Jim on Film: Rescue Aid Society
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There also needs to be a return to the values that Walt instilled in his animated films. They need to be timeless. Every piece of art is naturally reflective of the time in which it was created, but Walt Disney’s films always generally retained a sense of timelessness (Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, and The Sword in the Stone being the only aberrations). This is what sets Walt Disney Feature Animation apart; this is the identity the studio has nurtured. There should also be a level of purity and wholesomeness about the films. This has recently been replaced with so-called edginess in the guise of lip-curling innuendo that is neither witty nor laugh-getting (the Chickens Gone Wild line in Chicken Little I find truly sickening; imagine explaining that one to your grandkids in fifteen years). I remember when The Little Mermaid was edgy because of how fresh and appealing it was; Disney (and Hollywood in general) needs to remember that there are many ways to be edgy and to break new ground other than just pushing the content envelope. It’s odd that, under the skillful direction of Dick Cook and Nina Jacobson, Disney’s live-action division has returned to wholesomeness and cleanliness in family movies while Walt Disney Feature Animation has lost touch with it. And probably most importantly, the films need to be original and Disney-like. Disney films have always been Disney films, and they need to return to their pre-identity crisis days. What happens when there is a focus on marketing and copying other studios? You get comedies with precious little comedy, devoid of memorable characters, that feel desperate and unoriginal.
Of course, a key component that I would like to see (as I know many others would) is a return to traditional animation. With Pixar now in the family fold, perhaps the wisest use of resources and to avoid flooding the market again, Walt Disney Feature Animation should return to traditional animation, and Pixar should handle all the CGI animation. One of the Internet-published thoughts is that new Disney lead Bob Iger is probably not eager to jump back into traditional animation after the costly switch to CGI; however, I wonder how comfortable he’d feel if people told him their thoughts? If enough people wrote, perhaps he’d see the market for this amazing art form, and some of the best artists would get their jobs back making great art for Disney. And, of course, we’d get our hand-drawn animation back as well.
In recently re-watching Lady and the Tramp, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and Treasure Planet, the bonus features on the Lady and the Tramp DVD, plus watching Dream On Silly Dreamer and its bonus features multiple times, then popping in several collections of Disney songs on my CD player, and becoming (kind of) philosophical in the wake of reading reviews upon Chicken Little’s DVD debut, I am reminded of the great love I have for the works and the talent of Walt Disney Feature Animation. I am nothing short of ecstatic with the news that John Lasseter and friends are shaking things up, and I look forward to the day when they get Walt Disney Feature Animation off life support and the brilliant, inspired, magical minds who gave us masterpieces like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, Tarzan, and Treasure Planet are once again fully in control of their own division’s artistic destiny. I don’t know who entirely is left at the studio after the massive lay-offs of the Schumacher regime, but in their hands, with John Lasseter’s leadership, they will prove to all the naysayers that they could do it all along. They just needed the champion to give them the resources and to not hinder them.
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-- Jim Miles
With a love for animation discovered from watching Oliver & Company in 1988, Jim Miles has actively been studying animation and storytelling through animation since the fifth grade. In addition to his column for the Laughing Place, Jim has written two novels, both of which he hopes to revise for publication sometime before he dies. His love for great literature and the theatre has also driven him to write a libretto for a dramatic musical entitled Fire in Berlin as well as to start a musical comedy, City of Dreams. Jim will soon move to Los Angeles to pursue a full-time writing career.
The opinions expressed by Jim, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future of Disneyland and the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted April 4 2006