Moana

[Disney's Divinity]

Also, I do think TPATF got what it deserved (reasonable profits), by virtue of it being a film that was pretty good but certainly not great.

I didn't think Tangled was a "great" film either along lines of Bambi, Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Pinocchio, etc. I think they are on equal level, though I personally like TP&TF more. Success is rarely an indicator of quality. I have to believe that's the case in a world where Transformers and Alvin the Chipmunks sequels do gangbusters.

[DisneyJedi]

On a serious note, I really hope that not all hope has faded in terms of the future of 2D animation at Disney. That's what we need most; hope.

[Sotiris]

On a serious note, I really hope that not all hope has faded in terms of the future of 2D animation at Disney.

I don't want to sound pessimistic but that's where all the facts are leading. With Ron & John's movie been CG-fied, with the 'Mickey Mouse' feature not getting off the ground and with no hand-drawn feature films or shorts in development, the future of hand-drawn animation at Disney looks bleak.

[DisneyJedi]

On a serious note, I really hope that not all hope has faded in terms of the future of 2D animation at Disney.

I don't want to sound pessimistic but that's where all the facts are leading. With Ron & John's movie been CG-fied, with the 'Mickey Mouse' feature not getting off the ground and with no hand-drawn feature films or shorts in development, the future of hand-drawn animation at Disney looks bleak.

But they said it would be hand-drawn. How the frig did it go from being hand-drawn to being CG? If you ask me, some meddling got involved. You see, that's what almost made Woody in Toy Story an unlikable jerk; executive meddling.

Nevertheless, if they didn't give up on hand-drawn animation before, then there's no way in Hell they should do that now!

[Sotiris]

Disney Television Animation is the only division of Disney left which is still producing 2D animation (albeit Flash animation).

[DisneyJedi]

Well, how can we convince Disney to continue doing hand-drawn features?! I'm not sure how a Facebook protest page is going to help! Someone tried it to keep Tangled titled as Rapunzel, and that didn't really help.

[TsWade2]

NO MICKEY MOUSE FEATURE? NO MORE HAND DRAWN? WTF! This almost makes me want to send a threat letter to Disney! Not really. I wish. But not really.

[Disney's Divinity]

If you ask me, some meddling got involved.

Of course it did. That's why Snow Queen, pitched as a 2D film, "mysteriously" got "re-tooled" as a 3D film. No doubt M&C were told that Disney will not get behind a 2D film, no matter what they come up with.

[DisneyJedi]

But they can't give up on 2D altogether. They practically CREATED the medium! It's like a bird giving up on flying!

[Sotiris]

There is also Marvel Animation doing 2D, if you count that.

[qindarka]

Perhaps we are reading too much into a few words. The commenter on the TAG blog didn't explicitly say that the film would be CG. I know the words 'hand drawn elements' does imply that but it could be nothing more than a phrasing error and he may actually have meant that it would be hand drawn.
So until we get more information, I do think the slagging off of Disney is rather unwarranted.

And there are some quotes from the comments to indicate that this film could be rather good:

Floyd Norman : By the way, the stuff I've already seen on Ron and John's new film look very impressive. Bravo!

Steve Hulett: I've seen tests of what it might look like. Nice stuff.

[DisneyJedi]

There is also Marvel Animation doing 2D, if you count that.

Well, anyhoo, there's gotta be a way that we can convince Disney that they might be making the biggest mistake in the history of their company! Something that will reach them immediately!

[DisneyJedi]

Perhaps we are reading too much into a few words. The commenter on the TAG blog didn't explicitly say that the film would be CG. I know the words 'hand drawn elements' does imply that but it could be nothing more than a phrasing error and he may actually have meant that it would be hand drawn.
So until we get more information, I do think the slagging off of Disney is rather unwarranted.

I hope you're right. I really REALLY hope you're right...

[TsWade2]

Or maybe we should not listen to TAG and just wait and pray to God to help us to be strong. Maybe the Mickey Mouse Animated Feature isn't greenlit yet, because they don't have a plot yet. Or they could just make a hand drawn animated tv series of Mickey Mouse! Think Disney Channel! Think!

[DisneyJedi]

Or maybe we should not listen to TAG and just wait and pray to God to help us to be strong. Maybe the Mickey Mouse Animated Feature isn't greenlit yet, because they don't have a plot yet. Or they could just make a hand drawn animated tv series of Mickey Mouse! Think Disney Channel! Think!

Of course. How do we KNOW that we can trust TAG? Until I hear OFFICIAL word about whether or not the Mickey movie's happening or whether the Musker/Clements movie's gonna be hand-drawn or CGI, I'm not taking TAG's words for granted. You hear me?!

[Sotiris]

Q: Steve, when you say "hand-drawn elements", does that mean that the characters will be hand-drawn or just some of the environment?

Steve Hulett: Assuming we're talking about the next Ron and John feature, my understanding is that some characters will be hand-drawn. I've seen some early test footage.

Source: http://animationguildblog.blogspot.com/ ... oners.html

[DisneyJedi]

So... it's gonna be partly hand-drawn and partly CG or something?

Really, I want them to keep hand-drawn alive. Of course, I don't want John and Ron to be the ONLY directors at Disney willing to do a hand-drawn movie. That, and I want to wait until I SEE something of their next film to make sure it isn't gonna be fully CG with little elements of hand-drawn.

[Sotiris]

So... it's gonna be partly hand-drawn and partly CG or something?

I just hope that the main characters will be hand-drawn and only the secondary will be CG (and not the other way around).

[DisneyJedi]

Well, I can hope at least that it's more hand-drawn than CGI.

Anyways, new plan. By the time the next Disney hand-drawn film comes out, we all tell Disney we want more of those through money, even if it means maxing out our wallets! After all, in a sense, money talks.

[Neal]

I'm so tired of reading conspiracy theories around here. Oy vey! Disney did not "plot" or "conspire" to kill off hand drawn/traditional animation. If it was more successful than CGI, or on par, they would keep it around. They are a cash hungry media conglomerate. Nobody at Disney would end 2D animation for the sake of ending it. Am I denying they made some poor marketing decisions when it came time to release "The Princess and the Frog" and "Winnie the Pooh" in theaters? No. They did release both against other much more likely to succeed films. But that is only a fraction of the story. Overseas box office numbers, home video and digital distribution sales, rental sales, merchandise sales - those are all calculated in, as well. Disney crunched the numbers on U.S. and foreign ticket sales, DVD/Blu-ray/digital purchases, toy and clothes tie-in sales and more - no doubt about it. They hire accountants and financial officers for this very job. Overall, TPatF and WtP must not have been as commercially successful as they hoped. Please stop with all the nonsense and drama that some suits at Disney curled their mustaches and laughed maniacally while deciding when to release these two films and are dancing on the grave of 2D animation. Again, if when calculating in all possible revenue with these films they felt they were successful enough, they'd keep making more 2D films. They probably are expecting too much out of the "dated" medium but nevertheless, nobody at Disney explicitly WANTS the format to go extinct. Really people, c'mon!

Now, in terms of this new film that will be in 2D style but not 2D - this is a fairly new way of animating films and is popular in Japanese animated features. Here are two examples. The animation itself is CGI but they cel-shaded on the veneer to give it a hand drawn look:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XPvwvsYpJV4" frameborder="0"></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7ilZlS6rbuQ" frameborder="0"></iframe>