Paperman

[DisneyJedi]

Her too? Oh, come on! Why?!

[estefan]

Wow, all of these folks leaving Disney so close together, it's giving me a major Don Bluth circa '79 vibe.

I wonder what John Lasseter thinks about the massive amounts of people leaving both of his studios in the past couple of years.

[Sotiris]

I wonder what John Lasseter thinks about the massive amounts of people leaving both of his studios in the past couple of years.

Don't forget all those veterans he and Iger laid off recently. When they're not leaving on their own, they kick them out.

[unprincess]

great, there goes the last hope of seeing anything that resembles a 2d feature film at Disney. Now I really hope Kahrs can develop a hybrid film elsewhere. My worry is that since he developed the technique at Disney they legally own the process & wont let any other studio be able to use it.

[Kyle]

great, there goes the last hope of seeing anything that resembles a 2d feature film at Disney. Now I really hope Kahrs can develop a hybrid film elsewhere. My worry is that since he developed the technique at Disney they legally own the process & wont let any other studio be able to use it.

I don't think anyone can own a technique/process this vague. It would be like owning a medium. Disney may own Meander, but all he would have to do is get someone to make similar software.

Didn't he already say his next project would not use that anyway, but something like it? I have a feeling he knew this was coming for quite some time and has been planning ahead.

[DisneyJedi]

All this news is coming off as is a sign that Disney is deliberately keeping hand-drawn animation in the dark.

[Sotiris]

Didn't he already say his next project would not use that anyway, but something like it? I have a feeling he knew this was coming for quite some time and has been planning ahead.

I don't think so. He was working on a short which would have taken the technique to the next level.

[nomad2010]

http://www.slashfilm.com/paperman-direc ... es-disney/

Briefly: If you were hoping that you might eventually see a Disney animated feature from Paperman short director John Kahrs, it won’t happen any time soon. The filmmaker has moved on from Disney, as revealed by the “unofficial” Disney Animation Twitter account.

Goodbye @john_kahrs. Thank you for all you brought to our studio. The best of luck to you, sir.

— Disney Animators (@DisneyAnimators) August 31, 2013

This seems like a situation driven by Kahrs, but we don’t know the reason for his departure. Hopefully it was a better situation than the changes at Pixar which led to Bob Peterson being pushed off The Good Dinosaur. We also don’t have any info on what Kahrs is up to next, but we’ll report on it when info becomes available. Having an Oscar-winning short on his reel should make getting the next job easier, however.

So what does this mean for the Paperman technique? Is it done with? Why would Disney let someone responsible for what is honestly their biggest artistic innovation and most critically acclaimed work walk away? I keep losing more and more faith in them every passing day. These things shouldn't be happening.

[SWillie!]

Well, on the surface it would certainly seem to point to the technique not taking the spotlight again anytime soon. BUT while Kahrs was certainly the driving force behind Paperman, he wasn't necessarily the driving force behind the technique itself. That was arguably two people still at the studio: Brian Whited, who developed Meander, and Patrick Osborne, the lead animator.

I'd say it's hard to tell what might be happening with the technique, but not to get your hopes up.

[Sotiris]

BUT while Kahrs was certainly the driving force behind Paperman, he wasn't necessarily the driving force behind the technique itself.

I agree but it seems only John Kahrs was willing to put the technique into use. His oversaw a 90-second test that explored the technique with color and organic environment, and his next short - which I assume is now shelved - was going to utilize the technique too. He also said in March 2013: "Let's say that at the moment I am the main bearer of this technique, and I'm trying to understand what it can lead to. We'll see what happens!"

[Sotiris]

So what about John Kahrs leaving Disney Animation? It comes down to one word. Slots. With all the success that the studios are having, there are really only so many projects available. And with all these talented people there comes a time when you have to move on and expand your wings. And when you won an Oscar for Best Short there are going to be opportunities opening up for you. There are only so many projects at each company that need directors. But there are other companies/opportunities out there. John is simply one of those spreading his wings.

Source: http://www.blueskydisney.com/2013/09/paper-trail.html

[Kyle]

Well, that's one way to spin it...

[SWillie!]

I don't think that's "one way to spin it", I think that's probably more likely. There's nothing at all that says he may have left with any bad blood. There was probably an opportunity that came up somewhere else that he felt he had to take. I say good for him, but I really do hope that doesn't mean hybrid experimentation is over.

[unprincess]

my dream scenario is that he got an offer that would allow him to truely experiment with the hybrid technique the way he wants to & then lead to a feature lenght film using that technique. I have a feeling that as long as he stayed at Lasseter run Disney he wasnt going to be allowed to truely do what he wanted b/c of the very anti-2d environment currently in place.

Im not expecting hybrid animation to be used much at Disney other than the occasional short...and I have a feeling by the time we see the next hybrid "whatever" from Disney it will look nothing like Paperman. It will probably be indistinguishable from regular cgi animation.

[Sotiris]

In a statement to TheWrap, Kahrs said he will develop his own projects elsewhere, but said that the split was “amicable.”

“I will miss working with them, and feel lucky to have played a part in the revitalization of the studio,” said Kahrs, whose last day was Friday. “They have an abundance of projects; an incredible development slate, but I've decided to develop my own projects and pursue directing elsewhere.”

“It was very amicable — they were very gracious about that — and I believe we all left the door open,” he added.

Disney also indicated it had no bad feelings about Kahrs exit. “John is an incredibly talented filmmaker and artist and all of us here at Walt Disney Animation Studios are proud of his vision for the stunning and innovative ‘Paperman,’” a studio spokesman said in a statement to TheWrap. “We wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

Source: http://www.thewrap.com/disney-animation ... part-ways/

[ajmrowland]

According to a recent pic from Floyd Norman, that's Bull.

Can't upload it right now cuz it's too big.

[SWillie!]

The "we'd like you to direct" one? He's referring to Bob Peterson on Good Dinosaur.

[ajmrowland]

The "we'd like you to direct" one? He's referring to Bob Peterson on Good Dinosaur.

No. It's one of the filmmaker and the exec standing back to back doing press.

[Sotiris]

It's one of the filmmaker and the exec standing back to back doing press.

Hmm. Where did you find that? Can you post the link?

[Sotiris]

Disney just put up a new video about the technology and the process of creating Paperman.

Computer-Assisted Animation of Line and Paint in Disney's Paperman: We present a system which allows animators to combine CG animation's strengths -- temporal coherence, spatial stability, and precise control -- with traditional animation's expressive and pleasing line-based aesthetic. Our process begins as an ordinary 3D CG animation, but later steps occur in a light-weight and responsive 2D environment, where an artist can draw lines which the system can then automatically move through time using vector fields derived from the 3D animation, thereby maximizing the benefits of both environments. Unlike with an automated "toon-shader", the final look was directly in the hands of the artists in a familiar workflow, allowing their artistry and creative power to be fully utilized. This process was developed during production of the short film Paperman at Walt Disney Animation Studios, but its application is extensible to other styles of animation as well.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84rl-T2yIls