It was supposed to have been so much more than what it was. Now, we're standing on the balcony inside this relic of a building- a building where art was created, where a second renaissance was nearly begun- and asking "so, where does it connect to the attraction?"
Feature Animation at the Walt Disney Company is about to undergo a serious renaissance. Along with the coming changes at Imagineering (more on that rebirth soon), the animation division is about to do things it hasn't done for nearly five decades- namely, its about to produce a feature length traditionally animated film (The Frog Princess) and a brand-new Goofy "how-to" short (How To Hook Up Your Home Stereo):
Feature Animation's closure in Florida is a subject few have covered accurately- in fact, the only account I've seen that provides a spot on version of the story is the nine (ten? It's big!) part series over at Jim Hill Media (http://www.jimhillmedia.com). Feature Animation Florida is a place that saw the near-coming of a rebirth of the form that brought the company into existence, and the form that Walt himself grew exhausted with- which ultimately led to the creation of Disneyland.
The "new" Disney Studios at 2719 Hyperion Avenue, Los Angeles.
Here is a man who has been turned down and shut out all his life. A man who created Feature Animation because he wanted the audience to be able to lose themselves as much as he wanted to watch the picture and lose himself within it's boundaries. He wanted a world- a perfect world. That was the entire problem. His animations could not have been more perfect. There was not the time or money or personnel to toy endlessly with them- but a place? A three-dimensional environment? That tells a story? Now we're onto something!
Disneyland can be seen as the next step- a realtime version of animation, and one that never has to be released. It can exist and change all around the audience, and its total immersion provides something (indeed, provided something for Walt) that the animations could not possibly provide: the complete immersion of a world literally created to tell the same stories.
That said, while Disneyland and its 11 brothers and sisters worldwide are the evolution of storytelling, Animation itself has completely ceased to exist today. Traditional, hand drawn, two-dimensional animation suffered one of the worst fates in the history of American entertainment. It is, in fact, the only cinematic art form to have been created and killed in the same century.
Walt, Roy and their girlfriends (later wives) at the "Disney Brothers Studio" in Los Angeles.
The Walt Disney Company was founded on animation. Walt Disney had wanted to be a filmmaker, and animation caught his attention and didn't let go from 1937 until atleast 1950, possibly a few years later. The heritage of "Disney Storytelling" that captures both the corporate and entertainment worlds was essentially created by Walt's pioneering usage of cartoon form. He wanted films that the entire family could find appeal in, and while many took that to mean that he wanted films that appealed to children, it really meant he wanted to make films children could enjoy that could also appeal to adults.
Animation, if it wasn't about telling the stories that seemed to possess him, was about the same thing Disneyland and his television projects would be about: Control. Walt Disney longed for a world he could control, because his early life had been so thrown out of control, and beyond his own abilities to control it.
In 1988, The Walt Disney "corporation" kicked the animators out of their burbank studio, where they had been since its opening, and they landed on Flower Street in Glendale- next door to the creative trust of Walt Disney Imagineering. Here, those that were left created The Little Mermaid, and the renaissance of animation began. Soon enough, the company responded by opening a brand new building for them- dubbed affectionately "the hat building" by the animators for the giant blue Sorcerer Mickey hat that marks its entrance. The structure was designed by post-modern architect Michael Graves (who would go on to construct the Swan and Dolphin hotels at Walt Disney World among other high profile projects for Eisner). The animators themselves were not thrilled that management had decided to construct the building, though most were moderately happy about moving back onto the Burbank studio lot.
Many feared that being once again under the noses of the corporate leaders of the company, their art would be torn to pieces as it had before the move to Glendale, and subjected to close and unfair scrutiny. After The Lion King, the studio began construction, and split WDFA into two factions, so that each of the "units" could produce a feature film at the same time. Initially, the building was met with acclaim by the animators..until they got inside. Then, they realized that the structure had never been intended for animation. It had been intended as a corporate office, and the real reason they had been moved back to Burbank was so that management, as predicted, could have excessive control over everything they did. One animator claimed "I don't think the company was ever built for animation. It was built for the company to advertise animation."
