The Renaissance Age of Animation: Difference between revisions
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{{Useful Notes}}
[[File:Renaissance_6935_6462.jpg|frame|A sampling of influential animation from this era.<ref>
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Outside of TMS, Disney defector [[Don Bluth]] started making movies with 1982's ''[[The Secret of NIMH]]'', pushing for a return to the rich classical style of [[The Golden Age of Animation]]; while it was not a blockbuster, it quickly became a [[Cult Classic]]. It attracted the attention of no less than [[Steven Spielberg]], which led to Bluth's directing the successful ''[[An American Tail]]'' and ''[[The Land Before Time]]'' for Amblin Entertainment. Don Bluth would both rise to prominence and [[Fallen Creator|fall]] during this period, but his collaboration with Steven Spielberg proved to be the first real challenge Disney had ever faced in the animated film department, at least since the [[Max and Dave Fleischer|Fleischers]] were in business.
The Disney animation unit was not shuttered after all after the failure of ''[[The Black Cauldron]]'', mainly due to the modest success of ''[[The Great Mouse Detective]]''. After the threat from Bluth and Amblin though, Disney frantically stepped up its game and rallied with ''[[Oliver and Company]]'', which was another modest success. Their newly-established, adult-oriented Touchstone Pictures label co-
In 1989, Disney brought out their first animated canon film based on a fairy tale in 30 years. ''[[The Little Mermaid]]'', a musical that [[George Lucas Throwback|refreshed the old formulas of yore]], was a surprise sensation at the box
By the end of [[The Nineties]], rival studios had launched their own feature animation units, most notably [[DreamWorks]]. However, most of them found that the market was still largely trapped in the [[All Animation Is Disney]] in terms of traditional animation and most of the attempts failed miserably, or fell victim to Disney's aggressive marketing such as rereleasing ''[[The Lion King]]'' so it could crush the rival, ''[[The Swan Princess]]'', in 1994. Even [[Don Bluth]] was forced to ape Disney with films like ''[[Anastasia (Animation)|Anastasia]]'', though his attempt to break out with ''[[Titan A.E.]]'' failed and sunk his career. However, [[Dreamworks Animation]], after enduring the underperformance of their traditionally animated films like ''[[The Prince of Egypt]]'', noticed that their small computer animated film, ''[[Antz]]'' did fairly well and suggested that other animation techniques could be the answer. So, they made a deal with the hailed British [[Stop Motion]] company, [[Aardman Animations]], who helped show DA that the way forward is to find their own voice and style in the next age.
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[[Warner Bros]]. had its own revival, via television. Several Spielberg and TMS produced efforts brought Looney Tunes-style comedy into the 1990s; ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' and ''[[Animaniacs]]'' were the most successful. Much of the crew from these shows went on to launch the [[DC Animated Universe]] with ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]'' in 1992. This time, Disney eventually aped ''them'' with a cult dark action series of their own, ''[[Gargoyles]]'', created by [[Greg Weisman]], even if they eventually mishandled it badly.
All things considered, the renaissance of ''television'' animation in North America did not really begin until 1987 with ''[[Mighty Mouse the New Adventures]]'' and didn't truly take off until the early '90s (the relatively few quality animated series of the '80s were the expection, not the rule), as opposed to animated ''movies'' which had a general rise in quality already during the late 1970s. However, in all fairness, it should probably be mentioned that many of the decried television cartoons of the '80s, that adult animation fans viewed as suffering from a general lack of quality (especially in regards to the writing department), were obviously still very entertaining to their kid demographic. This is evidenced by the fact that several of them proved so popular among juvenile audiences that they became huge pop culture phenomenons that are well remembered to this day. Examples of these includes the aforementioned '80s commercial shows as well as ''[[G.I. Joe]]'', ''[[My Little Pony]]'', ''[[Jem]]'', ''[[Thundercats]]'' and many more. Another trend of '80s TV animation besides "toy commercial shows" were that many established franchises received [[Animated Adaptation
Adult aimed animation finally came back to television during the renaissance age. ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' became a full-fledged series in 1989 and went on to become probably the most critically acclaimed television cartoon series of all time, and [[MTV]] caused a stir with [[Mike Judge]]'s ''[[Beavis and Butthead]]''. MTV, of course, was
Kid-centric cable networks such as [[Nickelodeon]] and [[Cartoon Network]] started with reruns and repackagings of cartoons from earlier eras, as well as syndicated fare (as did the USA Network's Cartoon Express block; this was also the ''modus operandi'' of the emerging home video market) but moved on to create their own quirky shows during the '90s. The former launched the "Nicktoons" brand with ''[[Doug]]'', ''[[Rugrats]]'', and ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show]]'', while the latter had hits like ''[[Dexter's Laboratory|Dexters Laboratory]]'' and ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' that went by the moniker "Cartoon Cartoons". The latter's name was eventually dropped, however, as 2002's ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'' was the last show to use the Cartoon Cartoon label.
