Pencils down. Disney terminates traditional animation

[athelind]

Suspended Animation, by David Koenig.

Disney is getting out of the 2-D Cel-Animated feature biz -- a business that Unca Walt founded all those years ago. They've laid off 1,500 animators. Even their 3-D ambitions seem rather subdued.

Looks like they're going to try to coast on their theme parks, live-action studios, TV and cable networks, and eighty-something years of back catalogue. I don't know -- it seems like they tried that before, during the Lame Animation period of the '70s and '80s. Maybe they've diversified enough to survive. Maybe Disney really can be something other than, well, Disney. Maybe they can run on the strength of characters who are icons and products rather than actual characters.

This is why they're pushing so hard for the Eternal Copyright -- they've given up on making new product.

Comments

[odiedragon.livejournal.com]

You know, the further and further I get away from the mistakes I thought I made in the past, the more I realize that it was all a delayed blessing in disguise... It's better sometimes to give up on a dream than to have it broken.

Life's funny that way.

If 2-D is dead....

[yasha-taur.livejournal.com]

That means that they will be relying more on the 3-D stuff, and their biggest hits there have come from Pixar, not from in-house.

And they are about to re-negotiate the Pixar contract..... ;-)

[araquan.livejournal.com]

Fuck. }:(

[twentythoughts.livejournal.com]

That's really a frick'n shame, because their 2D movies have actually been improving lately. They had a crappy-but-still-successful period, then came movies like "The emperor's new groove" and "Lilo and Stitch"... Movies that actually dared to have fun.

Considering what they're doing now, I really do hope Pixar gets the distribution-only deal. They deserve a bit of success of their own :)

[skorzy.livejournal.com]

Pixar is about to renegotiate their contract with Disney, and I hope they rake them over the coals. Oh.. Goodly!!! One of the original Sharks of Silicon Valley leads Pixar! Jobs will ream Disney for a good chunk of change!! Disney has long forgotten that its the STORY that makes or breaks their animated films! No.. wait.. correct that, Michael Eisner has forgotten that...

I remember an old SNL skit. One of the actors ( I forget who) stands in front of the camera on a Christmas episode. "Hello! I'm Michael Eisner. Last year, I made 120 million dollars. Merry Christmas!!!" *fade to black and applause*

Says alot, no?

Disney will survive. Hopefully there's enough interest and venture capital out there for more "Don Bluth Co's" to spring up. This action could be a birth?

[odiedragon.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping so. One of their greatest animators (or so I've read, but I don't have a link) was really frustrated with everything, and that was before all this went down, I think. I'm hoping he'll leave them and start his own studio, if he can find the capitol. Lord knows he'll have enough of an employee base to pull from.