New Era for the Walt Disney Animation Studios

[Markolodeon]

These are interesting times! Not since 1981's Fox and the Hound to the 1985 Black Cauldron has there been a four year gap between original Walt Disney Animation feature length films. Unless something changes there won't be an original WDAS animated feature to follow 2016's Moana until 2020 at the earliest. Yes there's CoCo, but that's Pixar, and Ralph Breaks the Internet which is a sequel.

I'm not saying this is a good thing or a bad thing, it's just what it is. We're entering into a new era of sequels and live action remakes while the studio Walt built and innovation it's known for quietly fades for several years to come.

 

[Jason_V]

I actually had this conversation with my sister in line at Peter Pan's Flight last week. Here's my rationale:

With Nintendo Land all but certain for Universal, Disney is in all likelihood trying to ride that wave with Wreck It Ralph 2. They already put the money into the development and the IP, so why not get in on a video game theme next year? Also, with the massive juggernaut that is Frozen, it was obvious a sequel was going to be made. Again, this is a very easy movie to sell; the original publicity is already done. There's no real heavy lifting to do, so to speak.

These movies, the ones that are obvious money makers, pad the bottom line and allow the risks to be taken.

This isn't to say WDAS isn't working. They are still making the short films and they may have something to do with Pandora and Star Wars Land, which is taking their time.

 

[wilkeliza]

I have a feeling they are working on something they just aren't ready to release to the public yet. Frozen 2 and Wreck It Ralph 2 are just much further along in development and well make money so that's why they are being pushed pretty hard right now.

 

[Markolodeon]

Ya, I suppose what it gets down to is available resources to get them to the 2021 finish line. Hopefully then we'll see a return to more original ideas for their animated films.

I guess I'm still in shock with how far the company's vision is changing. The massive shift on the focus and theme of Epcot is another one that's hard to accept.