Wonderful World of CRAP no more, if I had my way.
I have always had a great love of Disney. I was the perfect age for the Disney Renaissance – that prime period of time between 1989 and 1999 when all of the most amazing Disney animated movies were made. To be fair, I was a little too young for The Little Mermaid, but I remember seeing all the others in the theatre. Even as I grew, my love for these Disney movies remained. But now, for some strange reason, my love and academic interest has multiplied.This is most likely because we are in the middle of another Disney downfall, and I am clinging to these movies, praying for Walt Disney to fix this. Sadly, this has not happened. The only quality movies being released from Disney are Pixar films and the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. And Disney had very little to do with them, other than distribution.
I, along with the entire world, rightfully blame Michael Eisner. Now, I’m not a violent person, but any of my friends will tell you that my hands start clenching in anticipation of a kill when his name is heard. It is my belief that he should be killed, cloned, and then have his clones all killed. This is hardly fair, I know, but I really don’t care. For God’s sake, he took all of the Disney out of Disney.
Whether it’s his fault or not (it is – it so is, but I haven’t finished reading Disney Wars so I can’t back that up yet), the fact remains that Disney is terrible now. It’s really sad, because it isn’t that hard to fix. At least, if I were in charge it wouldn’t be hard.
So I present to you, in no particular order, my Twelve Step Program for Detoxifying Disney Animation:
1) Don’t, for the love of God, let 2D animation die.
This is perhaps the biggest mistake that Disney is making ever. They’ve announced quite some time ago that they are shutting down all 2D animated films in order to focus solely on 3D. In their opinion, nobody wants to see traditionally animated films anymore. This couldn’t be further from the truth, if you look at the reception the classics had, and in fact still have. True, the 2D films in recent years have failed, but they’ve sucked. Don’t blame the genre. It’s actually really interesting to see how much more computers were used from The Great Mouse Detective up until today, and how it was used progressively more and more. There should be a happy medium.
2) Go back to the winning formula used for Classic Disney and Disney Renaissance.
This includes: 1. Using legends, fairy, and folk takes as inspiration. 2. A more Broadway musical style, with original songs and music. 3. A strong, epic story instead of something fun. 4. Humor. Stuff like that.
3) Stop worrying so much about money.
Don’t ignore it completely, obviously, but remember that you have to sometimes spend money to make money. Don’t let quality die in order to save you a few pennies during production; a poorly made film will not make it back.
4) Kill Michael Eisner.
Slowly and painfully. Because I hate him. Hire people that aren’t business people. Hire people that love movies, and especially Disney movies. Because they know. As opposed to Eisner, who had never even seen a Disney movie when he went to the company.
5) Steal the Dreamworks Animation writers and developers, as well as those foreign guys.
The writers from Shrek already have a history with Disney, working in Pirates of the Caribbean. Send them over to animation, and pay them enough not to work with Dreamworks again. Also, look to artists such as Hayao Miyasaki for inspiration. There are many wonderful animated filmmakers (The Triplets of Belleville, anybody? Weird but oh so good.)in the world, and Disney should work to get them. Besides, steal all the Dreamworks guys, and you’ll eliminate the competition.
6) Love John Lassetter and Pixar, don’t fight them.
Disney's already put him in as head of animation and, bless him, he doesn’t want 2D to die either. Disney shouldn’t screw it all up over stupid issues like marketing, merchandising, and sequels. Give Pixar complete creative control. And don't get so damn hung up over sequels. Which leads to Step 7.
7) Stop making Direct-to-Video sequels.
Nobody likes them, they suck, they don’t make money, and they’re an insult to the Disney canon. Put the money and work back to original Disney animated features. The End.
8) Don’t try too hard.
Don’t look too hard for what the demographics what; they often don’t know what the hell they want, anyway. Movies from the Renaissance period, and all of Disney, happened naturally. Don’t take the first that that hits you and work it to death in a desperate attempt to get it to work. Just let it happen. Listen to all ideas and don’t immediately dismiss them.
9) Don’t sacrifice quality for A-list celebrities.
Don’t use famous names if there’s a no name that works better. Nobody ever notices, anyway, unless they have a very distinct voice. It’s alright, however, to have an easily recognizable person play the outrageous sidekick (à la Aladdin and Mulan, and to a lesser extent, The Lion King, with the hyenas). Movies like Madagascar worked, in contrast, because each of the characters complimented the person playing them. Use it when it works, and only then.
10) Don’t dumb it down.
Don’t make a movie vapid and idiotic because you don’t think children will understand it. They will. Dumbing it down also makes watching movies a misery for everyone over the age of 8, which greatly limits your audience. I imagine that everybody, whether they had children or not, went to see Beauty and the Beast. Seriously. It was nominated for Best Picture. If it weren’t for Best Animated Feature, I bet another just like it could win.
11) Continue with the re-releases.
A good idea, because it introduces new children to the movies, and there’s nothing like seeing a movie in the theatre. It always rebuilds excitement. The special editions of Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King for IMAX, in my opinion, were brilliant because they included coveted deleted scenes.
12) Get better PR.
Because really, Disney. People think you hate the world.
I might or might not have a post later on today; turns out I have a sister, and she's in town visiting with her children. This is me, completely boggled. I'll try, but if I do, it'll be short. And probably just a short little blurb on the new Spiderman 3 teaser poster. So, until then...
The Devil in the Details
Taylor Lauren Amato
posted by Taylor Lauren @ 7/15/2006 01:05:00 AM
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