The Resurgence of Disney Animation

[Angeldude98]

It's official and there's no doubt about it: Walt Disney Animation Studions is in the middle of a great resurgence. Not only has "Frozen" beaten "The Lion King" as WDAS #1 film surpassing the $1 Billion mark (with the film still needing to open in Japan), but it just delivered the 1st very coveted Best Animated Feature Oscar for WDAS, along with another Oscar win for "Let It Go" as best original song. "Frozen" will undoubtably become one of Disney's "Untouchable" films - which is the term that is generally applied to WDAS' best films, and the ones that are available in home video media for limited times - and will become a very visible entity in the Disney Theme Parks. After years of flops and mild hits (2000 -2009), Disney began a new Rennaissance, Rebirth, Redemption, Resurgence (or whatever you want to call it) era starting with "The Princess and The Frog" and hitting an all-time high pinnacle with "Frozen". Back in 1989 "The Little Mermaid" was a smashing success and people everywhere were saying "Disney is back". Though "The Princess and The Frog" was a welcome return to form, and was followed by a string of increasing hits, it wasn't until "Frozen" that everyone is now again saying "Disney is back!" And we all hope it stays that way, don't we? Here's hoping that the upcoming films in the slate will live up to this hit and won't start another downslide for WDAS. Congratulations for the team behind "Frozen" for the smashing success! Your thoughts?

[Disney's Divinity]

I just hope Frozen doesn't become the next TLK where everything afterwards is deemed a failure because it didn't reach the same heights. Not everything can be as good as Frozen or the Fab 4, and that's okay.

So what does Disney have next in line? Big Hero 6 and Zootopia are the only things I can remember. I'm looking forward to BH6, but Zootopia sounds uninteresting already.

[thedisneyspirit]

It's definitely true that Disney is back, and long gone are the days of Chicken Littles.

Let's just hope none of the future films suffer the "Pocahontas/Post Lion King" syndrome, at least comercial-wise. Atm, everybody's excited for Moana, but the movie is still a long way to go (it may even be shelved, we can't be sure). People seem unimpressed with BH6, but I hope it turns out good. TBH only Zootopia and Giants sound boring of the next films to come...And that's not counting Frozen 2 or Wreck it Ralph 2...

[unprincess]

I agree Zootopia sounds meh, but Giants sounds like it could be awesome if they give it an interesting setting/period & give it the epic Frozen treatment.
BH6 Im mixed about. Im worn out on everything superhero but the Japanese influence could make it more interesting for me. I think it will do well like WIR but I doubt it will reach Frozen numbers. I just hope Disney doesnt expect that they'll all do Frozen business.

But I think what may happen next is that they are gonna try to push Moana to the forefront & make it a warm weather version of Frozen. Kinda like how Frozen borrowed alot of elements from Tangled, Im expecting lots of Frozen influence on their next fairytale film.

[Disney's Divinity]

Oh, yeah--Moana and Giants. Tbh, I'm still holding my excitement for Moana. Though it's a M&C film (love them), I wouldn't be surprised to see them ousted just like Menken.

I hope one (preferrably more than one) of these films is going to be a musical. Disney isn't 100% Disney for me without music, even if I can still enjoy those films.

[Warm Regards]

Short and sweet: I am eagerly awaiting the next films from Disney Animation Studios. Zootopia is iffing me out, because it looks like a sequel to Chicken Little, but other than that...

Now I wonder if my animation career ambitions are any less outrageous. Lot of people saw and were inspired by Frozen...

[disneyftw1]

You're right: it's making more money than The Lion King, the earlier #1 box-office Disney flick. ... Haven't seen this yet. Thank god I pre-ordered the Blu-ray combo pack. Better be worth all this praise and acclaim I'm hearing about. (Though I'm betting that it may not make it my #1 Disney flick... which I, for the life of me, can't tell what exactly is my #1. So many excellent ones to choose from!)

it wasn't until "Frozen" that everyone is now again saying "Disney is back!"

... funny, I thought Tangled would suit that line. Sure the film didn't make as much as Frozen, but it got big popularity, didn't it?

I just hope Frozen doesn't become the next TLK where everything afterwards is deemed a failure because it didn't reach the same heights. Not everything can be as good as Frozen or the Fab 4, and that's okay.

Disney has gone through this how many times throughout its life? In fact, it's pretty much the norm for all films in all companies: there's a good one that changes everything, and then we get bad ones- then we get another good one out-defeating the preceding biggie, and the cycle repeats itself. Perfectly normal in my book.

