Where did all the great Disney animated films go?

[Teabaggins]

can they just release the OG Jungle Book on Blu-ray? jesus!

[CYMBOL]

Originally Posted by Grand Bob

Yes, and I have to admit that I also enjoy the Pixar releases. But there is something special about watching movies like "Pinocchio", "Snow White", or "Fantasia", where you can appreciate the care and back-braking labor that were invested in their creation.

I don't think that's quite fair - look at the detail of the planet and debris during Wall-E and I think you'll be hard pressed not to be impressed. The detail and care taken is just amazing. Every grain of dirt, every smudge, dust cloud, shadow, reflection - the detail is never ending.

I think both hand drawn and computer animated (when warranted) can be given the same appreciation. Both came from a creative soul, technical know-how and hard work.

[Teabaggins]

yeah there is definitely room for both.

choosing one over the other is like asking me if I prefer a tight rear or a killer rack

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Wolverine1980

For the longest time, Disney made excellent animated features but there's quite a gap between the last one and Bolt...doubt Princess and the Frog would be considered excellent by most, haven't seen it though. It's almost like something changed inside Disney and they stopped focusing on making excellent animated movies and just let Pixar do it instead.

Where did they GO?--Be careful of those literal interpretations, around here:

When Michael Eisner got so panicky of Shrek2's success and Atlantis's failure, shut down the 2-D animated studio, and fired the directors, those that stayed were told to change their output to the Rise of CGI or leave.
John Musker & Ron Clements (of Mermaid and Frog) were working on a CGI piece, "Scaredy Cat", that never quite gelled, and found themselves kicked out after "Treasure Planet" made the studio look bad before the Stockholders' meeting. Glen Keane, meanwhile, figured out a way to convert his in-progress "Rapunzel" to a new CGI format, and kept his job experimenting on that one all throughout the Last Days of Eisner.
"Atlantis" made Beauty/Hunchback's Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise look bad, so toss two more directors on the unemployment line. Rob Minkoff of "Lion King" already had his own sweet gig directing the Stuart Little movies for Sony, so it wasn't like we were going to see him back again after his one-shot.
(Chris "Lilo & Stitch" Sanders being fired off of his loopy original ideas for "Bolt" and snapped up by the Dreamworks dragon only came later, after John Lasseter had arrived.)

At the same time as Eisner's tantrum, we had the Pixar Wars; Pixar believed that they wouldn't survive if they were cut off on their own, and most of the ship-jumping animators found work with the "wannabe" CGI studios, most of them at Sony. Ex-"Aladdin" writer and "Lion" co-director Roger Allers stayed to direct "Open Season" with most of the ex-Toy Story crew.

As for "where are they" today, Musker & Clements were specifically welcomed back to the studio to direct their old hits, Trousdale was last seen directing Shrek holiday specials (no word of Wise), "Rapunzel" is getting good advance word but Keane's working on other projects after delaying too long, and Allers still hasn't heard that it's okay to come back home out of refugee status, to the new peaceful regime.

[Uncle_Max]

They really were on a downward slide for awhile there... I'd say the last excellent hand-drawn disney movie was Mulan (maybe Tarzan or Lilo & Stitch, depending on your tastes). Atlantis was a disappointment, Treasure Planet wasn't very good at all, Brother Bear was really disappointing, and Home On The Range was terrible. I think The Emperor's New Groove was in there someplace, and it was just okay.

BUT I did go to see The Princess & The Frog because I'm ever a Disney optimistic, and it's pretty fantastic. I'm not a big fan of New Orleans-related stuff, or princess movies, or movies involving cooking, and even though this movie is all of those, I STILL liked it. The animation is so gorgeous, and the characters actually developed, that it far exceeded my expectations.

[AintNoSin]

Ironically, the savior of traditional hand drawn animation at Disney, is John Lasseter, the former head of Pixar. Disney had effectively abandoned traditional animation in favor of CG before the Pixar deal. That acquisition made Lasseter the head of Disney animation and, as someone who had worked for Disney back in the 80s and had seen the sad state of Disney animation back then, he set about to revive the hand-drawn animation department.

[Septimus Prime]

I wonder if The Princess and the Frog is actually great or if it just feels great because it's the first cell animated movie in a long, long time.

Personally, I thought the cell animated sections of Enchanted were pretty darn good, but I think it's really because I missed the medium.

[Grand Bob]

Originally Posted by Septimus Prime

I wonder if The Princess and the Frog is actually great or if it just feels great because it's the first cell animated movie in a long, long time.

Hopefully it is a sign of things to come. Like Toefer pointed out, hand-drawn animation suffered a setback beginning in the 60's (because of the predominance of TV?). I don't know it it is a resurgence, but it's nice to see something as well-done as The Princess and the Frog to be released.

