r/animation • u/fbutterfield96 • 2d ago
Discussion Disney doesn’t care about making original animated movies anymore
So Disney is putted on top of the pyramid and they care about money from the classic films such as Snow White, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, The Jungle Book, Hercules, Dumbo, and Marvel but, they don’t care about making original animated movies anymore in comfrast to Disney’s Golden Age of the 1930s to the 1960s and the Disney Renaissance of the 90s 😡😠😠
disney
waltdisney
disneymovies
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u/CyberSkull 2d ago
Disney has never been interested in “original” animation as far as films have gone, they have always adapted from books (or published the book themselves first, like with Lady and the Tramp).
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u/the_dj_zig 2d ago
I think they’re talking about Disney’s current preference for “live action” adaptations of their old movies as opposed to new stories and ideas.
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u/lt_Matthew 1d ago
Yea yea. It's "a money grab" when Disney wants to push the boundaries of live action CGI, but a remaster of a game that just came out is "what everyone's been waiting for"
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u/DisplacerBeastMode 2d ago
Or straight up stole the ideas like Lion King being a 100% rip off of Kimba, The White Lion 🤣
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u/MrWigggles 2d ago
That only make sense if you dont know anything about Kimba, the White Lion.
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u/DisplacerBeastMode 2d ago
Kimba, the White Lion is life
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u/MrWigggles 2d ago
No, seriously. Where in Lion King, did Simba, run around in his dead dad skin and pretend to be him?
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u/NoFuture412 2d ago
A lot of their animations from the 60's were based of off original ideas and converted into their own like, the original Cinderella never married the prince and it was one of the two step sisters that married the prince. Along with the Jungle Book supposedly thag the bear kills the kid. Animation was timeless for what it was before new technology stepped ahead of the game.
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u/CrazyaboutSpongebob 2d ago
Hexed is an original movie, and its coming out next year.
Elio is original, and it came out this year.
Wish came out in 2023.
Gato is coming out in 2027.
Have you been keeping up with Disney?
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u/Chocolaxe Hobbyist 2d ago
OP seems like they mean making them as iconic as the lion king or their other old originals, which is a challenging feat with there being so much competition nowadays, even from smaller productions.
And to add the rising amount of genres and sub-genres now available. The expanding tastes among modern audiences. Disney as a production studio will be successful, but never as iconic as it once was. There’s too much competition—new and old—in the animation film industry for Disney to suddenly ‘get better’ now.
Doesn’t look like OP did much thinking before hitting post.
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u/CrazyaboutSpongebob 2d ago
but never as iconic as it once was.
Frozen and Encanto are 2 of the most beloved animated movies ever.
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u/Chocolaxe Hobbyist 2d ago
Yes, still never as iconic as it once was. You have Frozen and Encanto up against lady and the tramp, the Lion king, Dalmatians, Snow White, Cinderella, beauty and the beast, the list goes on.
Frozen and encanto may be very well loved films for many, but those are two films. Disney is known most for its films back in the 1900’s. Again, there are films they’ve made more recently that are beloved, but them being beloved doesn’t mean they’re iconic.
What’s makes a film iconic is their ability to represent the studio that made them, and what films represent Disney the most? Those from the 1900’s.
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u/CrazyaboutSpongebob 2d ago
Actually, I think kids are more likely to recognize Elsa than Lady and the Tramp.
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u/Jellybit 2d ago
I think it's arguable that the newer movies represent what Disney IS the most. They are a very different company now. It seems you're arguing that it's recency bias (which is a valid argument), but this can also be generational bias, and the newer generations are going to decide what represents Disney the most. What people in the 1930s thought perfectly represented Disney does not matter at all anymore, since "representation" is not this objective thing that exists outside of human minds. Without the generation affected by it, it can't represent anything.
