Hand-Drawn Animation Dead at Disney

[Sotiris]

I hope it's another hybrid style short!

It's not. It's just CG. But considering it's directed by Patrick Osborne who was instrumental in developing the Paperman technique, I think it's safe to assume that the short will feature something novel from a technological/visual standpoint.

[DisneyJedi]

I think people forget one thing...

Frozen might be Disney's most successful film since The Lion King, but lest we forget? People wouldn't have started seeing Disney movies in the theaters again if it weren't for The Princess and the Frog, just like with The Little Mermaid back in 1989! And yet people seem to ignore that aspect and it really is aggravating!

[Musical Master]

I think people forget one thing...

Frozen might be Disney's most successful film since The Lion King, but lest we forget? People wouldn't have started seeing Disney movies in the theaters again if it weren't for The Princess and the Frog, just like with The Little Mermaid back in 1989! And yet people seem to ignore that aspect and it really is aggravating!

Hey there Jedi! Haven't seen you in a while.

[DisneyJedi]

Hi. I just haven't been active here much because I didn't get email notifications lately.

[TsWade2]

nevermind.

[JTurner]

You know what? I'm sorry, but I'm beginning to feel that Bob Iger and the executives are nothing but a bunch of anti-hand drawn animation snobs.

Yes, feel free to correct me, if i'm wrong.

Note: Is snobs acceptable?

You know what? I think you should take a break from this website and get off the forums. You are obsessing too much on this issue. If Disney decides to do a 2D animated film again, they will. When is always the question, but DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WORRYING ABOUT IT. It'll do nothing but make you unstable. Let it go for now.

There are many other opportunties for 2D animation, and it's not just Disney. The Studio Ghibli films for instance.

[JTurner]

Former Disney animator Scott T. Petersen talks about 2D animation; why it fell from grace in the U.S and how it can be brought back.

This is a FAR better answer for the future of 2D. When it happens it will happen.

Sorry but with Frozen being so successful, they are going to Frozen/ Tangled formula it.

There's always the optimist in me that says that the more momentum Disney gets, the more courage they'll get to try another 2D someday.

[JTurner]

I don't think it will really be dead forever at Disney. It's their legacy, and their DACs are still beloved by, well, the world. As long as kids are still raised on DACs like they are now, I think Disney'll probably try to release a hand-drawn film every so often to test the waters. I think if Disney can keep up the current momentum, they might try another one. Think of all the animation styles Disney played with following the success of the Renaissance (Atlantis, The Emperor's New Groove, deep canvas in Treasure Planet, heavier CG integration). Disney gets more creative when they have more profit-based confidence.

Yes, I agree.

[TsWade2]

You know what? I'm sorry, but I'm beginning to feel that Bob Iger and the executives are nothing but a bunch of anti-hand drawn animation snobs.

Yes, feel free to correct me, if i'm wrong.

Note: Is snobs acceptable?

You know what? I think you should take a break from this website and get off the forums. You are obsessing too much on this issue. If Disney decides to do a 2D animated film again, they will. When is always the question, but DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WORRYING ABOUT IT. It'll do nothing but make you unstable. Let it go for now.

There are many other opportunties for 2D animation, and it's not just Disney. The Studio Ghibli films for instance.

Sorry. I'm working on it.

[Fflewduur]

I wasn't talking about international grosses & budget, just the domestic gross of each film. But your view points are really good. I'd like to hear your take on WDFA first 3 CGI films, Chicken Little, Meet The Robinsons & Bolt. Those films also suffered from low boxoffice intake "domestic & worldwide" and criticism. But unlike TENG, Atlantis, Stitch & TP, they were not released 6 months apart from each other. Those films were a year & 1/2 apart.
Still 2000's Dinosaur was the highest grossing WDFA of the decade, with $349mil. Still surprised this film is officially apart of the Disney Animation Canon.

The reception for any given Disney film is informed by its immediate predecessors. If quality is trending up, we’re more conditioned to accept that the latest release is a good one. The trio of CG films that marked WDFA’s departure from 2D animation were preceded in (and accompanied to) theaters by…well, look at the release list from 2001 to 2006: unnecessary sequels to classics (Return to NeverLand, The Jungle Book 2); three Pooh-related properties; other DisneyToon projects that did little or nothing to further the art, storytelling, or the company’s prestige (Recess and Teacher’s Pet). The actual WDFA efforts in that period were generally lacking, compared with the films of a 10-15 years earlier. Fold in CG films like Valiant and The Wild, which caused some consumer confusion because they weren’t Disney products but were distributed under the Disney banner. Arguably the best Disney-affiliated films that saw theatrical release during that time *didn’t* come from the studio—the Ghibli films, which weren’t going to be mistaken for anything Disney produced, and the Pixar films, which were pioneering CG territory and creating fresh and engaging films.

Plainly and simply, Disney suffered self-inflicted brand damage, producing too many feature films in too short a time that didn’t live up to the quality established ten to fifteen years earlier, releasing to theaters too many films that would have better served as direct-to-home-video projects, and providing distributorship for films that weren’t Disney products but could easily be confused for them…not to mention nearly sabotaging their own relationship with Pixar, which was the one really good thing they had going for them during that period.

