Jim on Film
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I’m still lost by why people don’t like Brother Bear. Not only does it have a developed theme and was it a bold step forward for Disney, but it’s so much fun. To me, Brother Bear was everything a classic Disney animated film should be, complete with great and memorable characters, hilarious moments, and a strong pull at the heart. For me, it will always be a source of respect and amazement that a film that was started in an attempt to clone The Lion King (thanks to the visionary leadership of Michael Eisner) became a film that was very different, unique, and very dissimilar from The Lion King.

Part of what may have made so many Disney fans loathe these films (sentiments I have never heard echoed among regular filmgoers) is that each of these are unique in the Disney canon. They were attempts to do something different and to tell stories in different ways. As a result, all three of these (and Home on the Range for that matter) are films that get better on the second viewing because it is a different kind of storytelling and character development. Unfortunately, I think there are too many Disney fans who never gave them a second chance or, in some cases, wrote them off based on others’ opinions. It is my wish that, for the sake of the artists who poured so much of themselves into these movies, that these three marvelous films will earn a respected place alongside Dumbo, Peter Pan, Beauty and the Beast, and the rest of the films in the Disney animated canon.

The Definitive Disney Animation Book from the New Generation
Ever since I was a young Disney fan, I remember checking out Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston’s important book Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life from the library. I was too young to read the book from cover-to-cover, but I would at least read through sections of the book. When I finally bought the book for myself and read it through, I was amazed by what a fantastic book it was. Not only is it a thorough tutorial of the techniques of character animation written in such a way that even those who can’t draw can understand and appreciate the art, it is also a history of the Disney studio and what happened during the first five decades of its life. It gives an insight not only into the art of the films but of the back story behind many of the studio’s best films.

The life of the studio in the realm of the New Generation of artists is still (hopefully) young, but I sure hope someone in the studio plans on writing a book like this someday. The book would not only make for an important record of new discoveries in the art of animation and storytelling (or, in some cases, re-discoveries), but the history of the studio since 1980 would make for a fascinating read. First of all, I will never tire of reading new accounts of what happened in the making of films like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, or Hercules, but there also needs to be a record of all the craziness of the past decade, something stronger and more balanced than passionate pleas on the Internet. The truth of this time period needs to be told, and when it does, I can’t wait for someone to tell it.

Animation Management
I guess this topic is by now a dead horse that has not only been beaten but will eventually wind up with its head severed and resting peacefully in Michael Eisner’s bed, but since, for the first time since my first love of Disney animation erupted in 1988, I am not overly excited about any upcoming Disney Feature Animation releases (mostly because computer-assisted animation doesn’t excite me), it’s still a horse that’s fair game in my book.

Last Saturday, I was chit-chatting with a friend about the company by whom he is employed. A nationally known company, it was purchased by another company at some point in the recent past. Since that time, the company has undergone major alterations in how it does business, with changes being demanded by honchos who have no working knowledge of how the industry works. The result is rotating management, wasted money, low employee morale, and inefficiencies that cost the company profits it doesn’t realize it is losing.

I know how that works. For four years, as I worked my way through college, I worked at a Kmart store, where I was just one employee out of many who suffered through inane decrees from corporate management that were clearly dictated by those who had no real clue about the problems in the company or the daily operations of those who were attempting to make them money. To this day, the company still struggles to solve its fundamental problems. I wonder why.