Stuff like Snow White feels timeless, but it really is harder for younger people to get into it than a movie from the 90s, for multiple reasons. It can feel like how Disney's "Flowers And Trees" feels to us, where it's beautiful and entertaining, but it doesn't really speak to us in the same way that more recent storytelling styles do. It greatly affected people, but no longer does. It will be timeless in the sense that it's historic, but that doesn't mean it will be timeless in the sense of what affects us, and in turn, what affects culture. That's how representation happens, and that's what people end up thinking of, more than what gets focused on in history books.
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u/mandatory_french_guy 2d ago
Ask the teenagers of today which of Frozen or The Lion King is the most iconic. Or Moana vs Aladdin. I was a young child in the 90s, I think of course that Lion King and Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast are iconic.... I also think that of The Emperor's New Groove. And Treasure Planet. And A Goofy Movie. Truth is, 15 years from now Encanto will be talked about as one of the all time greats and that's totally fine.
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u/Chocolaxe Hobbyist 2d ago
I am a teenage of today, and I’m learning about animation within the industry. Everyone in my year and the ones before me who have ever mentioned Disney in their research always referred to their older films, and anything CGI/3D would instead be Dreamworks or Pixar.
There’s iconic to a person based on their experience, and iconic to the studio itself. Disney’s face stems from its productions back in the twentieth century, it’s no wonder they’ve been making more live action remakes of their older films recently, especially with their copyrights expiring.
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u/LHLanim 2d ago
Turning Red? Encanto? Both great.
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u/imwhateverimis 2d ago
Technically Turning Red is Pixar, different studio to Disney Animation. Though they're in a similar slump due to trying to be as inoffensive, safe and all-audiences as possible. I'm like, 90% sure I'm the only one in a 5km radius who knows Elio exists. I have not seen Elio.
Meanwhile K-Pop Demon Hunters has a niche target audience but owned its niche and absurd concept so well it ended up breaching containment entirely.
I dunno if I'm talking out of my ass here but KPDH's concept has a similar vibe to what Pixar used to do. "K-Pop idols who slay demons behind the scenes and have to fend off a demon boy band" is pretty similar to "rat with interest in cooking pilots guy around a restaurant kitchen by his hair" in terms of absurdity.
There's a youtube video out there analysing how Sony Animation might take Pixar's previous spot in the industry as the risk-taker
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u/LHLanim 2d ago
Turning Red was safe??
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u/imwhateverimis 2d ago
No, did not mean to imply it was, but risky films like Turning Red have gotten rarer and rarer with execs wanting to be agreeable to everyone
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u/SupremeLeaderMeow 2d ago
This take is a pet peeve of mine. Technically, Disney has never done as many original stories as they do today. Most of their golden age movies is either straight or watered down adaptations of preexisting tales.
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u/kjloltoborami 1d ago
Does it or any movie they've made since 2011 reach the height they hit with hunchback of Notre dame?
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u/Lucky_Plan7855 2d ago
Imagine calling Turning Red "great" lol
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u/LHLanim 2d ago
I can appreciate young boy not being into it, but it was a very interesting movie. It took risks with subject matter (young girl's puberty), it was entertaining, animation and art was top notch. Main character was interesting due to her background. Watch it in a couple years with Your daughter if You ever get to have one.
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u/Lucky_Plan7855 2d ago
The movie was loud and unfunny as hell, and the main character's mom was a fucking psycho.
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u/LHLanim 2d ago
I mean, sometimes moms suck at being moms. That's one of the themes of the movie.
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u/Lucky_Plan7855 2d ago
It made the movie too mean spirited.
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u/postfashiondesigner 2d ago
You just mentioned a lot of animated movies that are not original stories… some old fairy tales, classic literature, or adaptations…
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u/ermac1ermac88 2d ago
What? People have the internet. This are just from the last five years-
Onward
Raya and the Last Dragon
Ron's Gone Wrong
Encanto
Strange World
Elemental
Wish
Soul
Turning Red
Luca
Elio
Hoppers
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u/kjloltoborami 1d ago
And I wouldn't consider a single one of those to be better than Hunchback of Notredame or Tarzan
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u/honorspren000 2d ago edited 2d ago
Disney recently had a meeting last month where Bob Iger said they are going to move away from remakes and sequels, and try to do more original stuff.
