Hand-Drawn Animation Dead at Disney

[DisneyEra]

I miss Disney's traditional animation so much. Just look at how beautiful these are.

Who wants that when you got horse manure like this:

[Kyle]

Has this short by James Baker ever been posted? Its especially fitting given the story.




http://www.cartoonbrew.com/cartoon-brew ... 50463.html

[Disney's Divinity]

For some reason I missed those hand-drawn WIP .gifs when you first posted them, Sotiris. Very cute, although it makes me glad that TLM was made when it was, considering whoever animated Ursula there made her move like an inflatable balloon.

[Sotiris]

It makes me glad that TLM was made when it was, considering whoever animated Ursula there made her move like an inflatable balloon.

I noticed that too. She was animated by Eric Goldberg. Granted, they weren't given a lot of time to animate these and didn't have any help which might have been a factor. When he animated Louis he was able to capture weight and mass well so I give him the benefit of a doubt.

[thedisneyspirit]

In what bizarro world does Lasseter live in to think people prefer plastic CGI dolls over the realness and artistry of 2D.

[Mooky]

He's not wrong, at least when it comes to families deciding what to pay for and watch. People may have been conditioned to do so with years and years of being exposed to nothing but CG, but still, audiences in general do seem to prefer CG animation -- box-office results speak for themselves. CG is flashy, it's modern, it's realistic-looking, free of outdatedness of 2D. Also, animation itself is still perceived as kids' medium, and hand-drawn animation is regarded as entertainment for toddlers and preschoolers. So John Lasseter may be wrong on oh so many things but he's not wrong on this one. Besides, it's not like he runs Disney on his own -- he has a whole board to report to and I don't see them protesting the demise of hand-drawn. They just look at the numbers for Frozens, Jungle Books and Beauty and the Beasts and say, "More!".

[unprincess]

^ I agree sadly, but I still think Lasseter could have used his muscle to at least convinced them to make a hand drawn film once every decade or so (with a few shorts in between) as a special "Hand-drawn Legacy" event release or something. It might not have made the instant big money that CGI makes but it would have eventually made it back through DVD/blu-ray and merch while keeping Walt's legacy alive. But like Ive mentioned before I think there may have also been some rivalry on part of the CGI animators that pushed the hand drawn animators out. They wanted to always ensure more CGI work for their unemployed pals and keeping a hand-drawn division at the company is space & salary that could be given to CGI animators instead.

[Semaj]

The number of sequels coming up, and the few originals is disturbing. Part of what spurred Disney's current animation revival was due to an observation from a top executive, sometime before or after the acquisition of Pixar, that their theme park attractions had almost no new characters from the previous decade.

Sure, Disney has The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, Wreck-it Ralph, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, and Moana, but are they going to repeat the same mistake several years down the road?

[Mooky]

^ I agree sadly, but I still think Lasseter could have used his muscle to at least convinced them to make a hand drawn film once every decade or so (with a few shorts in between) as a special "Hand-drawn Legacy" event release or something. It might not have made the instant big money that CGI makes but it would have eventually made it back through DVD/blu-ray and merch while keeping Walt's legacy alive. But like Ive mentioned before I think there may have also been some rivalry on part of the CGI animators that pushed the hand drawn animators out. They wanted to always ensure more CGI work for their unemployed pals and keeping a hand-drawn division at the company is space & salary that could be given to CGI animators instead.

I agree. If they were truly unable to make feature-length hand-drawn films but still actually cared about hand-drawn in any way --
and I think I've said this here before -- why not just create Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, etc. shorts to show in front of their tentpole releases? If it can be done for Toy Story and Frozen, what's the issue then? I just can't believe that we're at the point in time where the studio that popularized animation, and whose legacy is built on hand-drawn, and the studio that should be doing it, isn't. It's just sad. Even freaking WB does all those DC, Scooby-Doo and Tom & Jerry movies.

[Sotiris]

Even if Lasseter wanted to keep making 2D features at the studio but wasn't allowed to by the higher-ups (which I highly doubt in the first place), he could have easily kept 2D going with shorts and TV specials (like Prep & Landing) which aren't financially risky. He didn't. There's really no excuse for that.

[Sotiris]

Apparently, having their last 2D animators constantly do interviews and drawing tutorials for social media wasn't demeaning enough so they're now making them take online quizzes too.

Randy Haycock Takes the "Which Aladdin Character Are You?" Quiz
https://www.facebook.com/OhMyDisney/vid ... 292980600/

Mark Henn Takes Which Princess and the Frog Character Are You?" Quiz
https://www.facebook.com/OhMyDisney/vid ... 536261309/

Eric Goldberg Takes "Which Little Mermaid Character Are You?" Quiz
https://www.facebook.com/OhMyDisney/vid ... 599582536/

[Semaj]

I'm suddenly reminded of that book Eric Goldberg did a couple years ago, where he draws portraits of ALL of the Disney/Pixar characters.

It's an interesting book, but it couldn't be more apparent that they can't give these guys stuff to do.

[D82]

Apparently, having their last 2D animators constantly do interviews and drawing tutorials for social media wasn't demeaning enough so they're now making them take online quizzes too.

Randy Haycock Takes the "Which Aladdin Character Are You?" Quiz
https://www.facebook.com/OhMyDisney/vid ... 292980600/

They made Mark Henn and Eric Goldberg take quizzes too:
https://twitter.com/Disney/status/862827174100844544
https://twitter.com/Disney/status/863136738394333184

It's sad they are wasting their talent in small projects such as this one for Disney World. At least they could let them make a 2D short or something more interesting.

Here's an interview with the three animators about the Happily Ever After show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFtx8CEJ7HE

And here are the full show, a music video and some behind the scenes featurettes:
#DisneyParksLIVE: Happily Ever After | Walt Disney World
Jordan Fisher, Angie Keilhauer - Happily Ever After (Full Version/Audio Only)
Jordan Fisher & Angie Keilhauer on Recording ‘Happily Ever After’ Theme Song
‘Happily Ever After’ Score Recording Session | Walt Disney World
Advanced Projection Mapping Tech Coming to ‘Happily Ever After’
The Making of ‘Happily Ever After’ | Walt Disney World
Creators Ready ‘Happily Ever After’ for Debut at Magic Kingdom Park

[Sotiris]

More animation from the project. Randy Haycock posted a couple of pencil tests on his blog.

[milojthatch]

Even if Lasseter wanted to keep making 2D features at the studio but wasn't allowed to by the higher-ups (which I highly doubt in the first place), he could have easily kept 2D going with shorts and TV specials (like Prep & Landing) which aren't financially risky. He didn't. There's really no excuse for that.

Agreed.

[disneyprincess11]

Baby Moana Pencil Test

https://twitter.com/DisneyAnimation/sta ... 3735642113

[DisneyEra]

Thought I'd post this here on the 2D Animation is dead thread

[Tristy]

Thought I'd post this here on the 2D Animation is dead thread

It really is disheartening for artists such as myself who believe in making quality art that can appeal to everyone without being on the nose to see things like this just popping up on the internet. And what makes it even sadder is that some of the parents who take their kids to see these films just don't care.

[disneyprincess11]

And they're cancelling original movies (like a Tim Minchin musical that was supposed to be released next year) with endless sequels! Like why?! DW is nothing, but a franchise machine now.

[DisneyEra]

And they're cancelling original movies (like a Tim Minchin musical that was supposed to be released next year) with endless sequels! Like why?! DW is nothing, but a franchise machine now.

It's not just DreamWorks, it's ALL of them! And there's no end in sight