Evolution of Disney

Hey guys! So this has been on my mind for a few weeks and I read a few articles written in March/April announcing most of Disney's hand-drawn animation team was let go, and that no longer will their features be hand-drawn but most likely, all CGI.

Personally, I see hand-drawn animation as traditional, and as art. I've recently seen Brave & Tangled, and I have to admit, it bothers me a bit how everyone has the same fair-colored round, baby face with huge eyes. I really admire the classics more and although I think Disney is trying to be more efficient and improve their ways of storytelling, I'm afraid these animations are going to be too similar with how they look to the audience members.

What are your opinions? Would love to hear! Especially since I don't know a lot about CGI or film.

I've read a few comments on-line and here are some things to consider:
- Is Disney being short-sighted about this?
- If Walt was still around would he want to move on to new
techniques like these? Would he care or not?
- Biggest question: Is CGI a sure improvement or just another
medium for telling stories?

Interesting topic as I'm a huge fan of Disney but honestly could not answer most of your questions. Would just like to kick it off by saying I loved Mickey Mouse...one of his first and...did you know Walt himself done the voice over for him?

Oh...and please don't get me started on Mary Poppins or The Jungle Book....I'll be here for ever!

Hi Hellon, I'm with you on that, I could be here forever talking about all the classics! I didn't know that about the voice over, neat! I never grew up with Mickey Mouse or Goofy or anything of the other toons, mostly just watching the movies, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin <3

You know, i'm back and forth on this. I adore Disney movies...Fox and the Hound is my old school favorite and Nemo and Tangled are my new aged faves.....

and though I appreciate hand drawings and think its totally amazing, I also think what we can do with CGI is amazing too.

So I cant tell how I even feel lol....us adults can tell the difference and us adults can say "this is crap, blah blah blah" but really it comes down to the children and if theyre still loving the films, and not noticing the difference, there really isnt a problem.

I think like anything Disney has to move with the times to stay relevant. I like the fact they have picked up the Star wars franchise which will be huge for them.

My daughters loved Brave, and when you talk about evolution think of how Merida compares to snow white for example.
Snow white was a simple pretty girl who lived with dwarves and was happy to care for them and cook and clean, dreaming of one day being a princess. Merida hated being a princess and was more of a tomboy who could fire arrows and actually dominated men. I think Disney should be applauded for taking that step.

(I know far too much about Disney princesses)

Chels- I love how you brought out the point that it is for the children in the end. Although in profit, CGI does better, if the overall audience is happy and are going to more of those movies, then that IS good.

I guess it's just kind of sad for the age group(s) that grew up knowing the traditional hand drawn art and those toons/movies...

Darren- so true about moving with the times! Star Wars was a huge decision on their part I'm sure, and I think it could definitely be an asset. I love your thoughts on all this and I think it's great you know so much about the princesses haha, that's sweet about your daughter :) When reading your reply I automatically thought of Mulan. I think there are different turns they took like the classic Cinderella & Snow white princesses. And the ones for adventure, outdoorsy, almost like Tangled because she grew tired of staying in the castle, even though she was going to rule the kingdom, she still wanted adventure and not be served.

I'm a big fan of hand-drawn Disney. I think the animation is beautiful, and there's a level of craftsmanship that would be hard to replicate today. The stories also tended to be more... I don't know... un-ironic? Everything for kids now seems to contain a wink to adults. While they're fun to watch, I'm a little nostalgic for times when movies could be so dang -earnest.-

However! I do think there is amazing artistry in the movies nowadays. Merida's hair? That stuff's amazing. It's not like they just plug something into a computer and have a program shoot something out the other side... moviemakers now have to have both artistic vision, and the technological chops to realize it. As long as they have respect for a good story, I think they could tell it in any number of ways.