John Musker is retiring from Disney after 43 years to make his own short films. No word on whether Ron Clements plans to leave as well. On the bright side, he's already working on a 2D-animated short!
Tony Bancroft wrote:Disney director John Musker retired today. One of the directing team who brought you Great Mouse, Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Treasure Planet, Princess and the Frog and Moana! He is planning on making his own short films. What do you think, end of an era?
Dale Mayeda wrote:We got to wish legendary director John Musker a Happy Retirement! It was an honor and a sheer delight to have worked under John on Moana! John was an inspiration, having directed classic Disney films such as “The Little Mermaid”, “Aladdin”, “Hercules”, “Princess and the Frog” and most recently “Moana”! We’ll miss you John! Best of luck on your animated short!
Anthony Durazzo wrote:Fantastic retirement party/roast for legendary director John Musker. Lots of hilarity and emotion. I feel extremely fortunate to have gotten the chance to work with you. Good luck with your short film. Cheers John!
Doug Engalla wrote:There was a huge turnout for John Musker's launch party for his short film project! Meanwhile, we celebrated the conclusion of his 40 years at Disney Animation. Thank you, John!
The news is bittersweet, especially since there was some hoping that with Lasseter gone, Musker and Clements could go on to helm Walt Disney Animation Studios and bring back 2D animation. I'm glad he'll be working on 2D though so I wish him the best and plan to follow his work wherever he goes.
We’re a dyad in the Force. Two that are one. "I offered you my hand once. You wanted to take it." - Kylo Ren "I did want to take your hand. Ben's hand." - Rey
Well, *censored* darn. I had a feeling this was coming. Moana always seemed like a planned final hurrah for them because of all the callbacks to The Little Mermaid. A shame.
Now the only person in Disney I have any confidence in is Jennifer Lee.
Listening to most often lately:
Ariana Grande ~ "we can't be friends (wait for your love)"
Ariana Grande ~ "imperfect for you"
Kacey Musgraves ~ "The Architect"
He is 63. While no longer a teenager, it is not that old either these days as long as he is fine and healthy. I wonder if Glen Keane's shorts since he left Disney has inspired him to do something similar. 2D-Disney animators should find themselves some wealthy patron that could finance their own projects. Anyone like Jeff Bezos around who are huge animation fans?
And a little off-topic; since we are talking about people leaving Disney, four of the six months that Lasseter was supposed to be away has now more or less passed. In less than ten weeks, we will learn if he returns or not.
Well, we were more or less prepared for this, because he and Ron Clements said in interviews that Moana was probably going to be their last Disney film, but it's still sad news. I was hoping they would maybe change their minds and direct at least one more feature before retiring. Anyway, he's had a long and succesful career at Disney and I'm glad he's not retiring completely and will make a short film, and in 2D no less! I'm really looking forward to it. Also, it will be interesting to see how his work as a solo director is.
I wonder why they left Aladdin out? Too bad the picture didn't have Herc, Jim, and Basil instead since they were the protagonists of those films, but it's cute.
Listening to most often lately:
Ariana Grande ~ "we can't be friends (wait for your love)"
Ariana Grande ~ "imperfect for you"
Kacey Musgraves ~ "The Architect"
cute drawing! I agree it just needs Jasmine to make it perfect!
Im glad John is still pursuing some projects in the animations style that he loves! Id love to see what he comes up with(directing a film for Netflix would be awesome!)
Listening to most often lately:
Ariana Grande ~ "we can't be friends (wait for your love)"
Ariana Grande ~ "imperfect for you"
Kacey Musgraves ~ "The Architect"
Oh my Wasn't expecting this. I never even considered they were going to retire some day. I really hope he is retiring conscious he made some truly and touching art and that his Disney work will live forever. Eager to see his post Disney work!
D82 wrote:Well, we were more or less prepared for this, because he and Ron Clements said in interviews that Moana was probably going to be their last Disney film, but it's still sad news. I was hoping they would maybe change their minds and direct at least one more feature before retiring. Anyway, he's had a long and succesful career at Disney and I'm glad he's not retiring completely and will make a short film, and in 2D no less! I'm really looking forward to it. Also, it will be interesting to see how his work as a solo director is.
With more and more artists being forced to conform to the CGI protocol, this is the precedent that's been set.
Ron Clements is writing a book on WDAS and possibly working on another project.
Q: Steve, do you know if Ron Clements is planning to leave Disney too?
Steve Hulett: I believe Ron is working on a book on Walt Disney Animation Studios and will be working there for the foreseeable future. I DO know the John Musker elected to retire a few months ago, and did.
Now, with more than 40 years in the business, he’s still not ready to call it quits, even though his longtime writing, producing and directing partner, John Musker, retired from Disney earlier this year.
“I’m not retiring quite yet,” Clements cautioned. "I’m working on something, but I’m not supposed to talk about it. John’s working on a project, too, but we are at that age.”
With seven films on their combined resume, Clements and Musker “did pretty much everything we wanted to do. There were a couple of films we were excited about that never saw the light of day. But we’re pretty happy. Most of the projects we’ve gotten involved with got made.”
That elusive Oscar aside, the two have seen most of their dreams come true. “You never say never,” Clements admits about the Academy Award. “But it’s probably unlikely. ‘Moana’ was our last shot, but who knows?”
I wish Musker would come back for one last film, especially without Lasseter's influence there to poison things. I always felt like they were being pushed out the door. Moana always felt as if Lasseter told them it would be their swan song, which explains all the echoes back to The Little Mermaid with that film. As far as the "couple of films" that never saw the light of day, I'm guessing one of those was Mort? The fact that they wanted it to be hand-drawn is likely what really put the knife in that (and them).
I'd love if Clements was writing (or at least involved in writing) a book similar to that Taschen Disney book from 2016, only covering the '70s to now.
Listening to most often lately:
Ariana Grande ~ "we can't be friends (wait for your love)"
Ariana Grande ~ "imperfect for you"
Kacey Musgraves ~ "The Architect"
Mort is one of them and I'd wager that Fraidy Cat is another. The former is impossible because Disney couldn't secure the rights, but I really wish we could still see Fraidy Cat. I blame Lasseter for axing that film (as well as American Dog). Would love if Chris Sanders could come back now too.
We’re a dyad in the Force. Two that are one. "I offered you my hand once. You wanted to take it." - Kylo Ren "I did want to take your hand. Ben's hand." - Rey
Ron Clements has left Disney as well and has joined John Musker at Warner Bros. Animation.
It’s interesting so many people like Cooley, Andrews, Teddy Newton and Unkrich have left Pixar. Is Andrew Stanton still working there as he has been doing Netflix shows? Disney has lost some directors as John Musker and Ron Clements are at WB now and Rich Moore is at Sony and Chris williams snd Nathan Greno left Disney. It will be interesting to see what these people do elsewhere.