farerb wrote:If this is the future of hand drawn animation? Small projects and TV series on Disney Plus, will you be satisfied or will you still be disappointed that that there are no longer theatrical releases?
I don't think any of us can answer that question because none of us really knows for sure. No one does. However, I do not think 2D animation will be gone from cinema forever. Slowly but surely it is making a comeback. Sure, Disney may not be investing in it at the moment, but there have been some noteworthy efforts which did make impressions:
Klaus and recently,
Wolfwakers. Both of these projects ultimately went to streaming, but they still had theatrical showings. Audience reaction was positive for both. I feel that there are two possibilities for 2D to be relevant again, but it will have to be gradual, not instant.
1) Find a more cost-effective way to do still quality 2D animation. I recently saw a Japanese animated short animated primarily using ToonBoom and paperless animation. It still looked great and had an effective look.
Klaus, too, showed that 2D animation can be achieved through a less expensive measure. The budget for that film was, from what I understand, $40 million.
2) Awareness for 2D has to grow. Streaming is IMO, a small stepping stone for it to return to relevance. The more we see quality efforts like this on streaming, the more we'll likely see some go to theaters. Also, some audiences seem to be getting tired of 3D animation; there was a
Tom and Jerry movie which used a 2D aesthetic, and while it is by no means a great movie, it still made its budget back, from what I understand. So it is still possible to do it. Again, it's a matter of being less costly and for having an effective story to go with it.
Things have gone out of style before, only to make an unexpected comeback. Case in point: vinyl. It went out of style for years, and now it's making a comeback. The same thing seems to be happening with 2D. That said, I think the journey to theatrical will take time, and Disney might not be one of the first ones to do it (Warner Bros., oddly enough, is, as evidenced with
Space Jam: A New Legacy). Once again, I don't know anymore than you, but I wouldn't say for sure that this is Disney's permament future. Things change, and perhaps one day 2D will be a thing again at Disney. Will it happen overnight? No. But I wouldn't give up on it forever.
How would you feel if the series turns out to not be hand drawn, but CGI or flat CGI or whatever, will you be disappointed? Will you still watch it?
I have grown frightfully tired of 3D animation lately. I'd rather see 2D animation. If
Tiana turns out to be CG I will not be interested in the least.
Does Disney have the means to make it hand drawn? I know they still had those desks when they made Mini Maui, and I think RBTI also had hand drawn characters (I don't remember), and Eric Goldberg and Mark Henn still work there, don't they? So in theory this can be accomplished, can't it?
Oh, I REALLY don't know the answer to these questions.
but given that she returned for Wifi Ralph, I think we're safe)
I just went onto her Twitter page. It's a RBtI Tiana moment all over again (Anika initially posted the logos of the 4 WDAS shows w/ a generic princess emoji, and she had lighter skin...)
