An Open Letter to The Walt Disney Company

Cc: Hollywood

To Mr. Rober Iger, Mr. Alan Horn and whomever else it may concern,

Let me preface this by saying I am a huge Disney fan, it formed my childhood, and it and its subsidiaries continue to shape my present and, hopefully, my future. That said, there is one particular area of Disney that I am not a fan of: excessively delayed 'foreign' release dates.

Bob Iger, George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy Discuss Disney-Lucasfilm Acquisition

Coming off the most exciting news of the decade, Disney and Lucasfilm's head-honchos have weighed in on the gigantic $4 billion purchase that means we'll be seeing a new Star Wars film by 2015.

Breaking: Disney Buys Lucasfilm, Star Wars, Indiana Jones for $4.05 Billion

The Walt Disney Co. CEO and Chairman Bob Iger with former Lucasfilm owner George Lucas.

Yes, you did read that right: The Walt Disney Company just announced that they've acquired Lucasfilm for $4 billion! Included in that acquisition are the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, special effects house ILM (who debuted their feature animation efforts with last year's Rango) and Skywalker Sound, all for $4.05 billion. Sufficed to say, Twitter practically exploded.

Animation Essays - Disney at War, and the Importance of Cinderella

At the start of the year, I said that we were going to diversify here at A113Animation, namely, through more features. We've launched our Bitesized Biographies and Classic Cartoons features, and post the odd Editorial too (free time permitting of course), but as of late I've had an itching to try something else as well. Animation history being a paramount passion of mine, I thought it may be prudent to launch this intended-as-occasional feature: Animation Essays. Check out our first one - about Disney during and immediately after World War II, and the effect Cinderella had on, effectively, saving the, once-fledgling, now dominant, company - below!

Classic Cartoons #5 - Steamboat Willie

I'm sure using this short film now will come back to bite me when I do my Bitesized Biography of Walt Disney and am in need of a short film to pair with it, but today's Classic Cartoon is the third Mickey Mouse cartoon, but the one that is often regarded as the mainstream debut of the famed mouse, the cartoon that put Walt Disney on the map - Steamboat Willie.

I'm currently amidst reading the biography of Walt Disney by Neal Gabler and what it stresses heavily, and what comes through when watching this short film, is how important this short film was to the early years of Walt Disney Animation Studios. Released in 1928, Steamboat Willie was the first Mickey cartoon to be distributed, and became a phenomenal success - much needed after a string of knock-backs and failures from the Disney studio; Willie provided them their big break. Steamboat Willie was the first Mickey to be synchronised with sound, and whilst that was surely a contributing factor in its success, another surely is the fantastic characters and timeless storytelling. Though quite the little sadist here, using animals as musical instruments, Mickey was and is a sign of the eternal optimism and childlike joy that Disney himself represented. The story, simple in premise, remains brilliant today, at 7 minutes, the short flies by and remains possibly the truest definition of a Classic Cartoon.

Inducted into the National Film Registry, to be preserved forever, in 1998, the starting sequence of the short is now widely recognisable for its prefacing of Disney animated releases. Steamboat Willie is the epitome of classic Disney storytelling.

Breaking: Disney Chairman Rich Ross Resigns

We rarely cover corporate news, or details of hiring or firing, here at A113Animation - this blog is primarily focused on the entertainment side of things - however, this is too huge a piece of news in terms of the scope it affects animation: Rich Ross has stepped down as Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios.

The former creative head of Disney Channel, responsible in his reign there for Hannah Montana and High School Musical, had been running Disney's film department for the past two and a half years - a tenure recently marred by such box office failures as Mars Needs Moms and John Carter.

Disney CEO Robert Iger said, of Ross's departure:

“I appreciate his countless contributions throughout his entire career at Disney, and expect he will have tremendous success in whatever he chooses to do next”.

No successor has thus far been named and it will likely take some time to fill the position, but, depending on the success of Marvel's The Avengers (which will almost certainly be an enormous hit), Marvel Studios (owned by Disney after all) President, Kevin Feige may be considered a front runner for the job.

Via Reuters.

After 37 Years, Glen Keane Leaves Disney

After almost 4 decades in the employ of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Glen Keane, arguably the famed studio's most well known and respected animator and artist, has retired from Disney.

