Flipside Movie Emporium

[beltmann]

From Reuters:

"SAN FRANCISCO - The Walt Disney Co. is expected to close a feature-animation studio in Orlando, Florida, on Monday, jeopardizing the jobs of nearly 260 animators, the Orlando Sentinel said.

Some artists will be transferred to Burbank, California, where Disney's corporate headquarters is located, but most of the employees, whose credits include the films "Brother Bear" and "Lilo & Stitch," are expected to lose their jobs, the paper said on Saturday.

Disney was a pioneer in hand-drawn animation, producing classic movies such as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Cinderella" and "Fantasia."

In recent years, however, computer-generated animation has become increasingly popular as evidenced by movies like 2003's "Finding Nemo," made by Pixar Animation Studios.

The underwater adventure was the top-grossing theatrical release in the United States last year, generating about $340 million.

Disney distributed "Finding Nemo" and has a contract with the Emeryville, California-based company that expires at the end of next year.

No one at Disney headquarters was available to comment."

This comes as no surprise, but the reactionary logic behind it, which presumes audiences prefer computer over traditional animation, strikes me as flawed. Certainly computer flicks have outperformed hand-drawn works in recent years, but it's a mistake to assume the disparity is related solely to technique. I'd argue that a larger, far more relevant, difference is the quality of storytelling: Can we honestly say the reason Finding Nemo has been more successful than, say, Brother Bear is that it was made on computers? To me, it's obvious that Nemo's commercial power lies not in a hard drive but in the heads--the imagination and wit--of its creators.

Disney shouldn't toss aside its hand-drawn division; the company ought to cleanse itself of moldy stories and overworked formulas. If traditional animation is a dying form, as many assert, then how do we explain away Miyazaki, Kon Satoshi, and The Triplets of Belleville?

Eric

[the night watchman]

[beltmann]

[Michael Scrutchin]

Ex-Disney Artists Launch Legacy Animation Studios

Quote:

"We believe that traditionally animated films are still a viable form of entertainment," says Legacy Animation Studios Directing Manager, Eddie Pittman. "Our goal is to create quality animated films with compelling stories and strong characters and to continue Walt Disney?s legacy of hand drawn animation."


_________________
Michael Scrutchin
Flipside Movie Emporium
www.flipsidearchive.com

[the night watchman]

Coolio. I curious to see what they turn out. Hopefully this won't be like Don Bluth's company.
_________________
"If you're talking about censorship, and what things should be shown and what things shouldn't be shown, I've said that as an artist you have no social responsibility whatsoever."

-David Cronenberg

[i_hate_beltmann]

doesn't beltmann suck harder than an industrial strength vacuum cleaner? I think (know) that he does.

[i_hate_beltmann]

i didn't mean that in the gay way, but in every other way he sucks

[the night watchman]

[GimmickAccount]