Disney abandoning hand-drawn animation
11-10-03, 11:21 PM
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Disney abandoning hand-drawn animation
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/...nimation_x.htm
Looks like a bear market for 2-D animation
By Susan Wloszczyna, USA TODAY
If you want to catch a vanishing breed before it goes into hibernation indefinitely, hunt down Disney's Brother Bear as the outdoorsy talking-animal tale goes wide at about 3,000 theaters Saturday.
Endangered species: Traditional Disney 2-D animation like Brother Bear might be going into hibernation.
Disney
The panoramic Pacific Northwest adventure about a young Inuit man who's taught a lesson in respect after he's magically transformed into a bear captures Mother Nature at her postcard finest — all thundering waterfalls and craggy cliffs — as it exemplifies the cinematic species known as 2-D animation.
The studio's 43rd animated feature also is old-fashioned in the extreme with unabashed borrowings from such past successes as Bambi (chatty furballs and loss of a parent), Mulan (coming-of-age ethnic drama), Pocahontas (tribal strife) and Tarzan (Phil Collins on the soundtrack).
"It is the best of traditional storytelling using state-of-the-art tools," says critic and animation expert Leonard Maltin. "It's extraordinarily good-looking. It has the classical elements of Disney, themes like the strength of the family, the overcoming of obstacles, respect for tradition and the price paid for youthful rebellion. I like all that. I'm a traditionalist."
And signs are that movie audiences as well may be ready to re-embrace those traditions with a fond bear hug.
It may be nowhere as grandly ambitious as Disney's last talking-animal outing, The Lion King in 1994, and it lacks the hip factor of such higher-tech blockbusters as the 3-D Shrek from rival studio DreamWorks. But Brother Bear is off to a good start, gathering a healthy $285,000 at just two theaters in New York and Los Angeles this past weekend.
With retro values and approach, Bear may be the right beast feast to erase the bitter taste left by last year's $140 million flop, Treasure Planet, a misguided sci-fi action attempt to attract the fickle teen-boy crowd. Instead, it just put off Disney's core following: parents and kids.
"It's 100% Disney," says studio chairman Richard Cook of Bear. "It feels like the right time for it."
Co-directors Aaron Blaise and Bob Walker note that a nature story just lends itself more to 2-D. "Hand-drawn is a more organic process," Blaise says. "We wanted a hand-painted, rugged background, and the only way to get that is by hand." There are some computerized effects, such as a salmon run and a caribou stampede, but that accounts for only 20% of the backgrounds.
Adds animation chief David Stainton, "My battle cry on this movie is that it represents the pinnacle of what 2-D delivers. Something gorgeous to look at in a completely organic world."
But it may be a case of too little, too late. The rich, painterly style that has been the foundation of the Magic Kingdom ever since founder Walt Disney invented the feature-length cartoon with 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs continues to teeter on the edge of extinction.
Big-budget 2-D disappointments such as Treasure Planet have led to morale-depleting layoffs, salary cuts for artists and the closing of Disney animation facilities in Paris and Tokyo. The bottom line has been drawn: Brother Bear and next April's Home on the Range, an Old West comedy, will be the last 2-D features from Disney for a while.
Meanwhile, the studio's 3-D partner Pixar, a relationship that began with Toy Story in 1995 and could end when the contract expires in 2005, thrives with each new computer-generated release. The final straw: With a take of $338.2 million, the best of the year so far, this summer's Finding Nemo grabbed the all-time cartoon box-office crown from the long-reigning champ, the 2-D Lion King.
As a result, mouse pads are replacing drawing pads as longtime animators are retrained on computers. Says Ruben Aquino, a Disney artist for more than 20 years whose creations include squid villainess Ursula (The Little Mermaid) and the adult Simba (The Lion King): "We're an ambidextrous studio now. I miss the drawing part, but I still thumbnail out the animation. The important things are the same, though; the acting, the action analysis, no matter what medium is used. It's just a different tool."
Disney's 3-D era will begin in earnest with Chicken Little in '05 and continues with the computer/hand-drawn hybrid A Few Good Ghosts in '06 as well as the spoof Rapunzel Unbraided in '07.
Still, Stainton, who took over as animation chief earlier this year, insists the press obituaries for 2-D are premature. "It is a bit of a media creation to say 2-D is dead. There's absolutely no reason we can't do it if we choose to do it. We've cut back on production. That is independent of technology. Where we are now is about where we need to be."
