions in his recent career, they are choices that any "executive" would have made. And most likely, he has made the best decisions that someone in his position can possibly make. He still has people over him, telling him what to do. While he has creative control, he has no say in things like "We need more Cars and Cars spinoffs!" or "We need more Pixar in the park because Pixar is what's making money!" or "A Princess movie won't be interesting to anyone. Change the name so we can fool them!" There are plenty of things that are still beyond his control.

To try and say that John Lasseter, or Pixar in general, has been a bad influence on Disney is simply small-minded. He has drastically improved the quality of DisneyToon Studios (compare Fox and the Hound 2 from 2006 to Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure from 2009), he has drastically improved the quality of Walt Disney Animation Studios (compare Home on the Range and Chicken Little from 2004 and 2005 to Princess and the Frog and Tangled from 2009 and 2010), he has started making some big changes at Imagineering, focusing on more storytelling and thematic experiences in the parks rather than rides based on pop culture... and has done all this while STILL managing to provide hit, after hit, after hit, after hit from Pixar.

To nitpick and say that "oh my gosh he got rid of Sanders and Keane how could he" is just foolish. The fact is, not one person on this board, and few in the entire world, know whether or not Sander's version of American Dog or Keane's version of Rapunzel was any good. We've heard rumors both ways, yes... but you shouldn't base your opinion of Lasseter off rumors. For every filmmaking decision he has made thus far, the results have never been anything less than great.

In short, a lot of you are looking at the tiniest little details, that would have been MUCH worse in different hands, when you should really be looking at the big picture: the animation industry, and the Walt Disney Company, are both better because of John Lasseter.

[Patrick]

Aww.. Swillie!, that's exactly how I feel. Agreed 100%.

[Disney's Divinity]

I wonder if Lasseter will have his head frozen, just like Walt. Or maybe technology has advanced since then?

[ajmrowland]

Yeah, it'll no longer be frozen. Heads that are stored are now in cushy pods at room temp.

[Wonderlicious]

For the most part, I think that it's probably a good thing overall. As a major pro, it got David Statinton and the whole intense micro-management culture out that was polluting WDFA/WDAS and driving it down to the ground. An utterly mediocre, cookie-cutter film such as Chicken Little is proof that the Disney studio had fallen into the trap of making derivative films moulded by the wishes of uncreative executives who can't tell a simple fable or draw anything other than a stick person. And regardless of its final name or whether the film is good or not, I think that everyone is glad that the Rapunzel movie we got is not Rapunzel Unbraided. And though we still have the Tinker Bell films, the number of image-damaging DTV films has dropped (though unfortunately the equally damaging Princess line is going, more a juggernaut than ever).

Like SWillie said, as well, Lasseter does have to act like a puppet for the decisions still most likely made by executives (the Rapunzel/Tangled debacle being a principal point). He may have to act as though he fully agrees with everything, but he ultimately probably only has control over the films, and none of the marketing. And I honestly can't believe a grown man can describe everything as "funny" on his own accord.

On the flip side, I think that we can admit that Lasseter has fallen into a trap of conservatism when it comes to pushing boundaries, something clear with both Disney and Pixar; it is causing a brain drain of sorts. The films are still generally very good, but they don't push things as some of the earlier Pixar films did, or some of the better Disney films of the last 20 or so years (the fab four, Lilo and Stitch etc). Bolt is a good film, but it could have been better as American Dog, and letting Chris Sanders wander off was a silly mistake, as evident by how good Lilo and Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon both are. Equally, the promise of endless shorts hasn't been fully realised, though traditional animation is fortunately back.

Regardless of anything, though, I do think the entrance of John Lasseter is proving positive, especially with the success of Tangled proving that Disney proper can pull a home run.

[Luke]

Bolt wasn't bad, it was just very mediocre and ultimately forgettable.

It's still ten times better than Lady and the Tramp.

<img src="http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss30 ... letake.gif">

[disneyprincess11]

But, here are my problems with him. He replaced the epic Alan Menkin with Randy Newman for composer of Princess and the Frog, even I thought I might one of the only ones here who actually loved the songs from PATF. Of course, he fired Chris Sanders and Glenn Keane (that animator) and cancelled The Snow Queen. And he's obviously possibly the reason why Rapunzel was renamed to...you-know-what. So, I give John a C + for effort.

The part with Glen Keane wasn't essentially Lasseter's fault. Keane suffered a heart attack while directing Tangled, and he voluntarily stepped down. Unlike Chris Sanders with American Dog, Keane still had major involvement as executive producer, character designer, and animation director, which seemed to have worked just as well as being an actual director.

