Hand-Drawn Animation Dead at Disney

[DisneyFan09]

That's true. I recall that they wanted to kill off Chief in the The Fox and the Hound but they didn't due to pressure from the old guard of animators who claimed this wasn't what Walt would have wanted.

Fair enough, but remember Walt wasn't always against death (*cough, Bambi's mom, cough*).

[Sotiris]

I still stand by that the title did more harm than any other aspect.

Yeah, that certainly played a big role, as well did the marketing campaign which was too focused on highlighting the nostalgia and the princess aspect of the film. The horrible time-frame they chose to release the film didn't exactly help either.

I'm certain if it was called "Frogs", it would have been a bigger hit.

That's an awful title but maybe it would have worked. I would much prefer they called it "The Frog Prince" like the title of the original fairy tale.

[DisneyFan09]

Yeah, that certainly played a big role, as well did the marketing campaign which was too focused on highlighting the nostalgia and the princess aspect of the film. The horrible time-frame they chose to release the film didn't exactly help either.

I shall confess that I was naive enough to think the nostalgia/Princess aspect would sell the film instead of hampering it. Especially considering the huge success of the Princess franchise. But obviously it proved that I was exactly that; Naive. And it poor release date didn't help either.

That's an awful title but maybe it would have worked. I would much prefer they called it "The Frog Prince" like the title of the original fairy tale.

Yeah, but since Disney were eager to push Tiana into the spotlight, "The Frog Prince" title was excluded. Either way, "The Princess and the Frog" is a awkward and misleading title. Tiana isn't even a Princess when she meets Naveen as a frog (and no, I don't count her Princess gown). And when she actually becomes a Princess, they're both human again.

[Sotiris]

After the presentation Lon [Smart] opened up the floor to a quick Q&A and by far the most interesting bit to come out of that was about hand drawn animation and if he thought it would ever come back to which he responded “he sees it coming back when the time is right” he also talked about how John Lasseter is a huge fan of hand drawn animation.

Source: http://www.laughingplace.com/w/articles ... uty-event/






Q: Will Disney make more 2D films?

Disney employee: Err... John Lasseter loves 2D animation.

Q: But that doesn't really answer my question.

Disney employee: He LOVES it. He freakin' loves it, man!

Q: O...Kay?

[PatrickvD]

Q: When is hand drawn coming back?

A: When the time is right we will definitely do it, we all love it here!

Q: When is the right time?

A: Ah, our time is up, sorry folks, be sure to check out Inside Out in theaters this summer!

[disneyprincess11]

You know, if you think about it, it is probably not Lasseter's fault that 2D can't be at WDAS anymore. When PATF was come out, he was so excited about 2D and it showed in his interviews. Iger and some of the executives have the power over everything and they could had decided to ban 2D movies altogether.

It's just heartbreaking that they gave up 2D just after TWO movies, especially that the last one was destined to fail. I think WTP was set up to fail on purpose, just to have 2D animation to be the scapegoat. (Can't wait for Disney to gloat about the live action remake to make a point that 2D is dead) If Frozen Snow Queen was 2D, I promise you that Moana and Giants Jack and the Beanstalk would be 2D.

The titles make me angry also. They shouldn't hide the movies' identities for money grabs. They should be doing all of the projects, based on love and passion, not $$$. With everyone back on Disney's palms of its hands, they can now do risks, like 2D animation and fairy tale titles. In fact, if you see the comments on Moana and Zootopia on FB, EVERYONE is crying for 2D. Why don't they see that? Shouldn't that be enough?

[unprincess]

Dr. Facilier's death where evil spirits cement him into his grave is arguably darker than Ursula getting impaled.

how is that darker than Ursula being impaled in the gut, lurching back in agony while the lightning highlights her monstrous skeleton?

as for that interview... business as usual...

[Semaj]

Yeah, I don't think the episodic road trip aspect had an impact on the film's box-office performance. Actually, the whole "the male and female lead go on a road trip to seek something or somebody magical and meet wacky comic relief along the way" formula was later utilised in Tangled and Frozen.

I still stand by that the title did more harm than any other aspect. I'm certain if it was called "Frogs", it would have been a bigger hit. I think the gender-neutral marketing of Tangled and Frozen really helped those movies attract the boy crowd.

From what I recall, The Princess and the Frog was originally going to be called the more-obvious The Frog Princess. Forgot why that title was vetoed, but it may have had something to do with the eggshells Disney was avoiding when portraying a Black heroine.

[Disney's Divinity]

Aside from the obvious (that the protagonist is a Black woman), I would also add that the main character's personality didn't appeal to a broad audience. A lot of people tend to gravitate to clumsy, bubbly, "adorkable" personalities like Rapunzel's and Anna's as opposed to the more somber and grounded personalities of Tiana, Pocahontas or Mulan (FYI, I'm not one of those people ).

I agree, which might be why Anna is present in Frozen more than Elsa, for instance.

As far as darkness goes, TLM had Ursula’s garden, Triton destroying Ariel’s objects, the shark scene, and Ursula’s death (plus little things like Ariel/Triton being turned into polyps or Ursula wagging a tongue at Ariel during "PUS"). I do think TP&TF has its share of darkness, but I think dark moments and creepiness are things people like about fairy tales. Which is why I can't really see that as a problem with TP&TF.

Yeah, I don't think the episodic road trip aspect had an impact on the film's box-office performance. Actually, the whole "the male and female lead go on a road trip to seek something or somebody magical and meet wacky comic relief along the way" formula was later utilised in Tangled and Frozen.