[Kizzo]

As I mentioned in another thread. Disney 2D movies haven’t done well at the box office in years. I think the last hit was in 1999 or 2000 for Tarzan. The rest have range from somewhat good to flops at the box office.

I think Eisner made a great business decision to shut it down, and I wouldn’t be surprise if they decide to go back in that direction. Especially after spending 4 billion on Marvel, and with Princess and the Frog not doing well at theaters. Of course the final judgement will be the next animation movie.

I love this type of animation, but the mainstream isn’t interested in it anymore, especially this new generation who have grown up on Pixar and DreamWorks Animation movies.

[Zippyfan]

Has the Princess and the frog been released in the UK yet?

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by KubrickFan

CG is animated.

And Wolverine, Bolt was released in 2008 and The Princess and the Frog in 2009 That's not a big gap at all. Or do you mean something else?

I think he was assuming in his OP that Bolt is commonly revered as a Disney animated classic on the same tier as classics such as The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast... I was confused reading it too. The Princess and the Frog was made with the mindset and manner of all the other beloved animated classics, which is why I think that would be the other end of the gap, if anything.

I think there is a thread on here somewhere that shows the tiers of "classic" under which Disney releases their titles... Platinum, Gold, etc. I agree that we need more films like the ones made during Walt Disney's days. But The Princess and the Frog is a step in that direction, so at the moment, we can't complain

[jtwise]

i prefer disney letting pixar do it

[casablanca3]

Originally Posted by Wolverine1980

For the longest time, Disney made excellent animated features but there's quite a gap between the last one and Bolt...doubt Princess and the Frog would be considered excellent by most, haven't seen it though. It's almost like something changed inside Disney and they stopped focusing on making excellent animated movies and just let Pixar do it instead.

The real geniuses are at Pixar. If Lasseter had stayed Disney would be doing what Pixar is but he left and Pixar became great and Disney doesn't have it anymore. Doesn't bother me any though because Pixar are such geniuses that there is no need for any other animated features.

[AintNoSin]

Originally Posted by casablanca3

The real geniuses are at Pixar. If Lasseter had stayed Disney would be doing what Pixar is but he left and Pixar became great and Disney doesn't have it anymore. Doesn't bother me any though because Pixar are such geniuses that there is no need for any other animated features.

Ahem, Disney bought Pixar and Lasseter is now head of all Disney animation.

[HockeySlasher]

I saw something on TV a few years ago asking the same question - where is the hand-drawn animation? (again, this was a few years ago when Dreamworks was really hitting it big with Shrek and Pixar had turned out a few good CGI movies as well)

I think it was John Lasseter (sp?) who said that Pixar inadvertently destroyed Disney's hand drawn animation studio because the CGI movies were so popular that Disney and other companies were pumping money into those areas and then the CGI companies were hiring former drawers to do storyboards and such. So, that coupled with the lack of a hand-drawn Disney hit, really put the death nail into hand-drawn features.

I'm all for Disney to make a comeback with a hand drawn animation - however the stories better be good, or else it might never come back.

[AintNoSin]

Originally Posted by Blu Tide

I saw something on TV a few years ago asking the same question - where is the hand-drawn animation? (again, this was a few years ago when Dreamworks was really hitting it big with Shrek and Pixar had turned out a few good CGI movies as well)

I think it was John Lasseter (sp?) who said that Pixar inadvertently destroyed Disney's hand drawn animation studio because the CGI movies were so popular that Disney and other companies were pumping money into those areas and then the CGI companies were hiring former drawers to do storyboards and such. So, that coupled with the lack of a hand-drawn Disney hit, really put the death nail into hand-drawn features.

Is this thing on? [tap, tap] Now that Lasseter is in charge of all Disney animation, he has explicitly said that they are reviving their traditional animation department. The Princess and the Frog is probably the first product of that revival.

[sasquatch]

Yup, John Lasseter says they are returning to hand-drawn animation and want to do one every 2 years. Just google it and you'll see.

I like both CGI and hand-drawn.

[Clark Kent]

If Disney did not have such a rich legacy, I suspect traditional animation would have been completely dropped by them. While I favor actual drawings, the market today seems to mostly reward CGI films.

[Grand Bob]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

If Disney did not have such a rich legacy, I suspect traditional animation would have been completely dropped by them. While I favor actual drawings, the market today seems to mostly reward CGI films.

I'm not sure if there are any other studios that have the resources to produce and market a hand-drawn animated film other than Disney.

[starbinger]

It's not hand drawn but it would be a shame if no one pointed out how great "Meet the Robinsons" is. It's one of the best Disney (non-Pixar) animated films in ages.