We reported back in March that Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger told shareholders that 2D animation would be considered as an option for feature production under the new animation studio structure headed by Pixar’s Steve Jobs and John Lasseter. Now it appears that the Mouse House is putting its money where it’s mouth is. During a panel at Comic-Con, director Eric Goldberg (Pocahontas) mentioned that Disney is developing a 2D feature titled The Frog Princess. And while the news is music to the ears of animation fans everywhere, one has to wonder if even Pixar, the current gold standard for CG animation, can make 2D profitable again.
Word of Disney’s plans to produce a 2D feature came on the same week that hundreds of Disney employees got pink slips in the latest round of layoffs. This time, Walt Disney Feature Animation was virtually unaffected, mostly because there’s already been enough belt tightening in that department. Now it seems the studio, which dumped its 2D animators when it switched to an all-CG pipeline, will again be bringing in traditional animation talent to introduce the latest Disney princess. But will the project be the start of a 2D renaissance, or a box’office dud that reminds Disney why it abandoned hand-drawn animation in the first place?
Disney’s last 2D theatrical feature, Home on the Range, opened to just $13.8 million in 2004. The studio followed it up with the 3D Chicken little, which raked in more than $40 million during its first weekend, despite garnering its share of unenthusiastic reviews. And with that, the hand-drawn legacy that once roared like a Lion King went out like a lamb. Universal was bold enough to give it one more go with its 2006 big-screen adaptation of Curious George, but the studio didn’t exactly go bananas for the film’s $14.7 million opening weekend.
‘CG is where it’s at,’ is the message studios were receiving. Inspired by the hundreds of millions of dollars being raked in by movies like DreamWorks’ Shrek and Disney/Pixar’s Finding Nemo, producers created a modern-day gold rush. Soon, every Hollywood major and a growing list of independent studios were announcing CG features in development. However, as any grizzled old prospector will tell you, any gold reserve mined too heavily will eventually run dry. While Shrek sequels and Pixar flicks will continue to make money hand-over fist, CG is no longer the sure thing it once was, as evidenced by the weak performances of entries such as Disney’s Valiant, which opened to around $6 million, and Warner Bros.’ The Ant Bully, which debuted last weekend to just over $8 million.
So perhaps a 2D feature done right will bring some much-needed variety to the theatrical toon landscape, and if anyone can do it right, it’s John Lasseter and crew. What do you think? Could Frog Princess be the triumphant return of an art form, or the final nail in its coffin? Be sure and sound off in the latest Question of the Week.
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