Clay

[Sotiris]

Has Disney learned nothing from the reception of Wish? Audiences rejected non-photorealistic rendering for Disney films.

In 2028, the studio plans to release another original. Mr. Bush wouldn’t divulge the title or plot, saying only: “It’s not a human world. It’s a very different style than we usually do.”

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/busi ... -bush.html

[DisneyFan09]

Well, perhaps audiences could`ve accepted a different style if it was done right. The style of Wish didn`t look right at all. The characters looked like paper cardboards against unfinished backgrounds.

But I`m curious what this movie is going to be about. Since it`s confirmed to not be a human story, is it going to be an animal movie?

[reee9948]

So is Disney going to be releasing two animated movies in 2028 or will Frozen 4 be released in 2029? Since Frozen 3 and 4 are part of the same story, I'd imagined Disney wouldn't want to leave their audiences hanging in the cliffs for 2 years.

[reee9948]

Has Disney learned nothing from the reception of Wish? Audiences rejected non-photorealistic rendering for Disney films.

In 2028, the studio plans to release another original. Mr. Bush wouldn’t divulge the title or plot, saying only: “It’s not a human world. It’s a very different style than we usually do.”

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/busi ... -bush.html

Wish was poorly recieved because the movie felt undercooked, both the animation and the story. From what I've seen in the internet, a lot of people wants Disney to start embracing a more cartoony art style rather than just copying Pixar photo realistic style.

[Kyle]

Has Disney learned nothing from the reception of Wish? Audiences rejected non-photorealistic rendering for Disney films.

No, they havent?
None of Disney's animated movies have been "photo realistic" in the first place. Unless you count the "live action" adaptations.

[The Disneynerd]

Has Disney learned nothing from the reception of Wish? Audiences rejected non-photorealistic rendering for Disney films.

Did the article really mention a non realistic render style similar to Fish? Im genuinely asking as i cant access half of the article as im not subscribed to NYT. If so, mehhh, but not surprising as other movies thrive with their Experimental artstyles these days

Non human world could still mean fairies, Mermaids or such type of non human fairytale which could be exciting, but i expect this to be another Anthropomorphic animal movie in the veins of Robin Hood and Zootopia, perhaps to draw parallels to 100 years of Mickey . No way WDAS would leave the rats 100th anniversary untouched. Perhaps another retool of the Search for Mickey Mouse? I think they basically tested the waters for a fully theatrical idea with the publics perception for the Once upon a Studio short which seemed positive enough.

So is Disney going to be releasing two animated movies in 2028 or will Frozen 4 be released in 2029? Since Frozen 3 and 4 are part of the same story, I'd imagined Disney wouldn't want to leave their audiences hanging in the cliffs for 2 years.

While it would make sense to contain the hype strictly, imo Still quite a smart decision to put the long awaited focus on 3 and gather most audiences to see it (like 3 is gonna be the only new Frozen sequel for a few years so masses will devour it stronger than just waiting a few months to skip to the finale ala Endgame). Also leaves room to build more anticipatation once 3 is gonna hit Disney+ to grow more audiences so 4s gonna explode at the box office (and most likely will even surpass 2 Billion$).
A 2 year distance would be the best of both worlds imo

[Disney's Divinity]

Has Disney learned nothing from the reception of Wish? Audiences rejected non-photorealistic rendering for Disney films.

No, they havent?
None of Disney's animated movies have been "photo realistic" in the first place. Unless you count the "live action" adaptations.

Moreover, Wish's design aesthetic was the one thing that was generally praised as far as the film review sites go. That's just a knowable fact, even if there was what seemed almost like a coordinated group of new member posters working overtime trying to blitz this site with commentary saying the opposite. Personally, I liked the style, although I hope they keep working on ways to improve it further as time goes by.

But I'm not sure if I believe that sentence necessarily means it's in that same vein stylistically anyway.

[PatchofBlue]

Yeah, what I remember is that the visuals were the only part of WISH that most people liked. It was the thin story and limp songs that turned people away from it. There's definitely a proper way to use that technology.