[bkelly25]

I hope Princess and the Frog grows in popularity over time. The film truly deserves it. I like Tiana, the villain is great and I like the songs. Plus, I love the colors use in the film. Lots of greens, purples and yellows. And I agree that without Princess and the Frog, Tangled and Frozen would not have existed. I consider The Princess and the Frog to be like Sleeping Beauty and Tangled like 101 Dalmatians. What do I mean? Sleeping Beauty was the last hand-inked, hand-painted animated movie. 101 Dalmatians brought in a new animation process with the xerox process. With Princess and the Frog, it looks like it is the last fairy tale hand-drawn animated movie. Tangled brought fairy tales to computer animation.

[JTurner]

With Princess and the Frog, it looks like it is the last fairy tale hand-drawn animated movie.

Unless some other studio gets the inspiration to do so. Nothing is done for. Hand drawn animation WILL make a comeback in America someday. I don't know when or how, but it'll make a comeback.

[Fflewduur]

With Princess and the Frog, it looks like it is the last fairy tale hand-drawn animated movie.

Unless some other studio gets the inspiration to do so. Nothing is done for. Hand drawn animation WILL make a comeback in America someday. I don't know when or how, but it'll make a comeback.

I'm bolding out hope that, failing anything else, someone at Disney will generate the enthusiasm for a next installment of Fantasia.

[TsWade2]

With Princess and the Frog, it looks like it is the last fairy tale hand-drawn animated movie.

Unless some other studio gets the inspiration to do so. Nothing is done for. Hand drawn animation WILL make a comeback in America someday. I don't know when or how, but it'll make a comeback.

Let's hope so, someday. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok7ikZaoko4

[JTurner]

Unless some other studio gets the inspiration to do so. Nothing is done for. Hand drawn animation WILL make a comeback in America someday. I don't know when or how, but it'll make a comeback.

I'm bolding out hope that, failing anything else, someone at Disney will generate the enthusiasm for a next installment of Fantasia.

I doubt it, and frankly I don't think we need another FANTASIA. The original was and always will be a masterpiece. FANTASIA 2000 was pretty good and had some truly great moments... but it's not as classic as the original.

[Fflewduur]

I doubt it, and frankly I don't think we need another FANTASIA. The original was and always will be a masterpiece. FANTASIA 2000 was pretty good and had some truly great moments... but it's not as classic as the original.

Fantasia 2000 wasn't perfect, and it could never be as "classic" as the original, but it was a follow-through on Walt's original intent for Fantasia, and it gave the artists the opportunity to work outside the box of nearly every other 2D feature of the past 20 years (which all have more in common with each other than with the Fantasia films).

[unprincess]

I would also love another Fantasia. It would be a great way to utilize another 2d or hybrid project while still allowing some CGI material as well.

[TsWade2]

I would also love another Fantasia. It would be a great way to utilize another 2d or hybrid project while still allowing some CGI material as well.

Me too. Roy P. Disney was thinking for another Fantasia movie. I'm not saying it might happen, but I would love to see it. And since Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck had their segments, they should give Goofy his own segment.

[Fflewduur]

I don’t think it’s likely, but it’s not impossible. Fantasia is the Walt-era studio’s animation masterpiece. It’s the film that made me fall in love with animation; I daresay that's true for a significant number of the animation artists who’ve worked for the studio, and I think there will always be enthusiasm among the artists for revisiting Fantasia. I never would have believed they’d put together F2000, anyway…I think there’s always the possibility the stars could align in such a manner that the powers-that-be decide the time is right to take another crack at it.

[Sotiris]

Legendary Disney animator Ruben Aquino, who was let go during last April's layoffs, talks about the future of 2D animation.

Q: Last year, you were among a group of animators that were let go at Disney and that effectively shuttered 2D animation at the studio. Now, given the shift towards CG animation was that something you saw coming?

Ruben Aquino: Yeah. At the studio I could kind of see the handwriting on the wall. For the last couple of years I was there the 2D folks weren't doing a whole lot. We were doing some experimental animation. I think had The Princess and the Frog and Winnie the Pooh done better we would be talking a different story today. I was doing some experimental animation for some of the CG shows to test out character designs before they went to the computer modeling stage. That would save them a lot of trial and error on the computer by hand-animating the character designs to see the direction they were going and afford them the opportunity to finesse the designs before they went to computer modeling. We were also helping pitch some 2D short ideas, that sort of thing, but I kind of saw the handwriting on the wall. I wouldn't say 2D is dead necessarily in the industry. In Japan, of course, and in Europe 2D is very much alive and well. So, that's good. In the U.S. all it takes is one 2D film to do well and I'm sure other studios will follow through. I think. Fingers crossed.

Q: But 2D is unlikely to come anymore from a major studio like Disney or DreamWorks. It's going to have to come from an independent studio that breaks through.

Ruben Aquino: Yeah, I believe you're right. It will have to come from a studio that's hungry and willing to risk. And passionate or has people who are passionate to try something risky in the marketplace. I think most larger studios are not fond of taking unnecessary risks. They're more into doing the tried-and-true which you can't blame them for. I'm not saying that's necessarily true for everything they do but I think there's a tendency for the larger studios to be a little more conservative in the direction that they go. They have built an audience that has certain expectations of the product they're producing and they have stockholders who expect their return on their investments. So, can't blame them. That's kind of how it goes. Whereas smaller, newer, independent studios will be more adventurous in taking risks, taking more of a gamble.

Source: http://www.themousecastle.com/2014/03/r ... rview.html