[Marce82]

Well, I am happy that Disney Animation is doing so well...

But not to rain on anyone's parade, but adjusted to inflation, Im pretty sure Frozen hasn't surpassed Lion King, which I think is a drastically superior film in every aspect (and seems most people I talk to agree on that, if not all). At the end of the day, when adjusted to inflation, Snow WHite is still the most successful Disney film, with 1.7 billion according to wikipedia...

[disneyftw1]

At the end of the day, when adjusted to inflation, Snow WHite is still the most successful Disney film, with 1.7 billion according to wikipedia...

Ironic considering that Snow White is one of the least popular Disney princesses nowadays. Oldest princess still makes Heisenberg amounts of money. "All Hail the Princess." (if you get the reference on what I just said, kudos. )

[Disney's Divinity]

Well, I am happy that Disney Animation is doing so well...

But not to rain on anyone's parade, but adjusted to inflation, Im pretty sure Frozen hasn't surpassed Lion King, which I think is a drastically superior film in every aspect (and seems most people I talk to agree on that, if not all). At the end of the day, when adjusted to inflation, Snow WHite is still the most successful Disney film, with 1.7 billion according to wikipedia...

It hasn't passed a lot of films (TLK, Aladdin, Snow White, Fantasia, Sleeping Beauty, Dalmatians, The Jungle Book, Pinocchio--and most likely not Cinderella either, but I have no info. for that one). It's still worth celebrating that they've managed to have a film that touches those same heights when 10 years ago Disney was seen as irrelevant. Of course, they've went from zero to hero before (with TLM), but they weren't competing with multiple, popular animation studios then.

I like both Frozen and TLK, but I do consider TLK superior objectively (although I like Frozen more, overall, subjectively).

[Victurtle]

Whilst it is true those movies brought more money into the company than Frozen, it's not really a fair comparison in terms of success and perception, which is what this thread is about.

Frozen grossed over a billion dollars in a market where people can, and did, watch the exact same movie at DVD quality with a simple google search. Not even Finding Nemo had such competition (bootleg dvds are a bit harder to find). These sneaky Frozen fans are ultimately unrepresented in the box office numbers and are hard to be accounted for. Who knows what Frozen's number would've been under the same conditions as TLK.

[Walter]

The upcoming Disney films don't sound as promising, but I am always willing to give a WDAS film a chance. In fact, it is only Disney and Pixar that gets me to the theater.

"Big Hero 6" sounds like a huge departure from what is considered Disney, and I hope this experiment will be a success, unlike some of the films in the early 2000's. "Zootopia" sounds like another "Robin Hood", while I can see "Giants" and "Moana" being the return to the traditional formula.

[Escapay]

I'm just excited that the term I coined for this particular age (Resurgence) is being used.

Albert

[Marce82]

Hey disneyftw1

I gather the Heinsenberg reference is about Breaking Bad. The "all hail princess"... not so sure.

And not so surprising about Snow White. The whole "disney princess" concept is a 21st century thing. SW was a film that EVERYONE went to see, it was not intended just for little girls. Snow white didnt do well because it had a princess in it, it did well because its a great movie, it was the ONLY of its kind, and the first of its kind (in the USA). Plus, add to that multiple releases thru the decades.

[Atlantica]

I think a Lion King / Pocahontas pattern may very well take place here, through no fault of the follow up movies. Even the fact they are being termed 'follow up' films sets warning bells ringing; they are their own movies in their own right. It is just extremely unfortunate that they will be following Frozen.

I can't help but wonder if the order was changed for the recent releases, and if that would have made a difference to the box office standings. If perhaps it was Frozen / Wreck It Ralph / Tangled, or Frozen / Tangled / Wreck It Ralph …. I wonder if they would all have gone up and up from Frozen, or Frozen would remain the vast success it is, and Tangled / Ralph would have been less so.

They have all been massively successful commercially in their own right, there is no denying it, but what is the greatest success here is the fact they have all, in their own way, restored the publics faith in Disney. The 'Disney Essence' as the famous UD thread put it, is finally back; not just for diehard fans like us, but for the world over.

That sort of success can't be measured on any sort of financial scale; falling in love with Disney again.

