25 March 2013
By Joann Lee, Staff Writer
During the annual shareholder meeting on March 6, Disney announced its decision to cease production of 2-D movies and produce CGI features and live-action films instead. Disney’s most recent 2-D film, The Winnie the Pooh, released in 2011, did poorly in theaters compared to the likes of Tangled, Brave and Wreck-It-Ralph. With few 2-D films making millions in the box office, it’s easy to see why Disney would want to leave behind hand-drawn animation. But fear not, Disney fanatics, for this abandonment of the classic animation Disney is famous for is not a permanent one:
“To my knowledge we’re not developing a 2D or hand-drawn feature animated film right now,” Bob Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, said. “There is a fair amount of activity going on in hand-drawn animation but it’s largely for television at this point. We’re not necessarily ruling out the possibility [of] a feature but there isn’t any in development at the company at the moment.”
So if Disney is putting 2-D animation to rest, does this mean the company will produce more 3-D versions of older Disney films? Yes and no. Just because Disney decided to take a break from hand-drawn animation does not mean it will attempt to grind out as many 3-D modified films as it can. But that also does not mean it will stop production of those films. The re-release of The Lion King was one of Disney’s first attempts to allow nostalgic Disney-maniacs to experience their favorite classic Disney movies… in 3-D! After The Lion King’s box-office success, Disney was quick to follow up with The Beauty and the Beast, Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc., and probably will continue the trend in the years to come.
It does seem a pity that Disney’s signature 2-D animation will be kept on the back burner because CGI and live-action movies are more popular. John Lasseter, CEO of Pixar Animation Studios, expressed his own disapproval:
“Unfortunately, 2-D became the excuse for poor storytelling. The general consensus was that audiences did not want to watch hand-drawn animated films, which is of course completely ridiculous.”
A good idea or not, it seems that many Disney fans will not enjoy a classic animation film in theaters for quite a while.
Courtesy of www.animationschooldaily.com