The Renaissance Age of Animation: Difference between revisions
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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 entitled ''[[Tron]]''. While Disney's stock dropped four percent after a screening for unenthusiastic investment analysts,<ref name="Potts">{{Cite
and in spite of only moderate grosses at the box office,<ref>{{cite web
|title=Tron (1982) |url= http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=tron.htm |work=Box Office Mojo |accessdate=2009-06-22}}</ref>
''Tron'' received enthusiastic praise from film critic [[Roger Ebert]],<ref name="Ebert">{{
In 1984, Disney became the target of a corporate raid by 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]]''.<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.
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In 1994, the death of Disney President and Chief Operating Officer Frank Wells, and the departure of studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg to co-found [[DreamWorks]], left Michael Eisner in full control of the company. At the turn of the century, films such as ''[[Atlantis: The Lost Empire]]'', ''[[Treasure Planet]]'', and ''[[Home on the Range]]'' failed to meet the critical and commercial expectations set by the 1990s phenomena, in spite of exceptions such as ''[[Lilo & Stitch: The Series|Lilo & Stitch]]'' and ''[[The Emperor's New Groove]]''. At the same time, the high level of popular acclaim bestowed upon ''[[Toy Story]]'', the first film animated entirely using computer-generated imagery (CGI), sparked an industry trend. Based on the commercial success of [[Pixar]]'s computer-generated animated films and other CGI fare (especially DreamWorks' ''[[Shrek]]'', which contained numerous jabs at Katzenberg's former workplace and boss), Disney came to believe that CGI was what the public wanted—so it ceased producing traditional two-dimensional animation after ''Home on the Range'', and switched exclusively to CGI starting with 2005's ''[[Chicken Little]]''.
Public rifts grew between the animation staff and management, as well as between Michael Eisner and Roy E. Disney. Roy resigned from the board of directors in 2003 with a scathing letter that called the company "rapacious and soulless", adding that he considered it to be "always looking for the quick buck."<ref name="Fonda">{{
<ref>{{cite
Robert Iger succeeded Eisner; one of his first acts as CEO was to regain the rights to Walt Disney's first star [[Oswald the Lucky Rabbit]] from NBCUniversal (Iger did so by offering NBC the services of Al Michaels, a play-by-play host then under contract to Disney subsidiary ABC Sports, as a trade). After Disney's acquisition of Pixar in 2006, Pixar executive producer [[John Lasseter]] became Chief Creative Officer at both Pixar and Disney, with a plan to reintroduce two-dimensional animation, starting with ''[[The Princess and the Frog]]'' in 2009.
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Bluth formed Sullivan Bluth Studios with backing from businessman Morris Sullivan, while film director [[Steven Spielberg]]—a long-time animation fan who was interested in producing theatrical animation—helped Bluth to produce 1986's ''[[An American Tail]]''. The film was a hit, grossing $47,483,002.<ref>{{cite web|title=An American Tail (1986) |work=Box Office Mojo |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=americantail.htm}}</ref> During its production, the studio relocated to Ireland, taking advantage of government tax breaks for film production. Bluth's 1988 follow-up ''[[The Land Before Time]]'' was a slightly bigger hit, grossing $48,092,846<ref>{{cite web|title=The Land Before Time (1988) |work=Box Office Mojo |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=landbeforetime.htm}}</ref> and spawning 12 sequels and a TV series. Neither Bluth nor Spielberg were involved with any of the ''Land Before Time'' sequels; Spielberg produced the 1991 sequel ''An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'' without Bluth.
In order to gain more creative control, Bluth parted company with Spielberg on his next film, the 1989 release ''[[All Dogs Go to Heaven]]''. While the film had the misfortune of opening the same day as Disney's ''The Little Mermaid'', it fared much better on home video.<ref name = "Lenburg">{{
The early 1990s were difficult for the studio; it released several box office failures. In 1992, ''[[Rock-a-Doodle]]'' was panned by critics and ignored by audiences; its dismal box-office performance of $11,657,385<ref>{{cite web|title=Rock-a-Doodle (1992) |work=Box Office Mojo |url= http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=rock-a-doodle.htm}}</ref> contributed to Sullivan Bluth's bankruptcy. Bluth's next feature, 1994's ''[[Thumbelina]]'' fared no better critically or commercially, while ''[[A Troll in Central Park]]'', also released in 1994, barely got a theatrical release, grossing $71,368 against a budget of $23,000,000 (or ${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|71368|1994}}}} against ${{formatprice|{{Inflation|US|23000000|1994|r=-2}}}} in current terms).<ref>{{cite web|title=A Troll in Central Park (1994) |work=Box Office Mojo |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=troll_in_central_park.htm}}</ref> Bluth and his partner [[Gary Goldman]] pulled out of 1995's ''[[The Pebble and the Penguin]]'' before it was completed due to disagreements with its distributor, [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]]. The remaining work needed to complete the film—thirty percent of the total—was finished by a Hungarian studio, and Bluth and Goldman took their names off the film.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}}
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[[Ralph Bakshi]], director of ground-breaking animated films like ''[[Fritz the Cat (film)|Fritz the Cat]]'' and the original ''[[The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)|Lord of the Rings]]'' film, returned to animation after taking a short break in the mid-1980s. In 1985, he teamed up with young [[Canadian]]-born-and-raised animator [[John Kricfalusi]] to make a hybrid live-action/animated music video for [[The Rolling Stones]]' ''The Harlem Shuffle'', which was released in early 1986.
