Hand-Drawn Animation Dead at Disney

[DisneyJedi]

You and me both, Wade.

[disneyprincess11]

Bittersweet news:

That new Charlie Brown movie is in 3D, but it has painterly/2D feel like how Rapunzel/Tangled was supposed to have



http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=116130

[DisneyJedi]

You suppose it might use the Paperman technique?

[unprincess]

hmm actually I think this is closer to what the folks at Disney working with the hybrid technique want to acheive. It looks nothing like Paperman which was much flater & graphic, maybe still too much closer to 2d than cgi for the Disney execs. This however looks like its right on the edge of 2d moving into cgi. Its not the hyper-realism of cgi but not the flatness drawn by hand look of 2d either. Its interesting that this company & not Disney has acheived that look for a film first. If this is successful Im curious how it will influence Disney & even Pixar in regards to moving forward with their own hybrid techniques.

[disneyprincess11]

I don't think Peanuts is 2D/CGI. They would say so.

And sorry, TsWade2 and Jedi, but:

Stitch Kingdom ‏@stitchkingdom 55s

No plans for 2D/hand-drawn films. 2D still alive in shorts, television.

[estefan]

Blue Sky only does computer animation, so no, Peanuts is not a hybrid.

However, Bob Iger's above comment does suggest a Paperman-style movie could be seen in the future.

[Kyle]

Peanuts is full on CG, but it does look like they are doing some perspective specific distortions of some sort. They have legs that are further away from the camera bigger than the one closer, to make them appear to be the same size, which is how they were drawn. But yeah, I see nothing painterly about those stills.

[unprincess]

well Snoopy & Charlie still have black dots-like things for eyes & they have squiggly line for mouths. Snoopy's ears are still these black shapes similar to what Shultz drew in the comic. I mean they kept the line oriented style of the 2d comic, they didnt do what they did to the Chipmunks where they have realistic fur & realistic glossy eyes. To me that makes it hybrid-like. I like that they are trying to go for something that looks more organic & not use the same photorealism thats always used for CGi films.

And I think thats what Disney/Pixar guys working on the hybrid techniques mean when they say they are trying to get something that doesnt look CGI, but doesnt look like"Snow White" either.


of course I dont know if it will look different once its moving...

[TsWade2]

I don't think Peanuts is 2D/CGI. They would say so.

And sorry, TsWade2 and Jedi, but:

Stitch Kingdom ‏@stitchkingdom 55s

No plans for 2D/hand-drawn films. 2D still alive in shorts, television.

Nevermind. I'm upset.

[Sotiris]

However, Bob Iger's above comment does suggest a Paperman-style movie could be seen in the future.

How does it even remotely suggest that? I think wishful thinking is getting in the way of your comprehension skills.

Here's what Iger said in full about 2D animation. I transcribed it for you.

Q: I feel [2D animation] is getting lost. To me, that is the Disney brand. It is unique. No one else can do that. […] Is there going to be the tradition of the 2D movies, the animation, even if it’s shorts? I know 2D is expensive but to me and to a lot of people that is the Disney unique brand.

Robert Iger: First of all, on the movie side, we just try to make great movies; tell great stories [with] memorable characters, [set in] worlds that are created that people believe could actually exist or people want to visit. I can’t think of a better example than Frozen. I think when people watch Frozen, they don’t think 2D or 3D, they just really engage with the storytelling and the characters. I think it proves the point that it doesn’t matter what the genre is or the type of technology that we use to create or tell the story; it’s about how good the story is, really.

There are currently no plans in place to make another 2D film. The last one we did was The Princess and the Frog. There are plenty of activities in the company for other forms of hand-drawn animation. We recently released a number of Mickey shorts, for instance, that are basically derived from hand-drawn animation style. We’ll continue to look at opportunities like that but it’s unlikely, at least in the near-term particularly since we don’t have anything in development, that you’ll see a hand-drawn or 2D animated feature-film from Disney.

