Hand-Drawn Animation Dead at Disney

[Kyle]

Look, I hope its successful as do probably most of us in here, but to act like this could single handedly revive the medium is putting way too much on it. The execs need more than one or two hand drawn movies doing well to bring it back, it has to be an ongoing trend.

[D23ExpoVisitor25]

Look, I hope its successful as do probably most of us in here, but to act like this could single handedly revive the medium is putting way too much on it. The execs need more than one or two hand drawn movies doing well to bring it back, it has to be an ongoing trend.

Well, they have The Boy and the Heron and soon this and that anime Lord of the Rings movie.

We just need to get Fixed a new theatrical distributor.

Besides, it’s at least a start.

[The Disneynerd]

First lets make sure the storytelling is top notch so its gonna be a guranteed hit, either at the box Office or as a sleeper hit through streaming

[D23ExpoVisitor25]

First lets make sure the storytelling is top notch so its gonna be a guranteed hit, either at the box Office or as a sleeper hit through streaming

If they delay Tiana to 2029 to give it enough time to go from Paperman-style animated series to fully 2D/hand-drawn movie sequel to The Princess and the Frog, they’ll make it a top-notch quality story.

[reee9948]

There is a sneak peek on the animation of the Light of the World movie coming out summer 2025. https://www.instagram.com/p/DBZJ-JUR2v9/

Even more preview this video is around 5 minutes long. https://www.instagram.com/p/DBeusdyvTQ0/

[JTurner]

The execs need more than one or two hand drawn movies doing well to bring it back, it has to be an ongoing trend.

Exactly, it's not just gonna be a one-shot deal. It's gotta be constant. The Boy and the Heron was very much successful for a Ghibli release. But not just The Day The Earth Blew Up, but War of the Rohirrim and Light of the World are all stepping up to the batting plate. Again, whether they will be successful is anyone's guess. Personally, I hope all three are.

There is some controversy surrounding War of Rohirrim, most of it coming from a lot of Tolkien purists who are turned off by the Anime style. However, I always thought the trailer looked really terrific, and I look forward to it. Plus, the arguments that people use to justify writing off this film which include "girlboss" are in my opinion very, very suspect. From what the interviews have implied, this is a labor of love, not a cynical spin-off. Plus the people behind the project are not amateurs. They're veterans.

As long as The Day The Earth Blew Up gets great marketing and word of mouth — and is a wide release, it should do fine.

I think The Light of the World stands the best chance of the three, mainly because it's based on a timeless, well-known Bible story. The film has shades of The Prince of Egypt, which was surprisingly good, and has actually aged well over the years. That they are hyping the film long before the summer release date makes it hopeful.

Then of course, there's Aang: The Last Airbender; Avatar is immensely popular, and the fact that a concert performance I went to was all but sold out to enthusiastic fans told me all I need to know about that upcoming film's chances at being a hit. Again, it depends on how good it is, but the fact that it's going to be 2D animated with CG elements also means it deserves to be on our radars, too.

Either way, looks like we're in for a renaissance of 2D theatrical animation... if all goes well.

[D23ExpoVisitor25]

The execs need more than one or two hand drawn movies doing well to bring it back, it has to be an ongoing trend.

Exactly, it's not just gonna be a one-shot deal. It's gotta be constant. The Boy and the Heron was very much successful for a Ghibli release. But not just The Day The Earth Blew Up, but War of the Rohirrim and Light of the World are all stepping up to the batting plate. Again, whether they will be successful is anyone's guess. Personally, I hope all three are.

There is some controversy surrounding War of Rohirrim, most of it coming from a lot of Tolkien purists who are turned off by the Anime style. However, I always thought the trailer looked really terrific, and I look forward to it. Plus, the arguments that people use to justify writing off this film which include "girlboss" are in my opinion very, very suspect. From what the interviews have implied, this is a labor of love, not a cynical spin-off. Plus the people behind the project are not amateurs. They're veterans.

As long as The Day The Earth Blew Up gets great marketing and word of mouth — and is a wide release, it should do fine.

I think The Light of the World stands the best chance of the three, mainly because it's based on a timeless, well-known Bible story. The film has shades of The Prince of Egypt, which was surprisingly good, and has actually aged well over the years. That they are hyping the film long before the summer release date makes it hopeful.

Then of course, there's Aang: The Last Airbender; Avatar is immensely popular, and the fact that a concert performance I went to was all but sold out to enthusiastic fans told me all I need to know about that upcoming film's chances at being a hit. Again, it depends on how good it is, but the fact that it's going to be 2D animated with CG elements also means it deserves to be on our radars, too.

Either way, looks like we're in for a renaissance of 2D theatrical animation... if all goes well.

Only if we make sure it goes well and not do nothing.

[reee9948]

Trailer for Light of the World will release online in November 12th and in the theaters tomorrow November 8th. https://www.instagram.com/stories/pumbaaguy/

[D23ExpoVisitor25]

Trailer for Light of the World will release online in November 12th and in the theaters tomorrow November 8th. https://www.instagram.com/stories/pumbaaguy/

And it’s hitting theaters September 5th, 2025.

Looks like this movie thankfully replaced Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie as my most anticipated movie for the month of September 2025.

[reee9948]

Still-12-1024x551.jpg (60.25 KiB) Viewed 4139 times

A preview shot of the movie.

Also, here you can see some of the animation, it's looking pretty good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vime_hl3KLE&t=1s

[Farerb]

It looks nice but might be too Christian for me to enjoy. No offense to anyone.

[robster16]

Executive Producer: "I heard God's voice...."

Sorry, I'm out. to each their own though

[Kyle]

The main question is going to be, will the final product feel too preachy? If you go by the marketing, it certainly looks that way. But we all know marketing can be deceiving. I'll hold off judgment on that for now.

[Disney Duster]

The animation looks like a hybrid between Flash and hand-drawn, and a little too leaning into the look of Flash.

[reee9948]

Trailer for Light of the World is out. https://www.instagram.com/p/DCR1msEvVit/

[Kyle]

yea... I guess its not as much like Prince of Egypt as I had hoped. It feels like it wont have much appeal beyond Christians. it also seems to have a more vector based approach than I had wanted.certainly a step up from most christian productions though.

And why does the score at the end sound like star wars? lol

[Disney Duster]

Oh, so it's not Flash animation, but vector animation. I know they hope the film will speak to all people to convince them to become Christian...maybe some people would be curious to see it even if they weren't Christian yet...but I probably would not see this because...it just doesn't really look good.

[Kyle]

Flash is vector. Flash is just the name of a program (which doesn't even exist anymore, its now called adobe animate), vector is a technical description of what the lines are. in digital art, all pigment is either pixel or vector based. pixel tends to look more authentically traditional, vector is more versatile in that you can change things like line weight after laying down the stroke. but it also tends to look too sterile.

[Disney Duster]

Oh, thank you for the little animation lesson! I do like art info!

[JTurner]

Trailer for Light of the World is out. https://www.instagram.com/p/DCR1msEvVit/

The reactions to it on YouTube are quite positive, which is reassuring. The concept of a Jesus animated feature is something that has yet to be done. I do have Prince of Egypt vibes from this, although of course not as vibrant. Still, it does have the right mood. And its heart seems to be in the right place. That it's only $20 million makes it a far less dangerous gamble.

War of Rohirrim is anticipated, but it faces a much more tougher uphill battle. I do hope the word of mouth on it is good to give it some boost. It'll depend on how great the film is.