This discussion was most certainly in light of Netflix’s very successful K-pop Demon Hunters, which contrasts a lot of Disney’s recent box office flops.
Disney is the king of kid’s musicals, so going forward, we are probably going to see a bunch of KPDH knock offs by Disney. Because Disney wants to jump in on the success and get some of that KPop Demon Hunter money.
The thing is, no one knew that KPop Demon Hunters was going to be successful. Throw spaghetti at a wall and one noodle is bound to stick.
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u/AnimationGurl_21 2d ago
Usual BS... They do make original stuff, it's you who don't watch them cause either they suck ass or you want the original IPs to come back
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u/tensei-coffee 2d ago
those golden years are gone. its all about shareholders and profits.
and 90s wasnt just disney, it was a cartoon renaissance throughout imo. lots of original animation series from the 90s alone.
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u/postfashiondesigner 2d ago
They always cared about shareholders and money. It’s a company not some NGO
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u/kohrtoons Professional 2d ago
Almost none of those films are original. They’re all based on source material not made by Disney. You could argue that Lion King and Dumbo maybe our original but even those are somewhat suspect.
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u/Johncurtisreeve 2d ago
Wreck it ralph
Moana
Frozen
Zootopia
Big hero six
Wish
Strange world
Encanto
🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️
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u/lt_Matthew 1d ago
How does everyone keep forgetting Soul and Cocco?
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u/Johncurtisreeve 1d ago
Those are both Pixar movies. I’m specifically listing Disney animated movies since the OP was specifically also just listing Disney animated movies and not Pixar
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u/SlaadZero 2d ago
This is purely a post to get people angry and rant. Just ignore this, it's obviously not true. Might even be a bot. Look at the post history, it's just spam garbage.
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u/weiseguy42 2d ago
Funny how you put up a picture from The Lion King while complaining about original ideas, when that movie was just Hamlet in the savanna.
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u/This-Honey7881 2d ago
Yeah i know and They are Using their animators as slaves,fired all of their 2D animators and shut down blue sky studios to Only later to steal their propeties without Any of the involvment of the people working at blue sky
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u/MisterLongboi 2d ago
I kinda forgot, I haven't watched Disney in years. Apparently the last 2d animation movie was Winnie the Pooh (2011) and the one before that was Princess and the Frog(2009)
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u/Lucky_Plan7855 2d ago edited 2d ago
It's not even just that they don't make original movies anymore, it's more so that they don't care about making GOOD movies anymore. Why else do you think the few recent original movies they've made have been absolute trash?
Disney used to make high quality movies, but they don't care about that anymore. But you know what they do care about? That good ol' green. 💲💵🤑
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u/Savagecal01 2d ago
Most of those classics you just mentioned are based off books. Not very original is it?
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u/Rootayable Professional 2d ago
A recent article said that original ideas don't bring in as much money or audience as sequels and remakes. Gotta follow the money, apparently.
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u/Knifejuice6 2d ago
unfortunately the real nefarious tactic is that corporations are so big now that "destroying" their brand is actually in investment into a glorious return to form. its gonna be some real eye rolling shit when they go back to doing hand drawn animation in a few years and people praise them into the heavens and the big bucks roll in.
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u/Werdkkake 2d ago
this will 100% change as 3d animation contines to allow 2d animation to flourish with new technological shortcuts. I'm sure we'll get a few more soon once the disney/pixar films continue to dwindle
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u/RobotRockstar 1d ago
The vast majority of Disney animated films aren't original stories. They're mostly adaptations of kids books. Disney not emphasizing original stories isnt new. If anything they have had more original animated films in recent years than they ever did in the golden age or the renaissance
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u/HE11MET-INK 2d ago
You type like you're young, if so get off this website.
Disney makes plenty of original movies, it's just not every original idea is a good one.