Hand-Drawn Animation Dead at Disney

[DisneyAnimation88]

The "hybrid or otherwise" comment comes separately from the mention that "word came out that there would be no more hand drawn features". I wouldn't write it off for the Musker and Clements film yet.

I thought the same when I read through it. Honor Hunter said a few days ago over on Blue Sky Disney that they're still testing the hybrid out in development so I wouldn't write it off just yet. Other Disney animators have also said that they're experimenting with the hybrid medium and working to develop it further so if there was no intention of using it down the line you would think they wouldn't both with that. We'll have to wait and see but I'm still hopeful we'll see the hybrid medium used in a feature.

[Sotiris]

Honor Hunter said a few days ago over on Blue Sky Disney that they're still testing the hybrid out in development so I wouldn't write it off just yet.

It's exactly because of that I'm feeling uncertain about it. What he said didn't sound very positive to me. It sounds they're ambivalent about using the hybrid form.

And it could turn out to be the duos first computer animated film. It's not in concrete now, so don't everyone get upset. They're currently working on the story for the most part, but tests are being done to see how the characters act and look in computer form as well as a hybrid solution.

Source: http://www.blueskydisney.com/2013/06/bl ... m-hat.html

[DisneyAnimation88]

It's exactly because of that I'm feeling uncertain about it. What he said didn't sound very positive to me.

And it could turn out to be the duos first computer animated film. It's not in concrete now, so don't everyone get upset. They're currently working on the story for the most part, but test are being done to see how the characters act and look in computer form as well as a hybrid solution.

It didn't really sound positive or negative to me, just that it could go either way at the moment. It could well end up being a CG film but at this point nothing is certain, if something is decided I'm sure Honor Hunter or Steve Hulett will post any information they get. Let's just hope the tests with the hybrid go well and we see more of it in the near future.

[PatrickvD]

What it sounds like to me is that they're still keeping the Paperman style/technique in the experimental stage for short films before deciding to use it for a feature film. In fact, that's what they've been saying all along.

I think it was fandom wishful thinking that created the idea that it was somehow going to be used for a feature film within the next three years.

Anyway, thanks for sharing his story, Sotiris. His opinion on Pooh is spot-on.

[TsWade2]

This is going to make me hate Bob Iger more, because he destroyed hand drawn! I say we kick him out of the studio instead of wait until 2016, and hired Kathleen Kennedy so we can have hand drawn again.

Hey Bob Iger, your mother is a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries! SNAP!

[DisneyJedi]

No. No. No! Wade, I thought it was made clear he said they weren't ruling 2D out, let alone any films in said medium weren't in the pipeline right now.

[TsWade2]

No. No. No! Wade, I thought it was made clear he said they weren't ruling 2D out, let alone any films in said medium weren't in the pipeline right now.

Sorry.

[Disney's Divinity]

You may wonder, what will I be doing now. I can't tell you that because I don't know. [...]

Source: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=577194715665934r (via Cartoon Brew)

I have to wonder when he said "hand drawn is an excuse for bad movies", which movies did he mean? As we know, not all CG movies are great either. If anything, that quote applies more to CGI movies than it does to traditional ones. Some of the worst animated movies in the last decade or so were successful because of the wow factor of CGI. The big problem is that studio heads feel that for an animated movie to be successful nowadays it must be in CG. So if any good stories do land on their desk, they would be made in CG because they figured that they'd make more money than if it was hand drawn.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/NikRanieriAnim ... 1368694269

He hit the nail on the head. I'm sure most 2D fans (and 2D animators, and both) know this.

[Sotiris]

There was a comment on Cartoon Brew which caught my interest. A person who claims they worked at the studio says the budget for The Princess and the Frog was $65 million and not $105 as it had been previously reported. They also comment on the relations between 2D and CG animators at the studio.

$104 million was the domestic gross, the total gross (domestic and worldwide) was $264 million which is on par with what Tangled made if truth be known what that film cost to make. Tangled cost around $250 million to make but they never say that 'cause they do not count the pre-Lasseter years the film was in production etc. It has nothing to do with PATF underperforming, it did not. Pooh was only made to give that name brand a kick as they make insane amounts from the Pooh toy and clothes line. I worked on PATF and while I was there we were told the budget was $65 million and we came in under budget as well.

Disney sees CG as the tool they need to use to compete in the animation market, plain and simple. They lack vision that's for sure to see that 2D is still a viable art form. [...] Animators at Disney are now a younger group wanting to prove themselves and do not want the 2D guys there, they believe they hold them back. Sad state of affairs I think. [...] Many of high-up CG folks were not really into the 2D guys. I worked there and I saw it and heard it.

[DisneyJedi]

So that's it then? There's no hope left for the medium? Because that's what it's translated as to me. They just don't care about their legacy anymore. All they even care about is profits.

[DisneyAnimation88]

So that's it then? There's no hope left for the medium? Because that's what it's translated as to me. They just don't care about their legacy anymore. All they even care about is profits.

Some do, unfortunately those people are the ones making the big decisions at the company right now. A change has to come at the top of the company if things are to get back to the way we, as fans, want them to be because the decision makers at Disney right now simply aren't creative, they're accountants and businessmen who don't have the capacity to comprehend anything beyond profits and annual bonuses.

