DISNEY ANIMATI
ON
F R O M CA R T O O N S T
O AN I M
A T E D PR O D U C T I O
J NS
EARLY DISNEY
DISNEY BROTHERS CARTOON STUDIO• Established in 1923• Built on animated shorts beginning with 1921’s Cleaning
Up!• Little Red Riding Hood (1922): http://youtu.be/fRe6ItAQigg• Alice Comedies established Disney as a studio• Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in 1927 (lost the character when
Iwerk left Disney)• Trolly Troubles (1922): http://youtu.be/c9LmDpMO2k0• Mickey Mouse, Plane Crazy replaced Oswald in 1928
(released 1929)• http://youtu.be/oUS8x4xZ3m4
DISNEY MOVES INTO FEATURES
SNOW WHITE AND CLASSIC DISNEY FEATURES• Unprecedented success when released (1937-38)• Made in “multiplane Technicolor”—both the multiplane
camera and the full-color Technicolor process were still new in animated films.
• Best Feature: Fantasia (an experimental film produced to an accompanying orchestral arrangement conducted by Leopold Stokowski)
• http://youtu.be/-gZbMOq_Ge8
• http://youtu.be/cqyVZK5yN1E
CLASSIC DISNEY AFTER WWII
DISNEY FEATURES AFTER WWII• Production of features temporarily suspended due to WWII,
between Bambi and Cinderella • European Market cut off from the war• Huge amount of studio productions for the military—
propaganda films (from 1942-45, 95% of animation was for the military
• Example: http://youtu.be/oqMVpcbhpqw• Song of the South and So Dear to my Heart = live
action/animation• http://youtu.be/11AVwBBtruM• Cinderella was the first fully animated feature after the war
in 1950• http://youtu.be/_TKBHJeEljU
SLEEPING BEAUTY
DISNEY MOVES INTO THE 1960S• Sleeping Beauty: stylistic shift that led to renewed interest
in features through 1960shttp://youtu.be/CfsyUyi_FJM
• High expense of features, however, led to economic losses—and did not recoup costs until decades after original release
• 1962: Disney shut down the short subject department, focusing attention on television and feature films
• Expansion into television coincided with decline in both revenue and quality of output
DISNEY AFTER TELEVISION
DISNEY IN THE 1970S AND 80S• 1970s: decline in popularity that spread to 1980s• 1979: Don Bluth left Disney and created his own studio,
producing works that arguably surpassed Disney quality and challenged its economic dominance
• http://youtu.be/FwNfsLwQBhM• Rock Bottom in 1985 with The Black Cauldron (the first
Disney animated feature with a PG rating)—• http://youtu.be/xUGfIvi6uvc• failed to break even and so poorly received • would not be released for home viewing for more than a decade.
MICHAEL EISNER AND DISNEY RESURGENCE
MICHAEL EISNER1984-2004:• CAPS and Who Framed Roger Rabbit:1. bombastic animated musicals, using music as well as high-quality
animation to attract audiences.2. Coincided with introduction of computer-aided animation
techniques• Oliver and Company (1988)• The Little Mermaid (1989)• Beauty and the Beast (1991)• Aladdin (1992)• The Lion King (1994)• Pocahontas (1995)
COMPETITION FROM OTHER STUDIOS• Layoffs from 2000 to 600 animators• Dismal performances in relation to Pixar, DreamWorks• Converted WDFA into a CGI studio• Paris studio shut down in 2003• Orlando studio shut down in 200 and turned into a Theme
Park attraction• Home on the Range (2004) last traditionally-animated
feature until The Princess and the Frog (with Pixar’s John Lassiter)
DISNEY TODAY• Pixar’s Edwin Catmull and John Lassiter• DisneyToon Studios—Consumer products, direct-to-video,
etc.• Waking Sleeping Beauty• Tangled• http://youtu.be/hsJFEqOL1UI• Brave• http://youtu.be/TEHWDA_6e3M
