Disney sets off to ruin 3D animation with Toy Story 3 and more

It is now early November 2005, Disney is about to open "Chicken Little". It will play in 3500 theaters or so, but 85 of them will be equipped to run digital 3D stereo. This can give Disney a big leg up in future animation films due to the naturally better look of CGI when shown in a good 3D "stereoscopic process". Theaters are dying off, to some extend, as
for the first time millions of people have "theater-like" HD widescreen in their homes, and this will be very powerful in its final impact. 3D will give
theaters someting that is hard to do well in the home.
HD Blu-ray disks will have the ability to deliver fairly good 3D using advanced plastic glasses and better color technology, be it will pale compared to the "real deal" that people can see in a theaters.
Theaters should either invest in one 3D digital package per complex, or the less costly 6 perf.
35mm format, which approaches 70mm quality flat, or
delivers great 3D. It will take 4K digital to match
the quality of new CINE160 3D format, which costs about 10% of the cost of even current 2K digital.

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I may be wrong, but these projects all sound very promising to me. If anyone can pull off some magic with family orientated movies, that would be Disney without a doubt.

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CGI is still a problematic tool when used in the complete absence of the traditionaly painted cel format (I've only seen it pulled off by Pixar).

This is especially true for extremely iconic genres of animation (like Japanese anime) -- the CGI version of Shirow Masamune's "Appleseed" was a complete failure from a visual perspective. While extreme efforts (as far as I can tell) were made to mimic as much as possible the classic anime stylistics, the result was a plasticy looking mess. I found it almost unwatcheable for that very reason.

We'll find out if Disney has the ability to transition their style to the CGI only world. i'm afraid of resultant train wrecks though.

cel

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Don't be fooled by the Disney name - just like the Yankees, Notre Dame and countless other names people associate with greatness, Disney has learned that the name does nothing by itself. It still comes down to the people running the show.

EVERYTHING sounds like a great concept when talking about animation, because anything can be drawn without much more expense - but it still comes down to the story, dialogue, characters and everything else that other movies have to have in order to be successful.

Disney hasn't produced a great animated film without Pixar since The Lion King. After that, Pocahontas and Hunchback of Notre Dame were entertaining (yet noticeably a step back in quality) and since then it's been garbage. Eventually, they will have to understand that sticking the Disney name on a film may get some people to see it, but it won't make it great.

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Please ignore the ignorant first post claiming that Appleseed is a complete failure from a visual perspective. Instead of listening to this person who obviously doesnt know what he is talking about might i urge you to go ahead and see what a visually stunning piece Appleseed truly is...

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Without Pixar, Disney is dead in the water. The only thing they have been producing for a long time are those direct to video sequels of their more classic films. Those are all shameful drivel.

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Pixar's greatest gift was writing a script, and developing characters, that appeal to parents and kids. DreamWorks has made some of the worst animated features by working too hard on being hip, and writing inside jokes for parents, that they forgot about quality characters and story lines. Madagascar is a good example of only writing one liners for the parents and then forgetting about the rest. I fear Disney doesn't know any better without Pixar. My money is on Pixar, I'll watch anything they do. Disney will have to prove it's worth before I buy tickets.

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michael, re: your response to my post on appleseed: go to google and keyword "ad hominem attack." i think you might find the reading educational.

cel

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Lasseter is the story genius. Steve Jobs leaving alone the genius' behind the graphics was the magic of the technology. Metcalf (I think his name is) was left to develop the computer technology with the team put together by him and George Lucas. Disney only ever was the money. And the marketing, which they just no longer need. Disney has been in decline for a long time now. I think this will just be another nail in the mouse's coffin.

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Lets put it this way, Pixar accells at making movies look great. There is no denying that. But that is secondary to them. The most important aspect to their movies, is the story. They all have great stories, are well written, and they find voice talent to fit the bill. Other studios are doing it the opposite way. They are relying on voice talent and CGI as a crutch to a poorly developed story with no character.

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"If anyone can pull off some magic with family orientated movies, that would be Disney without a doubt."

Sounds like someone has never heard of Studio Ghibli.

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As we have all seen from Toy Story 1 and 2, Buzz has been through A LOT! And you can't fool me, he is still in perfect condition. Why would Andy send him in just because of a toy recall? The guy lost his arm for crying out loud. And what happened? Oh yeah, some really cool toys fixed him. There's nothing wrong with Andy's Buzz, and that's the only Buzz we care about.

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As we have all seen from Toy Story 1 and 2, Buzz has been through A LOT! And you can't fool me, he is still in perfect condition. Why would Andy send him in just because of a toy recall? The guy lost his arm for crying out loud. And what happened? Oh yeah, some really cool toys fixed him. There's nothing wrong with Andy's Buzz, and that's the only Buzz we care about.

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Disney will kill the series with this. They seem to have a knack for ruining sure fire hits (King Arthur as one example).

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Disney will not be able to make a good animated movie in ANY style until they realize that story and character developement are what truely creates a hit.
As for Lilo and Stitch, I wonder if the author of this article actually saw the movie and its story about family. It's very touching and contains much more than just cute characters.

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Disney will not be able to make a good animated movie in ANY style until they realize that story and character developement are what truely creates a hit.
As for Lilo and Stitch, I wonder if the author of this article actually saw the movie and its story about family. It's very touching and contains much more than just cute characters.

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I love Disney. Disney had always been the king of animation to me and a lot of others and it will always stay the king to. Pixar is "hot" now but they not always have succes. What to do when they have their first flop? And that Disney is in a decline for a long time isn't true. Disney had since the Lion King great successes with Tarzan, remember, and Lilo and Stitch. And all the others did'nt well? they have done very well but they are not so profitable as the Lion King so it looks like they haven't. And Pixar is doing well? One of Pixar's biggest "Finding Nemo" was less profitable than Disney's "not so great" movie "Brother Bear" here in the Netherlands.
I like Pixar but Disney means a lot more to me. I don't like the upcoming of CGI. because handdrawn-animation=art and Disney=art.
Why Disney disney will always stay the king for me? Because they make films wich are timeless, made with a lot of love and eye for detail. They had a lot of huge titles, but they had some very sad times too. like the 80's when they wanted to close the studios. But Disney has always came back, bigger than ever before. so Disney will survive this time too, when they are looking back and they realise that the story mucic and caracters are more important than everything. Disney has to make timeless movies again. but I think that will come allright with Rapunzel. The fairytales are made for Disney, and Disney is made for the fairytales. Please let Disney make huge succes like the Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Tarzan, Cinderella, Peter Pan and Snowwhite again.

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Disney may as well hang it up without Pixar!
There are alot of talented and amazing people that are apart Pixar Animation Studios. I think they will be making a big mistake. Disney may need to go back and see some of the making of these films, of all the hard work the people of Pixar have done.

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