[DisneyJedi]

Anyways, a friend of mine made mention of the whole matter.

https://www.facebook.com/TehAnimator/po ... 3468699764

[Sotiris]

Q: What do you think is the future of 2D animation at the studio? Is it as bleak as everyone says? Has Disney really given up on the medium?

Steve Hulett: I don't know of any hand-drawn feature projects at Disney. (Doesn't mean there's not something percolating somewhere, just that I don't know about it.)

I've always thought that a hand-drawn feature on the level of Beauty and the Beast, Lion King or Aladdin would do well at the box office. I just don't see any entertainment conglomerate that's interested in making one. They consider CG animation a much better bet, and that's the way they all seem to be going. Will that change? Not in the near term. But something can always come out of left field.

I never say never, but I don't hold my breath.

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

[DisneyJedi]

Imagine the disappointment from anyone who graduated from an animation university and spent a majority of their childhood hoping to work as an animator at Disney, only to have their dreams smashed at the news of no more 2D films.

Somehow, I'd like to imagine Mickey hearing the news and even going to the lengths of telling Bob Iger off by demanding what gives him the right to destroy the legacy that was built upon the company and saying that he cares only about profit and not about the effort that is put into anything there. Heck, I imagine Mickey would walk away as a means of quitting and Bob tries to stop him and Mickey gives him a cold harsh glare and one thing to say:

"What're you gonna do, fire me? You're obviously good at THAT! "

Even though that wouldn't really happen (in Mickey's case, since he's a fictional character), I'd like someone to tell him off in that kind of fashion.

[estefan]

Well, that's an overreaction. Personally, rather than ranting and raving (and using the worst and most annoying emoticon ever invented. Seriously, why can't we remove it?), I think it's best to optimistic.

I'm going to repeat something I said a number of pages that was oddly ignored by everyone else, even though I think it applies nicely to where hand-drawn animation could definitely go in the future:

I think hand-drawn animation will make an eventual comeback. A good comparison I like to dish out is stop-motion animation. There was a time when it was mostly relegated to television, film festivals and student films. Last year, THREE major stop-motion features were released to acclaim and Academy Award nominations. Aardman and Laika already have more on the way and I don't think Frankenweenie will be Burton's last foray into the medium.

I think we will see a similar return where more than one hand-drawn animated film will be released in a single year, will get immense critical acclaim and eventual Oscar nominations.

[DisneyJedi]

The only question is when and if the comeback will happen.

[Mickeyfan1990]

The only question is when and if the comeback will happen.

Hopefully if and when Disney decides to greenlit The Stooge with Mickey and Roger. I can dream, can I?

Though I should add that I'm sure the hand-drawn comeback will happen sooner or later.

[estefan]

It will come back. Silent films and black-and-white films aside, no type of movie ever stays dead in Hollywood. After Cutthroat Island tanked, every studio in town decided not to do pirate movies and then exactly ten years ago, Disney began a multi-billion-dollar grossing franchise out of that so-called "dead genre."

Another (and even better) comparison would be the musical. For a while, that genre was thought to be dead, outside of animation. The only big-budget live-action musical to come out of Hollywood in the 90s was Evita. Then, Moulin Rouge and Chicago came out and a musical revival began that's still happening to this day with Les Miserables proving a big hit last year and Clint Eastwood gearing up to direct Jersey Boys and film adaptations of The Book of Mormon, Wicked and Into the Woods on the way, too.

If the musical can came back after a rough decade, so can hand-drawn animation. When a movie happens that is big enough to grab Hollywood's attention, they will go for it. If I told your four years ago, there would be an influx of fairy tale inspired movies coming out, you probably wouldn't even believe me. Hell, a little indie film based on a teen romance novel lead a whole load of vampire movies and young adult adaptations hitting the big screen.

[DisneyJedi]

Whoa. Are you serious? Clint Eastwood?! The same mind behind Million Dollar Baby is gonna direct Jersey Boys?!

[TsWade2]

It will come back. Silent films and black-and-white films aside, no type of movie ever stays dead in Hollywood. After Cutthroat Island tanked, every studio in town decided not to do pirate movies and then exactly ten years ago, Disney began a multi-billion-dollar grossing franchise out of that so-called "dead genre."

Another (and even better) comparison would be the musical. For a while, that genre was thought to be dead, outside of animation. The only big-budget live-action musical to come out of Hollywood in the 90s was Evita. Then, Moulin Rouge and Chicago came out and a musical revival began that's still happening to this day with Les Miserables proving a big hit last year and Clint Eastwood gearing up to direct Jersey Boys and film adaptations of The Book of Mormon, Wicked and Into the Woods on the way, too.

If the musical can came back after a rough decade, so can hand-drawn animation. When a movie happens that is big enough to grab Hollywood's attention, they will go for it. If I told your four years ago, there would be an influx of fairy tale inspired movies coming out, you probably wouldn't even believe me. Hell, a little indie film based on a teen romance novel lead a whole load of vampire movies and young adult adaptations hitting the big screen.

I hope you're right. And yes I heard that Clint Eastwood is going to direct the film version of Jersey Boys at playbill.com. That would be good.