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For ardent animation enthusiasts who have followed the sad changes at Walt Disney Feature Animation via the Internet for the last five years, the balanced outlook of Dream On Silly Dreamer is evident in not only what is presented but what is left out. Undoubtedly, Lund could have easily attacked the two former animation presidents Peter Schneider or Thomas Schumacher, the latter being depicted as most responsible for the decision to end quality traditional hand-drawn animation. Schumacher, by no means, escapes unscathed, but considering the bitter accounts reported on the Internet of his treatment of and disdain for artists, his abandonment of Feature Animation for Broadway success while still heading the animation division, as well as his own insecurity-driven personality quirks that angered so many west of 42nd Street, Lund must have realized that personal attacks, no matter how accurate, would harm the chances of presenting a balanced view of the events and, therefore, would disqualify many of the astute observations presented by both the interviewees and the director. While I would love to see the interview segments that were left on the cutting room floor, Lund’s passionate cause tempered with a rational mind will best serve the future of the film and the potential it has to affect change.

In the final minutes of the film, most of the artists interviewed express hope for the future, that quality traditional hand-drawn feature animation will one day again be an honored staple of the studio’s theatrical output, which is certainly more hope than I’ve felt since the opening weekend of Home on the Range. However, it is this hope that is flavored with a melancholy remembrance of the glory days that delivers the most touching moments. These artists don’t express a heartfelt loss for consistent paychecks, unexpected perks, or large salaries. These are people who are devoted to Disney Feature Animation for the same reasons generations of moviegoers have been. Their true sadness is for the end of a legendary art form that has touched billions of people throughout the world and the downfall of a studio whose name was once synonymous with their driving passion.

For most of the people who read this article, Dream On Silly Dreamer will be a fascinating observation of the rise and fall of a dream. Only a few observations in it—from comments about cheapquels to callous studio executives—will surprise. However, as someone who has watched, has studied, has learned from, has followed, has been awed and inspired by, moved by, tickled by, charmed by, affected by, and has loved Walt Disney Feature Animation for more than half of my young twenty-seven years, Dream On Silly Dreamer is nothing short of an important and powerful film. For the first time ever, someone is speaking what needs to be said in a medium that has the potential to reach those who need to hear. This is not an Internet column written to the choir or a post on an obscure message board only a relative few will ever access. For the first time we get to hear someone—not read—hear someone explain the destructive nature of the cheapquels and theatrical cheapquels in the language of financial impact on a large scale. We hear someone speak of the destruction of the visual development department after over seventy years of story guidance. We hear someone take to task the number of creative executives commanding a division they haven’t the slightest ounce of training, experience, or passion to effectively captain. We hear from those who saw it.

The biggest problem with the Save Disney effort has been the lack of a voice like Dan Lund’s and the potential his film has to make some noise. The news media covered the Roy Disney and Stanley Gold departure with a mild tabloid flare, but they have consistently accepted and printed every single red herring and glossed-over spin Michael Eisner and the studio has served with a smile and white gloves on a mouse-shaped platter. Nobody who matters—stockholders, financial analysts, muckrakers—really knows what happened in the studio, how misguidance and questionable management decisions have cost the studio many years of growth in all areas, not just in Feature Animation. Furthermore, Feature Animation has been particularly hit hard as reviewers and Hollywood analysts, in an attempt to top each other on identifying the latest trend, have been loudly proclaiming the death of traditional animation. Some of these same people trashed Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Brother Bear for their grand attempts at stretching audience expectations, while turning around and then giving high marks to Return to Never Land and Pooh’s Heffalump Movie simply because they didn’t aspire to be anything but fodder for unsuspecting kids who have no winter choices at the movie megaplex. And for the first time, there is someone who can be heard, someone saying, “It’s not the artists’ fault. It’s not the medium’s fault. Look at what really happened.�?

Because of its humorous tone and creative presentation, Dream On Silly Dreamer, once given the opportunity, has the potential to appeal to a large audience even outside of the animation community. Perhaps with the publication of James B. Stewart’s Disney War, which has garnered much praise and media attention because of its embarrassing exposé of Michael Eisner’s flair for creative mismanagement, there will be a more ready audience for Dream On Silly Dreamer, an audience other than the choir that has been preaching for the last five years. This is a movie that must be seen because of the potential it has to educate people with the true story it tells, that only when the spell is broken can there be a truly happy ending.

The strongest visual in Dream On Silly Dreamer is the image of animation desks stacked in rows, ready to be shipped out, their drawing surfaces barred by other pieces of unwanted furniture. It’s like looking at a graveyard of Disney memories, each a tombstone with names like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bambi, The Jungle Book, The Little Mermaid, and The Emperor’s New Groove etched deeply into their smooth wooden surfaces.

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• Dream On Silly Dreamers Official Site
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-- Jim Miles

-- Posted February 24, 2005