Why Disney animation is losing so many people

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Just a theory. Disney, and probably Pixar, have lost some major people lately. Maureen Fan, who runs Baobab Studios, explains why she didn't want to stay at Pixar:

https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is ... &IR=T&IR=T

During her six-year tenure at eBay, Fan took animation classes from Lucasfilm animators on nights and weekends. She later worked at Pixar for three months as a production intern on "Toy Story 3" in 2008. But when she saw it could take five years to make a full-length animated film she questioned whether it was the right place for her.

"In order to make my way to the top at a company like Pixar, it would require a lot of clawing my way to the top and I really didn't want to lose my soul," she says.

If you main ambition is to be a production designer, to write software, render and other things that are required to make a movie, then it is possible to fulfill that dream. But if your dream is to be so far up in the hierarchy that you are actually able to make your own movies, and you have to start on the floor like so many others, you would perhaps need to wait for decades to reach that point, if you ever does. A few are more luckier than others, but those are the exceptions from the rule. With just a single movie a year (and sometimes two, and sometimes none), there isn't room for many people on the top.
John Lasseter was in a dream position; he had the power to decide which ideas should be greenlighted, who should write them, deciding what worked and not, and add his own ideas. He was involved with at least two movies a year, and more if you include Disneytoon studios.

Others only experience frustration; they never get greenlighted, or the project they have been working on for so long get cancelled. So when another studio, or Netflix, approach you and gives you more or less free hands to make your own animated dream project here and now, which is the reason why many are in the animation business in the first place, instead of waiting year after year, who wouldn't accept the offer? It remains to see how long all these new opportunities is going to last. But as long as they do, they will probably continue to steal people from studios like Disney who wants to make something they can call their own.

[Sotiris]

It's true. There are very few slots each year and those usually go to the tried-and-tested directors that studios know can deliver. Due to inflated budgets each movie needs to become a blockbuster, not just a modest hit, to be considered successful which makes it unlikely for a studio to take a chance on new talent. That's why it's so difficult to get to direct your own feature in a big studio. Even shorts are hard to come by because of the increased competition. Most studios operate in rigid hierarchies which makes it even more difficult to rise through the ranks. With new technologies, it has become much easier now to get to make your own short and with reasonable capital you can even establish a small studio (e.g. Tonko House, Taiko Studios, PopWilly Productions etc.) It's easier to promote your work too through online marketing and social media. If you're lucky and your short stands out at the festival circuit or you win an award, you may get noticed by Netflix and other similar platforms.

Making features for streaming services is a considerably lower risk than making one for a traditional studio. Not only the production and advertising budgets are significantly smaller, the movie's success is measured in a completely different way than that of a theatrical feature or TV film which in turn allows for more creative freedom. While you may not be interested in a movie enough to bother watching it in theaters or tuning in on TV, you are more willing to check it out on streaming service, especially if you're already a subscriber to said service and know you're going to pay the same amount each month regardless. That's why so much content with poor reviews or low production values on these platforms manages be considered successful and receives additional sequels or season orders.

There are perks working at big studios too but people who want to tell their own stories can easily become disillusioned with such a system and start searching for greener pastures.

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Yes, if you do get to the point when you are actually allowed to make a movie at one of the bigger studios, you will have a much bigger budget, and a team with lots of skills and experience.

In the old days, when Walt Disney was still alive, and the years after, most people wanting to work at the studio had probably no illusions about making their own feature at some point. They just wanted to be a part of it. But these days we see more and more with bigger hopes and ambitions. And they no longer have to go the conventional route to get there.

Another temporarily benefit the streaming services have is that they are still relatively new, and to make their own feature they are hiring people with both talent and a strong wish to get their chance to make their own movies. Even veterans like Glen Keane is work for hire, and will now direct a feature at Netflix. Had he stayed at Disney, who knows when he would have been given the same offer and freedom.

[blackcauldron85]

With new technologies, it has become much easier now to get to make your own short and with reasonable capital you can even establish a small studio (e.g. Tonko House, Taiko Studios, PopWilly Productions etc.)

I just saw this short by Taiko Studios (I didn 't realize it came out last year when watching); it's so good!
"One Small Step"
One Small Step - YouTube
https://m.youtube.com › watch