Most experts say blaming the technique is too easy anyway. It's the story that hooks moviegoers, not the style. Consider that Lilo & Stitch, a 2-D animated comedy that took a chance by mixing Elvis tunes, tiki-hut décor and alien monsters. The result: a $145.8 million luau at the box office in 2002.
"People in Hollywood are so eager to hop on bandwagons, ready to condemn traditional animation to the scrap heap as if that is anyone's criteria of whether they like a movie," Maltin says. "Sony's Final Fantasy was a 3-D film, and it was lifeless. That had technique to spare, and no one went, no one cared. If Shrek were animated with matchstick figures, it would still be just as funny. That was a funny script with wonderful voice work."
Unlike other animation houses, however, Disney is somewhat straitjacketed by its brand-name reputation. As Treasure Planet proved, its fan base will stray if audience expectations are strained too much.
"Disney is damned if they do, damned if they don't," Maltin says. "When they did Atlantis: The Lost Empire (in 2001), people complained it looked like a comic book. When they do something too traditional, people say they are just going back to the same well. They can't win. All that matters is whether the public responds and accepts the film."
While it's doubtful that Disney's economy-driven game plan will be altered much if Brother Bear is a success, it may give 2-D supporters hope that the House of Mouse will return to its roots.
"We will always do whatever fits the story best," Cook assures. "We've gone on a concerted effort to train and re-train artists. But we will keep our great sensibility."
Or as Maltin says, "There's nothing wrong with animation that a good movie can't cure."
Hopefully this isn't a repost - my search turned up nothing.
Looks like a bear market for 2-D animation
By Susan Wloszczyna, USA TODAY
If you want to catch a vanishing breed before it goes into hibernation indefinitely, hunt down Disney's Brother Bear as the outdoorsy talking-animal tale goes wide at about 3,000 theaters Saturday.
Endangered species: Traditional Disney 2-D animation like Brother Bear might be going into hibernation.
Disney
The panoramic Pacific Northwest adventure about a young Inuit man who's taught a lesson in respect after he's magically transformed into a bear captures Mother Nature at her postcard finest — all thundering waterfalls and craggy cliffs — as it exemplifies the cinematic species known as 2-D animation.
The studio's 43rd animated feature also is old-fashioned in the extreme with unabashed borrowings from such past successes as Bambi (chatty furballs and loss of a parent), Mulan (coming-of-age ethnic drama), Pocahontas (tribal strife) and Tarzan (Phil Collins on the soundtrack).
"It is the best of traditional storytelling using state-of-the-art tools," says critic and animation expert Leonard Maltin. "It's extraordinarily good-looking. It has the classical elements of Disney, themes like the strength of the family, the overcoming of obstacles, respect for tradition and the price paid for youthful rebellion. I like all that. I'm a traditionalist."
And signs are that movie audiences as well may be ready to re-embrace those traditions with a fond bear hug.
It may be nowhere as grandly ambitious as Disney's last talking-animal outing, The Lion King in 1994, and it lacks the hip factor of such higher-tech blockbusters as the 3-D Shrek from rival studio DreamWorks. But Brother Bear is off to a good start, gathering a healthy $285,000 at just two theaters in New York and Los Angeles this past weekend.
With retro values and approach, Bear may be the right beast feast to erase the bitter taste left by last year's $140 million flop, Treasure Planet, a misguided sci-fi action attempt to attract the fickle teen-boy crowd. Instead, it just put off Disney's core following: parents and kids.
"It's 100% Disney," says studio chairman Richard Cook of Bear. "It feels like the right time for it."
Co-directors Aaron Blaise and Bob Walker note that a nature story just lends itself more to 2-D. "Hand-drawn is a more organic process," Blaise says. "We wanted a hand-painted, rugged background, and the only way to get that is by hand." There are some computerized effects, such as a salmon run and a caribou stampede, but that accounts for only 20% of the backgrounds.
Adds animation chief David Stainton, "My battle cry on this movie is that it represents the pinnacle of what 2-D delivers. Something gorgeous to look at in a completely organic world."
But it may be a case of too little, too late. The rich, painterly style that has been the foundation of the Magic Kingdom ever since founder Walt Disney invented the feature-length cartoon with 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs continues to teeter on the edge of extinction.
Big-budget 2-D disappointments such as Treasure Planet have led to morale-depleting layoffs, salary cuts for artists and the closing of Disney animation facilities in Paris and Tokyo. The bottom line has been drawn: Brother Bear and next April's Home on the Range, an Old West comedy, will be the last 2-D features from Disney for a while.
