Since its founding in 1923, Disney has broken new ground in the American animation industry. Disney broke into the world of animated films in 1937 with the film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. But while groundbreaking at the time, the animation method used for classic Disney films has now become outdated. Disney’s last 2D animated films were The Princess & The Frog, released in 2009, and Winnie the Pooh in 2011.
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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – Disney’s first animated film.
The move away from hand-drawn 2D animation may seem like the end of an era for some Disney fans. Because in reality, many people probably still want Disney’s next movie to be 2D. Besides, many people are happy about this change.
So why did Disney stop making 2D animated films? Is it for profit or simply changing direction to keep up with the trends of the times and technology?
3D animation is more profitable
Disney’s first 3D animated film Toy Story was extremely profitable upon release, especially compared to Pocahontas and A Goofy Movie, all of which were released the same year. Disney experimented with 3D animation after this, along with Pixar, and found that 3D films were more successful, attracted a wider audience, and the technological aspect was appreciated.
Pixar films, along with competition from Blue Sky Animation’s franchise, are attracting big box office returns while traditionally hand-drawn animated films like Treasure Planet, Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Home on the Range were major box office bombs. It seems that audience tastes have shifted from 2D hand-drawn animation to CGI animation.
Since Disney switched to 3D CGI animation, movie box office receipts have skyrocketed. Tangled completely outperformed Princess and the Frog and Frozen to become the first film from Walt Disney Animation Studios to reach $1 billion in revenue at the box office. Zootopia, Big Hero 6 and Moana were also box office hits, showing why Disney invested in the new format.
2D animation becomes the scapegoat
Disney announced it would switch from 2D to 3D computer animation following the box office disappointment of Home on the Range. The next two films, Chicken Little and Meet the Robinson, were computer animated films, and the long-in-development Rapanzuel film, which later became Tangled, was converted to CGI animation.
The poor box office performance of animated films such as Treasure Planet and Atlantis: The Lost Empire was blamed on 2D animation as opposed to factors such as poor marketing and the film’s story not attracting audiences. Both of those films as well as many other 2D animated films of the era followed the wave of great success from the Disney Renaissance.
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Disney’s 3D movies are strong in both revenue and professional quality.
Although that era was profitable and influential, it also established a formula that left audiences bored. Audiences want something different.
Meanwhile, 3D animated films like Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo, Shrek, Ice Age and Madagascar succeed not because they are computer animated but because they bring something new to audiences. .
Not just in terms of technology but also in the type of stories they tell. Pixar became more emotionally mature, while DreamWorks adopted a comedic style aimed at older audiences. However, all Disney saw was the simplest and most basic equation: 2D movies failed, 3D movies did well, so they made more 2D animated movies.
Live-action remake
One thing that cannot be overlooked is that Disney has repackaged their classic animated films into live-action films. So far they haven’t touched computer-animated movies, but that will soon change with the live-action Moana.
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Frozen 2 or The Lion King live-action is the “future” of Disney.
Instead, they used live-action as a way to revive many of the classic 2D animation properties to serve two goals. First, allowing Disney to cash in on nostalgia from older fans who remember the original. Second, Disney wanted to introduce the stories to foreign markets that had not had access to original 2D animation.
There’s also the live-action remake craze, a perception that these films are “real” and intended for a wider audience, leading to the unintended consequence of bringing in original animated works Classics for children.
Audiences feel like Disney sees live-action remakes as four-quadrant movies while animated movies, both 2D classics and new 3D movies, are just for kids. At a time when filmmakers were considering animation as cinema and an art form rather than a genre.
Will Disney ever make 2D animated movies again?
In celebration of Disney’s 100th anniversary, the studio released Wish. The film combines computer-animated characters with watercolor-painted environments, combining the old 2D animation style with the recent 3D craze. Although, many fans would like to see the film celebrate the studio’s 100th anniversary and see a return to the classic genre, it would be more appropriate to let the film represent the broader history of the company.
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Disney has proven that the current direction with 3D movies is completely correct.
Disney has been open to the idea of revisiting hand-drawn 2D animation, although current plans for Frozen 3 and 4 with Zootopia 2 also about to rule that out. However, there’s always the possibility that the studio could make a major creative breakthrough.
With the company facing a difficult 2023 with many high-profile failures, the studio may be facing a major turning point where they need to innovate. With many films pushing the boundaries of computer animation such as Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
A return to 2D animation could help Disney stand out again.