Keane, who began working for Disney in September, 1974 has been responsible for bringing to life some of Disney's most loved characters, including animating Beast in Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin in Aladdin, and having heavy creative influence over Rapunzel in Tangled.

Cartoon Brew have the text of the letter detailing his resignation to friends at the studio, in which he said:

Over these four decades I have seen so many changes, but the one thing that remains the same is that we all do this because we love it.

I am humbled and deeply honored to have worked side by side so many artists, producers and directors during my career here at Disney, and I am tremendously proud of the films which together we have created. I will deeply miss working with you.

With my most sincere and heartfelt good wishes for your and Disney’s continued artistic growth and success, 

Glen

One thing's for sure, Glen Keane will be sorely missed at Disney, but will remain a true icon and legend of animation, who will surely continue to excel at whatever he tries his hand at next.

Once in a Generation, a Genius is Born

Today, December 5th, 2011, would mark the 110th birthday of a true genius, pioneer and inspiration; the man that spawned a legacy and the company that spawned a history, today, we mark the birth of Walt Disney.

I really can't put into sufficient and apt words the difference Walt has made to my life. He is, arguably, the sole reason I publish this blog at all; I started it due to a deep love of Pixar, and from that, animation in general, that spawned from a childhood love of everything Disney. From its roots in 1923 as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, to the production of the films of my childhood, classic Silver Age films like Peter Pan, Jungle Book and 101 Dalmations, to becoming the world's largest media conglomerate; Disney has formed so much that I care about; the sheer magic of those few notes, of that grand old castle.

None of this would have been possible, without the vision of Walt, without one man's inspiration, without one man's heart and soul, without one man's passion. So on this day, 110 years after the world was gifted a visionary, and in this most magical season, I say: Thank you Walt. Thank you for a life time of memories, thank you for the magic, thank you for making my childhood, and indeed my life, what it is. Thank you for being you.

When I See an Elephant Fly for 70 Years

Yesterday marked the 70th Anniversary of the release of Walt Disney's fourth animated classic, Dumbo. The heart warming tale of a large eared elephant that finds fulfillment and happiness through the use of his unnaturally sized ears to fly was released on October 23, 1941.

Coming right near the middle of Disney's Golden Age, Dumbo is a brilliant, emotional, funny and generally brilliant film that is indicative of the legacy of Walt Disney and the company he and his brother spawned, that the film is still popular today. Though somewhat outdated today, being nearly three quarters of a century old, the film is still a joy to watch and hearkens back to a time when cinema was so much simpler and so much more magical.

So, kudos to Disney for producing a true classic and let's remember this fantastic film with one of its most famous clips.

Disney Turns 88

88 years yesterday, on October 16, 1923, The Walt Disney Company was founded.

Starting off as the pipe-dream of brothers, Roy Disney and the eponymous, Walt Disney, as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, this was the studio destined to become the world's largest media conglomerate, changing the world forever, in terms of films, TV and in terms of all of the millions of lives it has touched.

From the Golden Age of its animated films way back when, with films like Snow White, Pinocchio and Dumbo, through the Silver Age of films like 101 Dalmatians, The Jungle Book and more, and to the Renaissance of such modern classics as Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King and beyond to modern day; Disney has long been the gold standard of animation. Although accused of a dip in quality in more recent years (although currently undergoing a revival), Disney is, in essence, the company that made animation an art form.

From the debut of "Disney's folly" and Walt and his company proving to all comers that animation was, and is, a sustainable medium that can inflame the imagination and inspire the world, moving us all to laughter and tears, to today, there is rarely a person on the face of the world who hasn't heard of Disney and its famed mouse.

I'll try to keep this brief, as there is oh so much I could say about Disney, its influence on the world and on its influence on me, and more - particularly, of how, without it, it is questionable that Pixar would be the giant it is today.

Disney, in one word, means magic. At its best, nothing can touch Disney, the classics are unparalleled and without rival. Magic is imbued into every frame of so many Disney films, although Disney has rolled out several not so brilliant films, the fact that this is the company that brought us Bambi, Cinderella and The Little Mermaid more than makes up for that.

Simply put, I love Disney and I'd like to take this opportunity to say: thank you Disney. Thank you for the films, thank you for the music, thank you for the magic, thank you for the memories and thank you, most of all, for making my childhood as wonderful as it was.

Long live Disney!