The music video put together a production team at Bakshi Animation whose next project was the short-lived TV series ''[[Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures]]''. Bakshi and company worked on several other projects in the late 1980s, but his biggest project, 1992's ''[[Cool World]]'', was a critically panned commercial disappointment.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cool World (1992) |work=Box Office Mojo |url= http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=coolworld.htm}}</ref> In 2005, Bakshi announced that he would begin working on another feature film, ''[[Last Days of Coney Island]]'', which he is financing himself and producing independently. Bakshi suspended production on the film in 2008,<ref>{{cite
| last = Bakshi
| first = Ralph
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In 1989, producer [[Tom Ruegger]] had led an exodus of Hanna-Barbera staffers to restart [[Warner Bros. Animation]]. At first, the studio was constantly under threat of closure.<ref name="Strike 1">{{cite web|last =Strike |first =Joe |title=The Fred Seibert Interview, Part 1 |work=Animation World Magazine |date= 2003-07-15 |url=http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&category2=&article_no=1800&page=3 |page= 3 }}</ref> However, under [[Fred Seibert]]'s guidance, Hanna-Barbera's new staff (whose ranks included [[Seth MacFarlane]], [[Butch Hartman]], and [[Genndy Tartakovsky]]) created a new generation of Hanna-Barbera cartoons in the 1990s such as ''[[2 Stupid Dogs]]'', ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'', ''[[Johnny Bravo]]'', ''[[Cow and Chicken]]'', ''[[I Am Weasel]]'' and ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]''. Alongside these Hanna-Barbera cartoons, shows from other companies also premiered on the channel such as ''[[Space Ghost Coast to Coast]]'', ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'' and ''[[Courage the Cowardly Dog]]''. These shows were designed to appeal to adults as well as children, and thus incorporated plenty of "adult humor", such as pop-culture references and veiled sexual innuendos.
[[Time Warner]] acquired Turner in 1996, and thus inherited the rights to all of Hanna-Barbera's creative properties. This allowed Cartoon Network to begin airing all of the classic ''Looney Tunes'' shorts as well (previously, Turner had owned only the ''Looney Tunes'' shorts produced before August 1948, which had become part of the MGM/UA library).<ref>{{cite
|publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press|isbn=0299230139|page=106}}</ref> Cartoon Network's success with original programming lead them to move the reruns of old Hanna-Barbera and ''Looney Tunes'' cartoons to their spin-off channel [[Boomerang (channel)|Boomerang]].
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The 1990s saw [[exponential growth]]{{fact|date=April 2016}} in the use of [[computer-generated imagery]] to enhance both animated sequences and live-action special effects, allowing elaborate computer-animated sequences to dominate both. This new form of animation soon dominated [[Hollywood]] [[special effects]]; the films ''[[Terminator 2: Judgment Day]]'' and ''[[Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park]]'' included [[Academy Award for Best Visual Effects|Oscar-winning]] special effects sequences which made extensive use of CGI. After decades of existing as related-but-separate industries, the barrier between "animation" and "special effects" was shattered by the popularization of computerized special effects—to the point where computer enhancement of Hollywood feature films became second-nature and often went unnoticed. The [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]]-winning ''[[Forrest Gump]]'' (1994) depended heavily on computerized special effects to create the illusion of [[Tom Hanks]] shaking hands with Presidents [[John F. Kennedy]] and [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], and to make [[Gary Sinise]] convincingly appear to be a double amputee, winning a special-effects Oscar. The film ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]'' used computer effects in nearly every scene of its three-hour running time; one of the film's 11 Oscars was for special effects.