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This is also the era that began the rise of computers in animation, riding the wave of the digital revolution that brought affordable PCs to the masses in the 1980s. Disney employed CG for major parts of their films starting with ''[[The Rescuers Down Under]]'', and by ''[[Beauty and the Beast]]'' had refined it considerably (the backdrop of the ballroom scene was very much [[Conspicuous CGI]], as are the stampede from ''[[The Lion King]]'' and the crowd scenes in ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]''). In 1994, the first completely 3-D CG TV series, ''[[ReBoot]]'', came out of Canadian studio Mainframe Entertainment and premiered on [[ABC]] in the USA. And 1995 brought the first all 3-D movie and the one that launched Pixar into the spotlight and a position to drive the future of the animation industry: ''[[Toy Story]]''.
Depending on who you ask, the deterioration of this era began somewhere towards the end of the 1990s and the early 2000s. The seeds may have been sown in 1995, when Disney distributed [[Pixar]]'s ''[[Toy Story]]''. It was a huge hit both critically and commercially...but Disney's traditionally animated entry for the year, ''[[Pocahontas]]'', did well enough financially but also disappointed many viewers. Disney's increasingly formulaic approach to feature storytelling -- [["I Want" Song|"I want" songs]], wacky sidekicks, [[Anachronism Stew|pop culture jokes]], etc. -- in the wake of its early-'90s hits, resulted in films that strived to include more adult themes/stories yet couldn't lift themselves out of the worst aspects of the [[Animation Age Ghetto]] when it came to content. [[Disneyfication]] became a dirty word as critics accused them of whitewashing/dumbing down history and classic literature/mythology. (The increasing amounts of merchandise tied into these films didn't help matters.) That said, while these films were considered inferior to their predecessors, only one, the aforementioned ''Pocahontas'', was a critical failure - at a mediocre 56% on [[Rotten Tomatoes]], it's the only real critical failure of the Disney Renaissance. Meanwhile, the entries that were relative box office failures - ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' and ''[[Hercules (Disney film)|Hercules]]'' - were modestly well-received by said critics (at a decent 73% and a good 83% on [[Rotten Tomatoes]], respectively), who considered them improvements over the preachy and pretentious ''Pocahontas'' - ''Hunchback'' has even been [[Vindicated by History]] recently to the point that it's a Dark Horse candidate for the [[Magnum Opus]] of the Disney Renaissance. ''[[Mulan]]'' and ''[[Tarzan (Disney film)|Tarzan]]'' were even viewed as coming close to the earlier works (at 86% and 88%, respectively). Rival studios' Disney-esque efforts were usually pale imitations at
Perhaps worst of all, Disney [[Sequelitis|started producing direct-to-video sequels, prequels, and/or interquels to most of their Modern Age films via their television animation units]], which sold well but didn't touch the quality of the real things. The sales were so good that even Golden Age and Dark Age efforts were given this treatment, to the increasing horror of adult Disney fans. It can be argued that the "cheapquels" led to a fatal dilution of the Disney brand name, causing audiences to take less interest in their newer animated canon efforts. And when rival studios (particularly MGM and Universal Studios) started doing the same thing with films ''they'' owned the rights to, video stores were glutted with unwanted, unworthy sequels to everything from ''[[The Secret of NIMH]]'' to ''[[The Swan Princess]]''. Before this era sequels were rare if not non-existent. It's one reason the Renaissance, like every other period in animation history, is a bit of a mixed bag.
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* ''[[X-Men (animation)|X-Men]]''
* ''[[Yo Yogi]]''
* ''[[You're Under Arrest]]'': While not as known, it was one of the Anime released during the craze in America.<ref>
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[[Category:History of Animation]]
[[Category:Western Animation]]
[[Category:
[[Category:The Renaissance Age of Animation]]
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