The "Hat Building", which was supposed to have provided the sight for the animation renaissance to continue into a new golden age.
Soon enough, the animation unit was in far worse trouble than anyone had realized. A decade later, announcements began to trickle down the food chain that Disney was no longer going to invest anything in traditional animation at all. Many didn't believe the harsh words, thinking it would be like Einstein proclaiming electricity unecessary, like Universal Studios denouncing monster films, but it was closer than any of them realized. Feature Animation was disbanded- the very best (or should we say highest up on the chain) of the animators were then hired on a project-only basis, just like the rest of Hollywood.
Now, if you ask the executives responsible for these decisions, they will tell you that WDFA (now Walt Disney Animation Studios) never went anywhere at all. That it is, officially, the "oldest animation studio in the entire world." The company did not, in effect, shut down the studio itself. Instead, they followed suit with the competitor they had (at that time) lost a partnership with, our cousins up in Emeryville, Pixar. The Walt Disney Feature Animation of yesterday ended with Home on the Range, a lackluster production probably in part because most of these folks knew it was over. After that picture was released in 2004, the announcements and pink slips began to fly. First, Burbank's studio was converted into an all-CGI studio, meaning that instead of continuing the traditional hand-drawn style of animation that the company's founder had pioneered, WDFA would now follow suit with Pixar and develop projects like Chicken Little and Meet the Robinsons.
Next, and perhaps most tragically and unforseen, the Orlando animation studios (located on the backlot of Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park, and the only animation building built with anything like animators in mind at all) was shut down. There were ten days of rumors, a weekend, and the following monday the animators inside were told to pack their things. They would not be transferred, mind you, but layed off. No chance was given. Barely did they get even notice of the events. The Orlando studio had just come off producing a string of Disney hits, including Mulan, Lilo and Stitch and Brother Bear, and were working on an animation project called My Peoples- which executives had already butchered the script for and renamed A Few Good Ghosts, due to the relatively minor supernatural events in the story. '
2005 brought the closure of Australia's WDFA, the last hand-drawn animation studio operating within the empire....and the rest, as they say, is history.
Almost..
You see, many of the animators refused to give up on the idea that these productions could not make money and all the while be relevant as works of art. They believed in their work, to the point where they formed their own studios (Project Firefly, an Orlando-based traditional animation studio, still operates today). Some even stayed on at the company and forged ahead into the new field of CGI. Animation was changing, as Disney saw it, and they wanted to change, too.
Today, even as we speak, there is an animation renaissance underway. Right under the mouse' nose, somewhere in the city that M. Mouse built, there are animators being employed by the Walt Disney Company who are working on a spectacular short film given greenlight by Bob Iger himself. You see, one difference between Iger and Eisner is, Iger believes the same as those animators that refused to give up. He thinks there is a lot to be said for the heritage and history of the company...though getting rid of Eisner's minions hasn't been an easy task, and he still has decades of work before all the damage control is completed (see the recent announcement of the 1.1 Billion dollar, three-phase, ten year expansion and re-theming plan for Disney's California Adventure).
The new short film starring Goofy, entitled "How to Hook Up Your Home Theatre". It's a newborn example of those wonderful shorts from the 1950's that were deadpan instructional videos, based on the styles of UPA (later adopted by Jay Ward), which featured marvelous minimalist animations starring Goofy and things going horribly wrong as he attempts simple tasks.
Goofy's latest short, with Andreas Deja leading the way on the animation, brought the idea of short subjects back to Iger's attention.
While Pixar has continued to produce wonderful, popular short subjects for each of their feature films, Disney has only recently started to grasp the concept of full entertainment at the movies.
Someday soon, it will be time for Mickey and friends to bring the same concept to their designers. When that day comes, it will be a whole new world all over again.
Hopefully.
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