The Renaissance Age of Animation: Difference between revisions

At the start of the 1980s, [[The Walt Disney Company|Walt Disney Productions]] had been struggling since [[Walt Disney]]'s death in 1966, and the 1979 departure of [[Don Bluth]] and eleven other associates from the animation department dealt Disney a major blow. Bluth formed a new studio, in direct competition with Disney.

Disney's "[[Nine Old Men]]", the animators responsible for Disney's most famous earlier works, and their associates began to hand their traditions down to a new generation of Disney animators. New faces such as [[Glen Keane]], [[Ron Clements]], [[John Musker]], [[Andreas Deja]], and others came to the studio in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a period that produced such features as ''[[The Rescuers]]'', ''[[Pete's Dragon]]'' (a live-action/animation hybrid), and ''[[The Fox and the Hound]]'', as well as the featurettes ''[[The Small One]]'' (Bluth's only Disney-directed credit) and ''[[Mickey's Christmas Carol]]'' (the first screen appearance of [[Mickey Mouse]] since 1953).

At the same time, animator [[Steven Lisberger]] brought to the studio a concept about a computer programmer who is launched into a computerized world. The film would mix live action sequences with computer animation, which had not yet been used to such an extent. The studio was impressed with the idea; the result was an ambitious $17 million film (${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|17000000|1982|r=-2}}}} in today's dollars){{Inflation-fn|US}} entitled ''[[Tron]]''. While Disney's stock dropped four percent after a screening for unenthusiastic investment analysts,<ref name="Potts">{{Cite news

In 1984, Disney became the target of a [[corporate raid]] by [[Saul Steinberg (business)|Saul Steinberg]], who intended to break up the company piece by piece. At the same time, [[Roy E. Disney]], who had already resigned as President in 1977, relinquished his spot on the Board of Directors in order to use his clout to change the status quo and improve the company's declining fortune. Disney escaped Steinberg's attempt by paying him [[greenmail]], but in its aftermath CEO [[Ron W. Miller]] resigned, to be replaced by [[Michael Eisner]]. Roy Disney, now back on the Board as its Vice-Chairman, convinced Eisner to let him supervise the animation department, whose future was in doubt after the disappointing box office performance of its big-budget PG-rated feature, ''[[The Black Cauldron (film)|The Black Cauldron]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Black Cauldron (1985) |url= http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=blackcauldron.htm |work=Box Office Mojo |accessdate=2009-06-22}}</ref> The studio's next release, ''[[The Great Mouse Detective]]'', fared better in relation to its significantly smaller budget, but it was overshadowed by [[Don Bluth]]'s ''[[An American Tail]]'',<ref>{{cite web|title= 1986 Yearly Box Office Results |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=1986&p=.htm |work=Box Office Mojo |accessdate=2009-06-22}}</ref> another film featuring mice characters that competed directly with ''Mouse Detective'' in theaters.

In [[1988 in film|1988]], the studio collaborated with [[Steven Spielberg]] and [[Robert Zemeckis]], producing ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]'', a comedic detective caper that mixed live action and animation while paying homage to the Golden Age of Cartoons. Disney characters appeared with characters from [[Warner Bros.]], [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]], [[Universal Studios|Universal Pictures]] and other rival studios for the first time in animation history. The film was a huge box-office success, winning four [[Academy Awards]], reviving interest in animation made for theaters, and popularizing the in-depth study of the history and techniques of animation. Several aging legends in the business, such as [[Chuck Jones]] and [[Friz Freleng]], suddenly found themselves the center of attention, receiving acclaim and accolades after decades of being virtually ignored by audiences and industry professionals alike. Additionally, the release of many older Disney features and short cartoons on home video, and the 1983 launch of the [[Disney Channel]], renewed interest in the studio.

Disney followed up ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' and its commercially successful<ref>{{cite web|title=Oliver & Company (1988) |url= http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=oliverandcompany.htm |work=Box Office Mojo}}</ref> 1988 fully animated feature ''[[Oliver & Company]]'' with ''[[The Little Mermaid (1989 filmanimation)|The Little Mermaid]]'', an adaptation of the [[Hans Christian Andersen]] fairy tale with songs by [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] composers [[Alan Menken]] and [[Howard Ashman]]. ''Mermaid'' was a huge critical and commercial success, won two [[Academy Awards]] for its song score, and became the first of a series of highly successful new Disney animated features.

The studio invested heavily in new technology, creating the [[Computer Animation Production System]] to be used in tandem with traditional animation techniques. The first film to use this technology, ''[[The Rescuers Down Under]]'', only grossed $27,931,461,<ref>{{cite web|title=1990 Yearly Box Office Results |url= http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=1990&p=.htm |work=Box Office Mojo}}</ref> (${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|27931461|1990|r=-2}}}} in today's dollars), not even equalling the take of the original 1977 film.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Rescuers (1977) |work=Box Office Mojo |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=rescuers.htm}}</ref>

However, the films that followed it, ''[[Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)|Beauty and the Beast]]'' and ''[[Aladdin (1992 Disney film)|Aladdin]]'', won rave reviews, received multiple Oscars, and topped the box office charts. ''[[Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)|Beauty and the Beast]]'' would eventually become the first animated feature to win the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy]] and the first animated feature to be nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Picture]], followed by 2009's ''[[Up (2009 filmanimation)|Up]]''.