Now that you can easily compare the old and new Mickey cartoons on Disney+, the new ones looks even worse. The classics perfected squash and stretch, fluidity, and a bounciness the new ones lack. There’s a reason they the classics looked like they did, and it wasn’t because they came from the forties. Disney (specifically Fred Moore) created that cartoon art style and everyone else copied it. The new cartoons are so badly animated, they might as well be on Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon.
I won’t deny they’re hilarious: they are. But they could—and should—have been either completely new characters instead of Mickey, or have been a complete return to the zanier, pie-eyed Mickey from his early color cartoons. At least that still had visual appeal in motion.
To say the new art style is hideous is an understatement. There’s a reason merchandise has slowly swung back to classic Mickey; the new look didn’t sell well during Mickey’s birthday, and most of the merch and playsets ended up in outlets. Alas, Iger has mandated the ride uses this ugly style because it’s “his” Mickey, just like SWGE is boring and stupid because it’s “his” trilogy.
The ride will be amazing. I hope that one day after Iger leaves, WDI updates it to use an art style that’s actually fun to watch in motion.
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