The Road to Glory Days
Management and leadership at the Disney Studios changed once again by the mid-2000s. CEO Michael Eisner (who had been generating controversy and tension behind the scenes for a few years by then) was replaced by former company President and Chief Operating Officer Bob Iger in October of 2005. Iger's objective was to return the studio to its glory days, and to seek out the appropriate people to help make that a reality.
From the success model that Pixar Animation Studios had been following for almost a decade, Iger met with the company's co-founders Steve Jobs, Ed Catmull, and John Lasseter, who had collectively been experiencing a dysfunctional relationship with the Mouse House in recent years. Iger suggested that both studios join up, keeping each its own entity and culture, while influencing each other creatively and professionally. An acquisition deal of $7.4 billion in 2006 resulted in Jobs becoming Disney's largest shareholder, while Catmull and Lasseter became president and chief creative officer, respectfully, of both company's animation studios--roles they held for over a decade. (Lasseter, unfortunately, was ousted from both companies when reported misconduct allegations surfaced in 2017; the pioneering filmmaker and executive eventually found another opportunity, with Skydance Animation, after reportedly "taking ownership of his [reported] behavior.")
To differentiate itself from Pixar (and not to confuse the general public), Walt Disney Feature Animation created their own logo, and renamed their division "Walt Disney Animation Studios," paying homage to the legacy that Walt started with Mickey Mouse in the late 1920s (the iconic image of "Steamboat Willie" has since been the division's mascot). Meet the Robinsons and Bolt were already in production when Catmull and Lasseter joined the company, and both CGI films were eventually retooled under their supervision (and went on to become critically-acclaimed hits.)
 |
| (L-r) 2005's Chicken Little, 2007's Meet the Robinsons, and 2008's Bolt |
Based on the William Joyce children's book, "A Day With Wilbur Robinson," Robinsons follows a boy genius named Lewis, who travels to the future and meets a gang of quirky relatives he never knew he had (including a pizza delivery superhero and an amphibian-composing matriarch), while being pursued by a kooky Bowler Hat Guy. The world in this film echoes Disney World's Tomorrowland with a retro-1950s sensibility and wonder. And while the humor can be overly-cartoony at times, the central theme of overcoming doubts and embracing one's failures, quirks, and progress, rings loud and clear. (They practically repeat the message of "keep moving forward" dozens of times through the film.)
Bolt recalled the adventurous escapades of some of the studio's most memorable canine characters, particularly Oliver & Company, but with more contemporary action. (The lead heroine, voiced by Miley Cyrus, is even named Penny, just like the little girl in that 1988 movie.) Bolt is a "superhero" dog (voiced by John Travolta, in probably his most recent great role), who's actually a TV star, mistakenly ends up across country, and goes on a mission to get back to his TV owner, with help from a sassy stray cat and an obsessive fan in the form of a guinea pig.
Fred Rogers once did a special on PBS in the 1970s about the dangers of children acting out superhero antics, and Bolt doesn't shy away from such effects (although not as strongly), especially when the titular white shepard puppy learns about the real world for the first time. The film also touches on how an unhealthy or misguided obsession with fantasy (or, at least, studio pressures) affects one's views on the world. At the same time, some unexpected emotional twists make this a transition piece for the studio (some critics have called this one of Disney's best in years), not to mention a worthwhile message on what it means to be a real hero (or, in Bolt's case, a real dog).
 |
| John Lasseter and Ed Catmull |
Back to the Drawing Board
Even as they released computer animated features for kids and families, there were a batch of hand-drawn features by other studios that helped give traditional animation something of a comeback in the second-half of the decade. Such films included those by animator/director Hayao Miyazaki and his Tokyo-based Studio Ghibli (2008's Ponyo), a 2007 fantasy-comedy called Enchanted (starring Amy Adams as an animated Snow White-type princess in a live-action, modern-day New York), and a long-awaited big-screen version of The Simpsons (a Fox-owned property bought by Disney last year, oddly enough).
But it was 2009's The Princess and the Frog in which Disney animation attempted to revitalize the traditional hand-drawn techniques not seen in feature-length form for over five years. A twist on the classic story of "The Frog Prince" but set in 1920s New Orleans (a radical backdrop for a fairy tale adaptation), the central character is a young woman named Tiana (Disney's first African-American heroine, voiced and sung by a sensational Anika Noni Rose), who pursues a childhood dream she shared with her father of opening up a restaurant. Her journey involves more than just "wishing upon a star" (as Jiminy Cricket sang about). Tiana works hard for her dreams, influencing and challenging others (including the pretentious Prince Naveen, turned into a frog by the villainous witch doctor Facilier) with her actions, and learning the hard way about the difference between wants and needs.