[reee9948]

Yeah, what I remember is that the visuals were the only part of WISH that most people liked. It was the thin story and limp songs that turned people away from it. There's definitely a proper way to use that technology.

The character model looked like they are from a high budget video game if I'm being honest, however I really liked the painted background in the movie. It reminds me so much of Sleeping Beauty which is one of my favorite Disney movies.

[Sotiris]

None of Disney's animated movies have been "photo realistic" in the first place. Unless you count the "live action" adaptations.

You misunderstood. I'm talking about the type of rendering here, not the level of stylization in character design. Disney movies before Wish may not have been photorealistic, but did use photorealistic rendering.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physicall ... _rendering
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-photo ... _rendering

Did the article really mention a non realistic render style similar to Fish? Im genuinely asking as i cant access half of the article as im not subscribed to NYT. If so, mehhh, but not surprising as other movies thrive with their Experimental artstyles these days

No, he just said "a very different style than we usually do" which I took it to mean non-photorealistic rendering since it's the newest trend in the industry.

Moreover, Wish's design aesthetic was the one thing that was generally praised as far as the film review sites go.

The majority of the comments I encountered online complained about Wish's style calling it "unfinished", "old-fashioned", "low-budget", and "video game-like".

[Disney's Divinity]

Both the critics and audience consensus on RottenTomatoes highlight that the majority thought the film was "beautifully animated." I remembered that from back when Wish was out, so checked again just now. Anyway, on to personal opinion, WALL E is more what I think of as video game-like. I watched the Criterion Collection recently and remember thinking it'll look a carbon copy of the film if it ever appears in Kingdom Hearts.

Interestingly, I didn't realize how wildly out of step the critics and audience scores were with Wish. Reminds me of how discordant they were with Aladdin, TLK, etc. I guess the difference is remakes have brand recognition to overcome the critics' attempts to knife a film, not so much with an original (particularly if audiences were already hesitant after Strange World).

[Sotiris]

This is a new original movie by WDAS coming in November 2028. I think it looks absolutely horrible. It doesn't read Disney at all. This looks like a Cartoon Network movie.

https://x.com/DisneyAnimation/status/20 ... 7673280944
https://x.com/DisneyAnimation/status/20 ... 8792224185
https://x.com/DrewDisneyDude/status/2088483942114746467
https://x.com/laughingplace/status/2088484170951758104

[PatchofBlue]

I expect that will probably be the new norm for animation styles, at least for their non-franchise pics, until WDAS films become consistent box office draws. In the same way most of Pixar's films are going to look like Hoppers for a little bit. I imagine it's just cheaper to take on more cartoonish designs.

As is the norm, I'll keep an open mind, but I can't get a read on this thing right now for better or worse.

[Clindor]

I agree that we reach a point where an original movie from the Walt Disney Animation Studios is now undistinguishable from an Illumation project. It's sad.

[MoonMarc21]

So this is the movie Jared Bush mentioned about with it not being set on Earth back in that interview near Zootopia 2’s release.

I’m honestly enthusiastic for this movie, the premise and first look pique my interest, giving off very PS1/Dreamcast/Gamecube era of games. Really reminds me of a 2d platforming video game like Rayman, with them jumping on what seems to be daffodils that look like truffula trees. The main character even looks like him as well.

I can only hope that the “fantastical forest” mentioned in that brief blurb of the plot lives up to it’s adjective, since I now have a gripe of so-called magical/enchanted forests that just act like your normal forests but with “magical things” happening à la Frozen 2 ehm ehm My standard for those types of settings is thanks to Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, where the forest really changes and gets creative in how it presents itself to the characters in the story. Now THAT is an enchanted forest.

I know that the artists there at Disney Animation really do get creative and have such wonderful ideas they’d like to see come to reality. We’ve seen how much creativity they do have in the Wish Artbook. It’s just that for some reason, they go for something more tamer instead for the final product, which is most likely imposed to them by the higher ups in the studio/company. I like the vibe presented through the one concept art shared to us, so hopefully it can retain that up to the film’s release. And I trust that Jared Bush can help the filmmakers there not shy away from bringing that creative spark back to their films given that he has a record of making good movies that are "generally" well received by Disney fans (Zootopia, Moana, Encanto).

