DVDizzy Forum

RyGuy wrote:While 2D animation may be dead . . . for now, it is surprising what comes back in Hollywood. A decade or so ago, people would have assumed the Hollywood musical was dead. Then there was a little film known as Moulin Rouge.

Since then we've had Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Mama Mia, The Producers, Hairspray, Sweeney Todd, Rock of Ages, and that's just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. And they haven't all been great but the number of them, plus those rumored/announced to be in the works, I don't think the genre is going away anytime soon.

Ironically, it's not as if Moulin Rouge was the first movie musical made since the 1960s heyday - in the later 1980s, there was Little Shop of Horrors for example. It was just the first to find mainstream appeal in a long time.

Visionary people will come along from time to time who will make 2D films and probably a lot of them won't do well. But eventually something will hit the right note and become an instant classic, and then studios like Disney will start cranking them out again.

TsWade2 wrote:

RyGuy wrote:While 2D animation may be dead . . . for now, it is surprising what comes back in Hollywood. A decade or so ago, people would have assumed the Hollywood musical was dead. Then there was a little film known as Moulin Rouge.

Since then we've had Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Mama Mia, The Producers, Hairspray, Sweeney Todd, Rock of Ages, and that's just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. And they haven't all been great but the number of them, plus those rumored/announced to be in the works, I don't think the genre is going away anytime soon.

Ironically, it's not as if Moulin Rouge was the first movie musical made since the 1960s heyday - in the later 1980s, there was Little Shop of Horrors for example. It was just the first to find mainstream appeal in a long time.

Visionary people will come along from time to time who will make 2D films and probably a lot of them won't do well. But eventually something will hit the right note and become an instant classic, and then studios like Disney will start cranking them out again.

Of course. You forgot about Chicago which won an Oscar for Best Picture.

“It’s too homogenous. It’s way too much the same,” said Henry Selick, who directed stop-motion pics “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Coraline.” “The films aren’t really that different one from the other. ‘Despicable Me’ could have been made Pixar, by DreamWorks. It’s not a great time for feature animation if you want to do something even moderately outside the formula.”

Kirk Wise, best known for directing (with Gary Trousdale) “Beauty and the Beast,” also lamented lack of individuality in today’s toons. “I would love to see something come along that was just a little quirky, a little more special, that didn’t feel like the same movie that was released three weeks ago.”

And Chris Sanders, helmer of DreamWorks Animation’s “The Croods,” said while big grosses for animation are great news, he’s worried that today’s animated studio fare is “monumental.”

“That’s one of the things that’s very much on my mind,” he said, “I think we need to create a variety of types of animated films, some that are not going to cost as much as others. Not every story is giant.”

Most recently, Wise has worked on several DisneyNature projects, and he's in the early stages of planning to make an independent hand-drawn animated feature. “Ultimately, it’s all about entertaining the audience,” Wise said. “I have a tremendous affection for hand-drawn animation. It’s why I got into the business. But I don't think an artist should put any limitations on the tools they use.”

Sotiris wrote:Kirk Wise is working on an independent hand-drawn feature.

Most recently, Wise has worked on several DisneyNature projects, and he's in the early stages of planning to make an independent hand-drawn animated feature. “Ultimately, it’s all about entertaining the audience,” Wise said. “I have a tremendous affection for hand-drawn animation. It’s why I got into the business. But I don't think an artist should put any limitations on the tools they use.”

Source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind ... ods-590389

frankf3 wrote:Recently Henry Selick spoke in an interview about how he feels animated movies today feel the same. He doesn't go in full detail, but I think he could be referring to animated movies being monstly CG currently. Even Kirk Wise and Chris Sanders spoke on the situation.

“It’s too homogenous. It’s way too much the same,” said Henry Selick, who directed stop-motion pics “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Coraline.” “The films aren’t really that different one from the other. ‘Despicable Me’ could have been made Pixar, by DreamWorks. It’s not a great time for feature animation if you want to do something even moderately outside the formula.”

Kirk Wise, best known for directing (with Gary Trousdale) “Beauty and the Beast,” also lamented lack of individuality in today’s toons. “I would love to see something come along that was just a little quirky, a little more special, that didn’t feel like the same movie that was released three weeks ago.”

And Chris Sanders, helmer of DreamWorks Animation’s “The Croods,” said while big grosses for animation are great news, he’s worried that today’s animated studio fare is “monumental.”

“That’s one of the things that’s very much on my mind,” he said, “I think we need to create a variety of types of animated films, some that are not going to cost as much as others. Not every story is giant.”

Full link to article- http://variety.com/2013/digital/news/wi ... 200566445/

Sotiris wrote:Disney veterans Aaron Blaise and Chuck Williams are also working on an independent feature called "Art Story". They're using Kickstarter to fund their project.

TsWade2 wrote:

Sotiris wrote:Disney veterans Aaron Blaise and Chuck Williams are also working on an independent feature called "Art Story". They're using Kickstarter to fund their project.

That sounds like a promising idea. I hope Disney see this. I'm going to support when I get home from work.

Nice to hear what they have to say. Too bad the guys in charge are too busy keeping their heads up their asses, only caring about being the same as each other instead of... You know. Unique!

Q: What’s the future of 2-D, hand-drawn animation at Disney?

John Lasseter: We still are doing some … We're still doing a lot of short films. There are no features on the docket for hand-drawn, but we're definitely keeping hand drawn alive at the studio. Hand-drawn is finding it’s way in a very interesting way into the technology. There’s a lot of hand-drawing that goes into the computer animated movies at Walt Disney Animation Studios. There’s a different style to the animation from that studio, too. Even though it’s computer animation in the end the way they do it, and the feeling it has, is more the feeling of hand-drawn animation. And then there’s a little bit of work going on with shorts such as Paperman, John Kahr’s film which won the Academy Award, and has this really interesting very innovative combination of hand-drawn and CG.

Q: But a lot of veteran hand-drawn animators were let go during Disney’s layoffs last spring, and others like Glen Keane and Andreas Deja parted ways on their own. Could this become a lost art?

John Lasseter: No, I don't think so.

Q: Really? Because if you’re a kid entering Cal-Arts today, the school Walt Disney helped found to generate animators, is there any reason to study hand-drawn animation if a someone in your position says we’ve got no films like that in the pipeline?

John Lasseter: No, I mean it doesn't mean we're not doing it, we're still doing a lot of hand-drawn animation. I just don't agree with you. So go ahead.

estefan wrote:Wow, John really tried to side-step that third question.

While it's good to hear some word from Lasseter on the subject, I still would have liked to heard a "why?" there, considering his initial plans for the medium. I wouldn't even mind a PR-written answer.