[Angeldude98]

Well, we have to remember that at first everyone was going "meh" about "Wreck-It-Ralph" because of its video game nostalgia theme, and it turned out to be a great movie. So I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss BH6 or Zootopia. However, I do agree that the upcoming films should not be measured up to the success of "Frozen". Each one has a fair chance and I can say with 100% certainty that the folks over at WDAS have taken note of all the facts that made "Frozen" such a smashing hit and will certanily apply them to the upcoming films if they want them to be anywhere close to such a success again. Not all films will do as well as "Frozen" did, but if Disney keeps the magic going, I'm sure they will all do well nevertheless.

On another note I bet "Frozen's" success is all the more sweet for WDAS considering how long this particular film was in production and how many times it was shelved and revived only to be shelved again. It seemed this film would never be made and when it finally was, it blew everyone away! Now that's what I call a fairytale happy ending!

[jazzflower92]

Well, we have to remember that at first everyone was going "meh" about "Wreck-It-Ralph" because of its video game nostalgia theme, and it turned out to be a great movie. So I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss BH6 or Zootopia. However, I do agree that the upcoming films should not be measured up to the success of "Frozen". Each one has a fair chance and I can say with 100% certainty that the folks over at WDAS have taken note of all the facts that made "Frozen" such a smashing hit and will certanily apply them to the upcoming films if they want them to be anywhere close to such a success again. Not all films will do as well as "Frozen" did, but if Disney keeps the magic going, I'm sure they will all do well nevertheless.

On another note I bet "Frozen's" success is all the more sweet for WDAS considering how long this particular film was in production and how many times it was shelved and revived only to be shelved again. It seemed this film would never be made and when it finally was, it blew everyone away! Now that's what I call a fairytale happy ending!

Yeah, it seems like their best movies are ones that have been shelved time and again. I mean look at Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Tangled. There are other movies that too come in mind but those are the ones that come off the top of my head. I think whenever Disney needs a new movie they should go back to old efforts and try to revive them. I know Frozen is not the most faithful adaption but I have admit that seeing other more faithful animated works based on Snow Queen they kind of suffer from many story problems and still keep it episodic like the original story. Not to mention how most adaptions actually have the Snow Queen being turned from a neutral force into the Big Bad.

[thedisneyspirit]

The problem with the original Snow Queen story is that it's very episodic, most characters come and go leaving little to no impact on the plot (and some of them barely having any personality), and the ending is incredibly anti-climatic. The Snow Queen just leaves her palace and Gerda finds Kai; no climax, no confrontation, nothing. It'd be like if in the Lion King, before Simba arrives to Pride Rock, Scar leaves without any fight or anything. The happy ending just feels thrown in there.

So I'm one that's not too annoyed at the end by the changes of Frozen, since the original fairy tale needed some reworking. Whether those reworkings worked or not, IDK...

[Musical Master]

I have a feeling that if BH6 becomes a hit, then it could break the "Pocahontas Curse", that Disney or others are worried about. But I agree that Frozen is the movie that says: "Remember us everyone? We're back in the game".

Well, we have to remember that at first everyone was going "meh" about "Wreck-It-Ralph" because of its video game nostalgia theme, and it turned out to be a great movie. So I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss BH6 or Zootopia. However, I do agree that the upcoming films should not be measured up to the success of "Frozen". Each one has a fair chance and I can say with 100% certainty that the folks over at WDAS have taken note of all the facts that made "Frozen" such a smashing hit and will certanily apply them to the upcoming films if they want them to be anywhere close to such a success again. Not all films will do as well as "Frozen" did, but if Disney keeps the magic going, I'm sure they will all do well nevertheless.

On another note I bet "Frozen's" success is all the more sweet for WDAS considering how long this particular film was in production and how many times it was shelved and revived only to be shelved again. It seemed this film would never be made and when it finally was, it blew everyone away! Now that's what I call a fairytale happy ending!

I agree wholeheartedly. I'm glad that kids will remember this era of Disney movies and call it the best thing ever as we all did for the "Fab Four".

[Warm Regards]

I would just like to point out that Lion King was not expected to be so successful, while Pocahontas was thought to be the next Oscar bait Beauty and the Beast.

Frozen, I am sure, was expected to be a big hit. At least equivalent to Tangled. I think people are underestimating how well Big Hero 6 could do. Maybe Disney has low expectations too, but that means it's all the more likely to be a (sleeper?) hit.

Now the film we need to be concerned about is Giants. It's gonna be another fairytale musical, and I am sure the Disney execs are going to put a lot of energy into it expecting it to bring in the big ones a la Frozen.

That's just my two cents, anyway.