With catchy music by composer Randy Newman, and a style that recalls Lady and the Tramp, The Sword in the Stone, and The Rescuers, the film includes many charming and infectious characters, including Naveen (especially in his frog form), Louis the trumpet-playing alligator, Ray the Cajun firefly, and enchantment queen Mama Odie. With the latter in mind, the story does unfortunately include some rather dark spirituality in the form of Facilier and his "friends from the other side," rivaling the likes of Disneyland's "Tower of Terror" and Pirates of the Caribbean. Even saying there are good witch doctors and bad witch doctors (a far cry from The Wizard of Oz, perhaps) will have more discerning families scratching their heads.
 |
| 2009's The Princess and the Frog |
In his 2014 book, "Creativity, Inc.," Catmull explains how he and the producers of The Princess and the Frog made a grave mistake in marketing the film, in terms of its title and its appeal to certain audiences (which they kept in mind when they released the Rupunzel adaptation Tangled the following year). The film does have its fans (Tiana's proactive personality has influenced many little girls), but the future of hand-drawn animation seemed uncertain. As Catmull explained, "The issue with 2D [animation] was not the validity of the time-honored art form but that Disney's directors needed and wanted to engaged with the new. . . . The truth was, [they] respected the studio's heritage, but they wanted to build on it--and in order to do that, that had to be free to forge their own path."
There's a quote by Walt Disney himself that was featured in Meet the Robinsons, which states, “Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
Other Avenues On the Lot
Disney's attempt to return to hand-drawn features proved to be short-lived, with 2011's Winnie the Pooh (a charming and wonderful introduction of A.A. Milne's creations an never-before-adapted stories from the Hundred Acre Wood to a new generation) being the studio's most recent feature-length story to use this medium. Many have wondered if the art form has since become obsolete and if the studio was or is ever going to make an animated feature film as such again.
Well, that's not entirely true. Disney has reportedly talked about the possibility of returning to hand-drawn movies. Meanwhile, the near-century-old medium has been used sparingly in many feature films, animated and live-action, throughout the 2010's. From Maui's tattoos in the 2016 CGI adventure Moana, to a brief Tinker Bell cameo in 2013's live-action Saving Mr. Banks, and a colorful, 17-minute fantasy sequence in 2018's live-action sequel Mary Poppins Returns. It's even been predominant or essential in many award-winning or arthouse films, from Studio Ghibli's The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, to GKids' Ernest and Celestine, to Paramount's SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, and even Sony's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
 |
| The "Meander" animation process of the 2012 short Paperman |
Since the early-2000s, Disney (along with periodically re-releasing their classic animated films every few years, this time on DVD and Blu-ray) went back to their tradition of making short films, giving up-and-coming filmmakers opportunities to tell stories and explore new avenues and possibilities for animation. Some were originally planned for a now-abandoned continuation of Fantasia, but have gained critical accolades since their limited releases (including Academy Award nominations for best animated short film). These included 2004's Lorenzo (an original idea from late story veteran Joe Grant, about a gluttonous cat whose tale gets jinxed, resulting in a tango) and 2006's The Little Match Girl (a sombering adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's story of a poor young match seller in St. Petersburg during the pre-Revolution). There were even loving homages to classic characters Goofy and Mickey Mouse with the terrific and funny shorts, How To Hook Up Your Home Theater (2007) and Get a Horse (2013), respectfully. (The latter used recycled vocal clips of Walt as Mickey.)
But their biggest breakthrough, by far, was the 2012 award-winning Paperman. A simple story that about a serendipidous romance between two young people (complete with paper airplanes), this short seamlessly combines hand-drawn qualities with CGI (at the insistence of director John Kahrs) in a process called "Meander." Echoing the Xerox look from the 1960s, as well as the character designs of veteran animator Milt Kahl, Paperman is a beautifully-made piece, and may be the best short that Disney has ever made.
As amazing as computer graphics can be (and the animation department focused primarily on such features for the next decade, both for new princesses and original stories), Paperman represents the best of what animation is collectively capable of. With the exceptions of its use in the 2014 short Feast and in Moana, I eagerly await a feature film to further and fully embrace this technology as they did in Paperman.
No comments:
Post a Comment