Meanwhile, the studio's 3-D partner Pixar, a relationship that began with Toy Story in 1995 and could end when the contract expires in 2005, thrives with each new computer-generated release. The final straw: With a take of $338.2 million, the best of the year so far, this summer's Finding Nemo grabbed the all-time cartoon box-office crown from the long-reigning champ, the 2-D Lion King.
As a result, mouse pads are replacing drawing pads as longtime animators are retrained on computers. Says Ruben Aquino, a Disney artist for more than 20 years whose creations include squid villainess Ursula (The Little Mermaid) and the adult Simba (The Lion King): "We're an ambidextrous studio now. I miss the drawing part, but I still thumbnail out the animation. The important things are the same, though; the acting, the action analysis, no matter what medium is used. It's just a different tool."
Disney's 3-D era will begin in earnest with Chicken Little in '05 and continues with the computer/hand-drawn hybrid A Few Good Ghosts in '06 as well as the spoof Rapunzel Unbraided in '07.
Still, Stainton, who took over as animation chief earlier this year, insists the press obituaries for 2-D are premature. "It is a bit of a media creation to say 2-D is dead. There's absolutely no reason we can't do it if we choose to do it. We've cut back on production. That is independent of technology. Where we are now is about where we need to be."
Most experts say blaming the technique is too easy anyway. It's the story that hooks moviegoers, not the style. Consider that Lilo & Stitch, a 2-D animated comedy that took a chance by mixing Elvis tunes, tiki-hut décor and alien monsters. The result: a $145.8 million luau at the box office in 2002.
"People in Hollywood are so eager to hop on bandwagons, ready to condemn traditional animation to the scrap heap as if that is anyone's criteria of whether they like a movie," Maltin says. "Sony's Final Fantasy was a 3-D film, and it was lifeless. That had technique to spare, and no one went, no one cared. If Shrek were animated with matchstick figures, it would still be just as funny. That was a funny script with wonderful voice work."
Unlike other animation houses, however, Disney is somewhat straitjacketed by its brand-name reputation. As Treasure Planet proved, its fan base will stray if audience expectations are strained too much.
"Disney is damned if they do, damned if they don't," Maltin says. "When they did Atlantis: The Lost Empire (in 2001), people complained it looked like a comic book. When they do something too traditional, people say they are just going back to the same well. They can't win. All that matters is whether the public responds and accepts the film."
While it's doubtful that Disney's economy-driven game plan will be altered much if Brother Bear is a success, it may give 2-D supporters hope that the House of Mouse will return to its roots.
"We will always do whatever fits the story best," Cook assures. "We've gone on a concerted effort to train and re-train artists. But we will keep our great sensibility."
Or as Maltin says, "There's nothing wrong with animation that a good movie can't cure."
Hopefully this isn't a repost - my search turned up nothing.
11-10-03, 11:41 PM
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It was posted once in an older article. thanks for the update. I really hope it's not the end. I perfer 2d over 3d anyday. but eh.
11-10-03, 11:53 PM
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I really don't know what to think. I like both forms (well, the 3D has to be done really well), but I think it's a shame that they're dropping 2D. The two ought to be able to coexist.
11-11-03, 03:09 AM
#5
DVD Talk Legend
Brother Bear has made $44 mil by the end of its 2nd weekend, and that's with a 2-day first weekend. Those aren't blockbuster numbers, and it'll probably be a long shot to hit $100 mil with competition from The Cat in the Hat, but it's still hardly a flop. It's definitely an improvement over Treasure Planet's $38.1 mil total, or Sinbad's $29.6 mil. My guess is they'll simply be a bit more choosy over 2D projects. And for the record, I didn't think Treasure Planet was that bad, but that they spent $140 mil on it is absurd.
11-11-03, 06:35 AM
#6
DVD Talk Legend
Looks like they're just getting ready for when Pixar leaves them.
Pretty disappointing though. Hopefully another studio gets their act together and picks up the slack.
Pretty disappointing though. Hopefully another studio gets their act together and picks up the slack.
11-12-03, 10:54 AM
#10
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
the japanese been doing a whole lot better 2D animation than Disney.... especially recently
Studio Ghibli is obviously an exception and excells at both writing and animating to a level that Disney just can't ever touch.
It's very sad indeed to see 2D animation slowly being taken over, as I find it far more attractive than 3D.
11-12-03, 11:58 AM
#11
DVD Talk Legend
Originally posted by BlackBeauty92
the japanese been doing a whole lot better 2D animation than Disney.... especially recently
the japanese been doing a whole lot better 2D animation than Disney.... especially recently