Source: http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/investors/events#2876

[TsWade2]

Ugh! I knew he's going to say that, that freakin' jerk! I bet this is another one of their tip toeing away comments for not doing another hand drawn animation! Bob Iger is a coward, John Lasseter is coward, every Disney people is a coward. If I was in that meeting, I would confront him and tell him he's total jerk for not letting DIsney to do another hand drawn animated movie.

[DisneyJedi]

And what're they going to do with the 2D animators that are left there? Waste their talents and potential for CG films? Some "promising" opportunity.

[Sotiris]

And what're they going to do with the 2D animators that are left there? Waste their talents and potential for CG films?

Yeah, pretty much. After last April layoffs very few 2D animators are left anyway. As far as I know, there are only 5 animators left at the studio who still animate in 2D. These are:

• Mark Henn
• Eric Goldberg
• Randy Haycock
• Dale Baer
• Rachel Bibb

There are more 2D animators there but they moved on to CG animation. That includes both veterans like Alex Kupershmidt, Kathy Zielinski, Anthony de Rosa, Bert Klein, Mark Mitchell, and Doug Bennett as well as younger ones like Andrew Chesworth, Tyler Kupferer, Jennifer Hager, Mario Furmanczyk, Hyun Min Lee etc.

[estefan]

I'm more amused that even Bob Iger (the freaking President of the entire company) forgets Winnie the Pooh.

Of course, it's worth pointing that Paperman is not a hand-drawn film and his comments don't deny that a film in that style is in production. I actually wouldn't be surprised if they looked at the box-office gold the hand-drawn looking CG film "Peanuts" will likely generate and say "Hey, let's do something similar to that."

[DisneyJedi]

But it's not fair! I want a new 2D animated film from Disney soon!!

You know what? I hope Iger's past comes back to bite him. Hard!

[Warm Regards]

I'm more amused that even Bob Iger (the freaking President of the entire company) forgets Winnie the Pooh.

Iger doesn't give a Guinea about Winnie.

But no, it most likely deals with money.

I had this debate with someone else, that while WtP made a bit more than its production budget, it lost money because of marketing. Ditto for Princess and the Frog, although to a lesser extent. I don't know if this is true, but Disney takes in half the domestic gross and less than half of the foreign gross, plus has to spend anywhere from $50 mil to $100 mil for marketing. (Although this was based on Rise of the Guardians reported revenue loss...)

So if they're right with their high marketing estimates, TPatF, WtP, and arguably Tangled did not make a profit at the box office. But of course this is ignored for the latter because of the mass popularity of it. Or so I believe.

[DisneyJedi]

Bob Iger is a coward, John Lasseter is coward, every Disney people is a coward. I just can't wait to see Bob Iger get the boot for the next two years. If I was in that meeting, I would confront him and tell him he's total jerk for not letting DIsney to do another hand drawn animated movie.

Excuse me, Wade. But I think the right term you're thinking of is "cheapskates."

[unprincess]

I think when people watch Frozen, they don’t think 2D or 3D, they just really engage with the storytelling and the characters. I think it proves the point that it doesn’t matter what the genre is or the type of technology that we use to create or tell the story; it’s about how good the story is, really.

if the medium doesnt matter then why not do a 2d film anyway?

oh of course, it matters if all you care about is money...


Youre not foolin' anyone there, sir.

[DisneyJedi]

I think when people watch Frozen, they don’t think 2D or 3D, they just really engage with the storytelling and the characters. I think it proves the point that it doesn’t matter what the genre is or the type of technology that we use to create or tell the story; it’s about how good the story is, really.

if the medium doesnt matter then why not do a 2d film anyway?

oh of course, it matters if all you care about is money...


Youre not foolin' anyone there, sir.

Hence me correcting Wade when he called them cowards when he should be calling them cheapskates.

[unprincess]

They're both.

I miss the days before the Industrial Revolution when companies made things for the sake of the craft, not for money....