Taking Stock of a Falling Sky
Rhett Wickham

I’m trying very hard to avoid editorializing about the current public battles, such as Pixar vs Disney. Without full transparency on the part of all parties concerned there’s nothing but speculation left, and the financial pundits are far better at that than I.

I am not going to apologize for the mess Michael Eisner has made. Nor am I going to try to temper the sting of hundreds of talented artists and technicians who have lost their jobs over the past two years. I am willing, however, to keep some hope and not give up on the remaining talent at Walt Disney Feature Animation.

Before anyone shouts “Pollyanna�? or “apologist�? let’s be very clear that I am talking about talent not management. I won’t pretend to come up with answers for why the studio has made some of the tactical reorganization moves it has of late. Numerous and repeated requests to David Stainton and his staff to speak directly to this question, and to present to readers his vision for the future of Feature Animation, have gone un-responded to at this time. I remain hopeful that he will step up, as it is indeed a curious thing to dismantle the satellite division that has proven to be the most cost effective in-house assemblage the studio has had for the past ten years. Still, I’ll leave that for another time. Nor will I take time now to speak to how the directors and writers who were responsible for the properties that launched and sustained the Disney animation renaissance could be allowed to depart at this critical time in the division’s history. It’s important to note that contrary to other more aggressive dismissals of key talent, this was a passive act on Disney’s part, as Mssrs. Clements and Musker departed because they had no contract after a year. Passive aggressive perhaps, but still they were not fired. Their official status is “unpaid leave of absence�? as of February 1st of this year. But no matter how it came about, it has only added a tangible level of despair and sadness to the halls of Riverside Drive. Once again, a little transparency wouldn’t hurt.

Instead of dwelling on the gut wrenching chaos, I want to shift the focus, if only for a moment, on the question that matters most in the end - who will make the magic?

In the interest of examining what we DO know for certain, I’d like to zero in on who is left to carry on the animation legacy and who is working to produce films that deserve the stamp of Walt Disney Feature Animation. Since HOME ON THE RANGE is completed and in the can, and because the hot topic of the day is “can Disney go it without Pixar?�?, let’s look at a feature still in production - CHICKEN LITTLE.

Here is a film over a year out from release that Disney refers to loudly and proudly as their “first all C-G effort.�? That is to say their first all digital feature directed, animated and produced without the resources of an outside vendor or partner. (No, DINOSAUR doesn’t count because the majority of the backgrounds were live action footage against which the digital characters were composited.) CHICKEN LITTLE is scheduled for a 2005 release and will likely be the film by which the Pixar parting will be judged - provided this truly is a final parting.

At the helm of CHICKEN LITTLE are an established and successful producing directing team, Randy Fullmer and Mark Dindal, the duo responsible for THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE. Producer Randy Fullmer has the pedigree of an artist. That’s a rare thing in a producer. Fullmer started out, like Dindal, in effects animation. He was groomed under the guidance of Disney’s most prolific and artist centric producer, Don Hahn.

Director Mark Dindal left Disney and struck out on his own in the late 1980’s and wrote and directed a fantastic and charming film called CATS DON’T DANCE. Sadly, CATS suffered a fate worse than death - neglect. It was made for Turner Animation which was bought by Warner Bros. which was in the midst of a management turnover at the time of the film’s slated release. CATS DON’T DANCE got buried and its marketing budget slashed - nay, eliminated - and it never found an audience because the studio in charge of its distribution rudely never went looking for one. Dindal returned to Disney in the early 1990’s, where he came on to an ailing and embattled KINGDOM OF THE SUN a.k.a. KINGDOM IN THE SUN. Dindal retooled it into the surprisingly funny and wildly different THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE, which, in spite of marketing’s poorest efforts, found its audience through word of mouth and stayed in the top ten at the box office for over a month. Of Disney’s last five feature animated films, NEW GROOVE tracked higher with critics and audiences than any feature except LILO & STITCH, which lead it by less than five points with both groups. Those are pretty good numbers for the first picture in over three decades at Disney with only one director.

Added into this mix are such animators as Mark Austin (Aladar), Doug Bennett (Jane, Ballerina/Tin Soldier), Nik Ranieri (Lumier, Kuzko, Hades, & Meeko), Jason Ryan (Tin Soldier/Jack-in-the-Box, Kron) and Ellen Woodbury (Zazu, Pegasus). This collective of talent is somewhat less familiar with animating in MAYA than the feature talent that guided TOY STORY up at Pixar ten years ago, but not by much. Plus, the combined experience amounts to nearly a century of creating established and recognizable characters. These animators have delivered strong, funny, touching, powerful and stellar performances in films that audiences have responded to warmly and which have turned profits for the company.