But hey, it’s Modern Disney. Best thing to do is just hope ig

[Sotiris]

I agree that we reach a point where an original movie from the Walt Disney Animation Studios is now undistinguishable from an Illumination project. It's sad.

They're losing their signature style. First, with Strange World, then with Hexed, and now with Clay. How is it a positive thing for a Disney movie to be visually indistinguishable from a DreamWorks or an Illumination one? How does that add value to the Disney brand? Adopting a generic, cartoony style that has been associated with TV animation for decades is not something creative or original.

[DisneyFan09]

This is a new original movie by WDAS coming in November 2028. I think it looks absolutely horrible. It doesn't read Disney at all. This looks like a Cartoon Network movie.

Agreed. It looks even Pixar-esque. I don't mind the premise and settings of the story, but the designs of the characters looks bad.

They're losing their signature style. First, with Strange World, then with Hexed, and now with Clay. How is it a positive thing for a Disney movie to be visually indistinguishable from a DreamWorks or an Illumination one? How does that add value to the Disney brand? Adopting a generic, cartoony style that has been associated with TV animation for decades is not something creative or original.

Agreed. At least movies like Raya and the Last Dragon and Wish had the classical Disney-esque designs, but not the other movies. Despite how Hexed could've definitively benefited from the Disney-esque designs, since it's somewhat steeped to Disney's traditional elements.

[Refael]

I agree that we reach a point where an original movie from the Walt Disney Animation Studios is now undistinguishable from an Illumination project. It's sad.

They're losing their signature style. First, with Strange World, then with Hexed, and now with Clay. How is it a positive thing for a Disney movie to be visually indistinguishable from a DreamWorks or an Illumination one? How does that add value to the Disney brand? Adopting a generic, cartoony style that has been associated with TV animation for decades is not something creative or original.

This is exactly how I’ve felt and what I’ve been claiming for years. When Disney abandoned traditional animation in 2004 (and completely by 2011), the designs and style leading the studio started looking generic and lacking uniqueness in a market full of animated films that look almost identical. In traditional animation, character design pulses and feels different because it is human and personal, created by the hands of an artist—drawn from their very soul. I truly believe in this. In Disney's old era, they didn't have many competitors that looked like them

[Dis2d]

it also looks like an uglier version of the lead from the video game Jak and Daxter.

I agree with everything everyone is saying about the visuals and how Disney is losing itself.

will add that Disney started to lose itself in another way, the Pixarfication of Disney
-twist villains
-no villains
-0 romance in every movie. Crazy to think Tangled was the last Disney romance movie and Frozen 1 was last movie with some romance (was more focus on sisterly love, LOL)
-basing a WHOLE movie base on a premise seems to be recurring theme of Disney these days......Bush was like
"What if the mentor is a garbage mentor?" (paraphrasing)

and they highlighted Dumbo and T.Mouse and Merin-Wart.

since when were Disney movies based on premises of WHAT IF???
What if the bad guy wants to be good? What if the dog actor thinks he's a real spy? Etc.

NONE of these are Disney these are ALL Pixar Mentality, Pixar Logic shoved into WDAS.

I think Disney started to lose itself more and more once they moved on from adapting books, fairy tales, classical stories, myth, legends as basis for their movies. They went from timeless stories to generic all made up based on a single premise.

Also in 2D, Disney had to make sure the story was very good and the characters too because you can't really go back and start from scratch due to expense. Now we see all the time, how they change things on a fly aka more weak stories allround for their films due to how unstable it all is. In past 10 years, clear that sooooo many of their films needed better scripts and less flip flopping.

[Disney's Divinity]

Oh, for heaven's sake. Between this and Strange World, the studio comes across like it's being deliberately sabotaged from within. This looks like straight garbage, no way this would have been greenlit. Honestly, this movie, just like I said about Elio back when, needs to be scrapped and whatever dipstick wanted them to put millions into making this nonsense should be sent packing.