I don't think Lasseter was at fault for the name change, though he probably agreed to it.

oh yeah. thats right about keane. why did he fired Sanders btw?

[DisneyAnimation88]

For me, John Lasseter has done a good job. I think there's been an upturn in quality in the animated films produced since he joined Disney and I'm also happy that the company is investing heavily in expanding and, hopefully, improving the parks.

In the case of Chris Sanders, I don't think it's necessrily Lasseter's fault that Sanders left Disney. In any job, if you disagree with your superior, you run the risk of losing your position, whether it's your choice to leave or your employers. I'm not disputing the fact that Sanders is very talented but throughout the history of Disney, other very talented people have also left, Don Bluth for example. Lasseter was fired by Disney in the 80's and has ended up in charge of animation and theme parks so who know, maybe one day Sanders might return to the company.

I don't understand why some people are afraid that Lasseter's association with Pixar is a bad thing for Disney. It's not like he's secretly going to sabotage Disney and put them out of business. He's only been in his current position for four years and to me, it seems things have improved significantly from the state the company was left in after the Eisner era.

[The_Iceflash]

Am I the only one starting to think Chris Sanders is overrated? I mean really, his leaving wasn't the apocalypse. Are we really supposed to believe American Dog was gonna be the best new animated film this century? Is Lilo and Stitch really worthy of the pedestal it's on?

[Semaj]

Am I the only one starting to think Chris Sanders is overrated? I mean really, his leaving wasn't the apocalypse. Are we really supposed to believe American Dog was gonna be the best new animated film this century? Is Lilo and Stitch really worthy of the pedestal it's on?

While the available synopsis of American Dog reveals some similarities to Cars, it still showed more signs of originality than what we saw of Bolt's similarities to Toy Story. Bolt is somewhat generic in comparison both to that and to the studio's other dog films.

And yes, Lilo & Stitch is worth every praise it gets.

[estefan]

Am I the only one starting to think Chris Sanders is overrated? I mean really, his leaving wasn't the apocalypse. Are we really supposed to believe American Dog was gonna be the best new animated film this century? Is Lilo and Stitch really worthy of the pedestal it's on?

Yeah, I absolutely love Lilo & Stitch, but we have no way of knowing how American Dog would have turned out, if Sanders was left to do whatever he wanted with it.

I don't recall anybody moaning about Jan Pinkava being booted off of Ratatouille, which was a big pet project of his. And he's an Oscar-winner, too! But, his replacement was Brad Bird, so I guess it's all right.

[DisneyFan09]

Really, his only blunder has been "Tinker Bell." I understand that series has its fans, but I hated the first one and don't plan on seeing the others.

Really? Why did you hate the first one? I thought the Tinker Bell flicks were really cute.

[estefan]

Really, his only blunder has been "Tinker Bell." I understand that series has its fans, but I hated the first one and don't plan on seeing the others.

Really? Why did you hate the first one? I thought the Tinker Bell flicks were really cute.

I pretty much didn't like Tinker Bell's new, nicer personality and found the other fairies to be just bland characters (except for the comic relief, voiced by Rob Paulsen and Jeff Bennett). Didn't like Tinker Bell's voice, either, but that's not Mae Whitman's fault. She gives it a game try, but the writing is so un-inspired. I will admit the animation is absolutely stunning, almost theatrical-quality. But, I absolutely hated the writing and the messing of Tinker Bell's character.

[DisneyFan09]

Bolt wasn't bad, it was just very mediocre and ultimately forgettable.

Finally someone else who feels the same way about that movie as I do. No offence to the Bolt-fans; I don't hate that movie at all, but I don't think it deserved all the praise that it got. I thought the movie was forgettable and unremarkable. But hey, is just my opinion, though.

[DisneyFan09]

I pretty much didn't like Tinker Bell's new, nicer personality and found the other fairies to be just bland characters (except for the comic relief, voiced by Rob Paulsen and Jeff Bennett). Didn't like Tinker Bell's voice, either, but that's not Mae Whitman's fault. She gives it a game try, but the writing is so un-inspired. I will admit the animation is absolutely stunning, almost theatrical-quality. But, I absolutely hated the writing and the messing of Tinker Bell's character.

Okay. I understand why the Tinker Bell fans got dissapointed by the "new" portrayal of the heroine, also with the fact that she actually spoke. However, I didn't found that distracting at all.

I agree, the comic reliefs were good.