This is what I’ve always said, which is why I blame Lasseter in a lot of ways for TP&TF. Newman and the 2nd act were his fault, imo, because I don’t see M&C making the choices for either when looking at their other films. Even the title and the main character sound as if they were meddled with by people above M&C. It reminds me of Menken’s involvement with Tangled, and how he was blamed for the soundtrack despite many things being out of his control.

[DisneyJedi]

Yeah, I don't think the episodic road trip aspect had an impact on the film's box-office performance. Actually, the whole "the male and female lead go on a road trip to seek something or somebody magical and meet wacky comic relief along the way" formula was later utilised in Tangled and Frozen.

I still stand by that the title did more harm than any other aspect. I'm certain if it was called "Frogs", it would have been a bigger hit. I think the gender-neutral marketing of Tangled and Frozen really helped those movies attract the boy crowd.

From what I recall, The Princess and the Frog was originally going to be called the more-obvious The Frog Princess. Forgot why that title was vetoed, but it may have had something to do with the eggshells Disney was avoiding when portraying a Black heroine.

Wasn't it based on The Frog Princess books?

[Semaj]

From what I recall, The Princess and the Frog was originally going to be called the more-obvious The Frog Princess. Forgot why that title was vetoed, but it may have had something to do with the eggshells Disney was avoiding when portraying a Black heroine.

Wasn't it based on The Frog Princess books?

It was. But even early on, there were concerns about not offending anyone with the title.

[Sotiris]

Here's an interesting article about an American animator who moved to Japan to work in anime. It's mostly about the harsh environments animators in Japan face, but then there's this one quote:

After graduating from Pratt Institute, Thurlow spent a few years working in New York City’s unstable animation scene on web games, kids shows, music videos, and Adult Swim’s Superjail. But he found it mostly unfulfilling.

“With the exception of Superjail, I felt like I was wasting my talents/life on crap instead of ‘true art.’ Where are the 2D feature films? Particularly high-quality boundary-pushing TV shows? Where is any 2D animation being produced in America that takes the art form to its limits? Nowhere.”

Source: http://www.buzzfeed.com/danmeth/this-am ... ing-in-ani

Another case of a 2D animator who had to move to Japan to find work.

Q: What keeps you within the industry?

Cedric Herole: First of all, It was my dream as a kid to be in Japan, so wish granted! Also, the animators and designers here are incredibly good. I always feel like I cannot compete with them, but it is so challenging and rewarding. I learn a lot everyday. I may change my mind in the future, who knows, but I don't really see myself working anywhere else. Especially because the 2D animation industry is almost dead in Europe and America. I am not interested in drawing Sponge Bob style cartoons. Japan better suits me for now.

Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interes ... ole/.87610

[disneyprincess11]

Look how gorgeous Mickey looks in 2D in the new World of Color show! He looks PERFECT!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK38wHBNOJM

[Sotiris]

Look how gorgeous Mickey looks in 2D in the new World of Color show! He looks PERFECT!

Indeed. The new Mickey segments were animated by Eric Goldberg and produced by Disney's Special Projects division.

[Disneyphile]

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/animators/br ... 13377.html

[DisneyEra]

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/animators/br ... 13377.html

The executives at Disney will clearly over rule this. No matter how hard he pushes for it, they will have the final say.

[DisneyFan09]

"'Princess Academy' Concept Art Shows All of Your Favorite Disney Princesses Together in One Place";
http://moviepilot.com/posts/2015/05/18/ ... ual,manual

The executives at Disney will clearly over rule this. No matter how hard he pushes for it, they will have the final say.

Unfortunately. (*Sighs*).

Look how gorgeous Mickey looks in 2D in the new World of Color show! He looks PERFECT!

Oh yes, indeed.

[Mickeyfan1990]

Look how gorgeous Mickey looks in 2D in the new World of Color show! He looks PERFECT!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK38wHBNOJM

That...was...awesome!!!!

[Sotiris]

"'Princess Academy' Concept Art Shows All of Your Favorite Disney Princesses Together in One Place"
http://moviepilot.com/posts/2015/05/18/ ... ce-2940248

I hate how this project gets passed around as an official Disney production. It was not. A couple of Disney fans who were in no way affiliated with Disney put together materials to pitch their short film idea to Disney and to no one's surprise didn't even manage to do that, let alone having Disney option their pitch. There's a thread dedicated to this project here with more information for anyone interested.

[unprincess]

Im so happy to read that Bird wants to do another hand-drawn again. My gosh, I was thinking the other day that he's probably another one of these poor guys in the animation/film field who's had to relent to the fact that 2d is dead and its just easier to drink the Kool-aid. Yet here he is stating that he still thinks its is a worthy medium and he wants to pursue it. Heck, makes me want to go see Tomorrowland now just to support him. I was gonna wait for a Netflix rental(I cant afford to watch a lot of films in theaters these days) but the more successful his films are the more clout he'll have to push his ideas/choices. And no I dont expect Disney/Pixar to do it. At most, they will propably convince him to do a hybrid mimicking hand-drawn(which wouldnt be a bad thing either.) Even if they pass on it, it doesnt mean he cant pitch his 2d film to another studio more willing to take a chance.

as for the new 2d Mickey animation, Im happy for Eric that he at least still gets work doing what he loves. Just watched Hercules Bluray last week, his Phil is so much fun to watch, so lively and bouncy.