Wild Card
Disney Film Animation
If you have followed along with my journey throughout Professor Reppert's courses, it may not be a surprise to you that I am choosing Disney (once again) for my final paper.
As a lifelong Disney devote, I have seen how Disney animation has changed drastically in the past 99 years of Walt Disney Animation Studios, and even how it has changed in just the 20 years I have been alive.
Walt Disney Animation Studios was founded in 1923 by Walt and Roy Disney as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio. And just as the name has changed over time, the once small animation studio has transitioned into an international media conglomerate, that we know and love today.
Not only has Disney created a legendary animation studio, but they have established and created new animation that has set the precedence for animation companies across the world.
Walt Disney Animation Animontage
In late 2020, Walt Disney Animation Studios released a video displaying each of the film animation styles that have been featured in movies for the last decade. Although this video displays each animation style, I am going to go into more depth about each individual style within the film within each Disney film era.
The Golden Era of Disney (1937-42)
The Golden Era of Disney is the very first era of the Walt Disney Animation Studios and is known for producing some of Walt Disney's most innovative and famous feature films made at the time. The classics developed during this era set the tone for the rest of the Disney animation films, which set the precedence for animation films, forever.
The first version of Technicolor, "a series of motion picture film color printing process", came out in 1916. Technicolor was a favorite in film studios, and Disney used this specific technique from 1932 to 1978 in animated works such as Flowers and Trees (short film). According to DisneyWiki, Technicolor was used in several different animated films, as well as live-action.
Flowers and Trees (1932)
Innovation was always a goal of Walt Disney's. After the overwhelming success of Snow White, Walt wanted to push the boundaries of animation and technology even further. When the development of Disney's second feature film, Pinocchio, started animators constructed 3D models to construct scale models to incorporate into the film.
Due to World War ll, Disney was forced to scale back its production in the 40s. During this time, Disney began to make package films, which are basically "packages of short films that were shown together to achieve feature length." Even though this era is not Disney's most successful or well-known, it is important to understand the growth of Disney Animation Studios achieved during this time.
Disney, even in its most difficult times, chased after innovation. The package films still pushed boundaries of technology and creative ideas to incorporate throughout the films. In The Three Caballeros, a new approach to comedy and storytelling was tested and created a "baffling and charming" movie.
The Three Caballeros (1944)
Silver Age (1950- 1967)
Now that WWll had officially ended, Disney returned to the magical and fantasy worlds on-screen, that captured the hearts and attention of audiences around the world. Some of Disney's most famous feature films were created during this time, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, and Alice in Wonderland.
Experimentation with Wide Screens and Backgrounds
During the Silver Age, Disney Animation Studios stepped outside of their comfort zones to experiment with wide angles and maintain focus on the background of their films. Sleeping Beauty (1959) is one of Disney's "most artistically pleasing" movies because of the attention to detail throughout the film. Disney continued to experiment with their films and focused on the aspect ratio, which changed how Disney edited films.
This era of Disney focused on cost-efficient ideas as well as films with less creative experimentation. New processes were developed by Disney to achieve these goals, while still providing audiences with exceptional stories and visuals. This era also followed the death of Walt Disney, and the retirement of many Disney legends, leaving Disney Animation Studios in their "Dark Age" of production. During this era, several films such as The Black Cauldron released, demonstrating a darker age of animation for Disney.
Xenography
Introduced by Ub Iwerks, xenography was "a process in which drawings could be directly printed onto animation cells" in an effort to create visually appealing but cost-effective animation. This specific method was ideal and essential for the production of 101 Dalmatians and continued until the making of The Little Mermaid.
101 Dalmatians
Computer Animation-
CGI was not a popular animation design at the time, but in the late 80's Disney began to experiment with it. A whole scene in the Great Mouse Detective was dedicated to the computer animation, setting the stage for the next generation of Disney animators.
The Great Mouse Detective- Big Ben Chase Scene
Live Action-Animation
Who Framed Roger Rabbit was one of the first hybrid films consisting of live action and animated film sequences. This film has such a long-standing legacy because of the immersive integration between hand-drawn animation and live-action ac characters throughout the whole film.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Renaissance (1986-1999)
Disney's renaissance was a revival of the adaptation of classic fairytales to animated films. During this time period, Disney released the franchise's most popular and well-known films still to this day (Lion King, Hercules, Pocahontas, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Mulan).
2D and 3D
Beauty and the Beast was the last film for several decades to use hand-drawn animation. Disney incorporated computer animation in the ballroom scene, "to create depth and invoke emotion with the use of moving frames."
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Morphing Objects
In Disney's 1997 film, Hercules (my personal favorite), the animators incorporated a new CGI technique where they could morph objects using computer animation. This technique is best displayed when we see Mount Olympus floating in the clouds.
Hercules (1997)
Post-Renaissance Era (1999-2009)
Most of the films made during this era focused on making the visuals and storylines appeal to ideas of family and personal growth. Some notable films during this time: Bolt, Meet the Robinsons, and Brother Bear.
CGI
Walt Disney Animation Studios' first fully CGI film was Chicken Little.
Chicken Little (2005)
Disney used the revival era to incorporate animation techniques used in the Renaissance Era, as well as experiment with new storylines and the perfection of CGI.
Complete CGI Example:
Tangled (2010)
Zootopia (2016)
The current era of Disney movies has completely transformed the way animation is produced. Just as Disney has always done, they have adapted to the new technology and produced popular and magical movies that have set the precedence for film studios across the world. Researching and examining Disney's creative styles over the years has given me, as an audience member, a new perspective on the production of animation films. And as an audience member, I am excited to witness the creative and innovative ideas Disney animation will produce within the next era and beyond.
Coco (2017)
Encanto (2021)
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