While Disney had made the film ''[[Tron]]''—which extensively mixed live action, traditional animation, and CGI—in 1982, and introduced the [[Computer Animation Production System|CAPS]] system to enhance traditional animation in 1990s ''[[The Rescuers Down Under]]'', a completely computer-animated feature film had yet to be made. In 1995, Disney partnered with [[Pixar]] to produce ''[[Toy Story]]'', the first feature film made entirely using CGI. The film's success was so great that other studios looked into producing their own [[computer-generated imagery|CGI]] films. Computer-animated films turned out to be wildly popular, and animated films returned the highest [[gross margin]]s (around 52%) of all film genres in the 2004-2013 timeframe.<ref>{{cite
Computer animation also made inroads into television. The Saturday morning animated series ''[[ReBoot]]'' won a large cult following among adults; it was the first of a number of CGI-generated animated series, including ''[[Beast Wars]]'', ''War Planets'', and ''Roughnecks''. The quality of the computer animation improved considerably with each successive series. Many live-action TV series (especially [[science fiction]] TV series such as ''[[Babylon 5]]'') invested heavily in CGI production, creating a heretofore-unavailable level of special effects for a relatively low price.
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Lucas experienced cash flow issues after his 1983 divorce, and in 1986 Pixar was spun off from Lucasfilm as a separate corporation with $10 million in capital from [[Apple Computer]] co-founder [[Steve Jobs]]. At that time, Pixar primarily developed computer animation hardware, but Lasseter helped the company make a name for itself by creating acclaimed CGI short films such as ''[[The Adventures of André and Wally B.]]'' (1984). After the spin-off, he would go on to produce ''[[Tin Toy]]'' (1988), which won an [[Academy Awards|Oscar]]. The company transitioned into TV commercial production and projects such as the [[Computer Animation Production System]] for Disney. After the success of ''Tin Toy'', Pixar made a deal with Disney to produce feature films. The first of these films, 1995's ''[[Toy Story]]'', was a smash hit, which in turn led to additional successful films such as ''[[A Bug's Life]]'' and ''[[Toy Story 2]]''. By then, Jobs had become the owner of Pixar by keeping it alive with additional investments over the years; he had often considered selling it but changed his mind after ''Toy Story''.
Pixar's string of critical and box-office successes continued with ''[[Monsters, Inc.]]'', ''[[Finding Nemo]]'', ''[[The Incredibles]]'', ''[[Cars (2006 film)|Cars]]'', ''[[Ratatouille (film)|Ratatouille]]'', ''[[WALL-E]]'', ''[[Up (2009 film)|Up]]'' and ''[[Toy Story 3]]'' all receiving rave reviews, earning huge profits, winning awards, and overshadowing Disney's in-house offerings until ''[[Cars 2]]'' in 2011 ended the streak when it proved a critical disappointment, albeit still a commercial success. Disney produced a CGI/live action feature film of its own without Pixar (''[[Dinosaur (film)|Dinosaur]]''), but the film received a mixed reaction, even though it was a financial success. During the later years of Michael Eisner's management, friction between Disney and Pixar grew to a point that Pixar considered finding another partner when they could not reach an agreement over profit sharing.<ref>{{
===Dreamworks===
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===Disney Animation Studios===
{{See also|Walt Disney Animation Studios}}
In 2003, noting the growing success of studios that relied on computer animation, executive [[Bob Lambert (executive)|Bob Lambert]]<ref name=latimes>{{cite
Two years later, ''[[Chicken Little (2005 film)|Chicken Little]]'', the first computer-animated film from the studio, was released to moderate success in the box office and mixed critical reception. On January 24, 2006, Disney announced that it would be acquiring [[Pixar]] (the deal successfully closed that May),<ref>{{cite
To maintain the separateness of Disney and Pixar (even though they share common ownership and senior management), it was outlined that each studio is to remain solely responsible for its own projects and is not allowed to borrow personnel from or lend tasks out to the other.<ref name="Bell">{{cite
In 2007, the studio released ''[[Meet the Robinsons]]'', which experienced a poor response at the box office despite the lukewarm critical and audience reception. The following film, 2008's ''[[Bolt (2008 film)|Bolt]]'', had the best critical reception of any Disney animated feature since ''Lilo & Stitch'', and became a moderate success. An adaptation of the [[Brothers Grimm]]'s "[[Rapunzel]]" tale entitled ''[[Tangled]]'' was released in 2010, earning $591 million in worldwide box office revenue, and signified a return by the studio to fairytale-based features common in the traditional animation era. This trend was followed in 2013's global blockbuster hit ''[[Frozen (2013 film)|Frozen]]'', a film inspired by [[Hans Christian Andersen]]'s ''[[The Snow Queen]]'' tale, which released to widespread acclaim and was the first Disney animated film to earn over $1 billion in worldwide box office revenue<ref name=NYTwin>{{cite
===Independents and others===
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:The Nineties]]
[[Category:History of Animation]]
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