Will we ever see the Disney Musical Films Again?

[james4023464]

With chicken little just coming out, horrible move, was very dissapointed. Will we ever see the greatness of Disney Musicals again. With the last musical being Mulan with characters acctually singing more than one or two songs it has been almost 7 years since the last Disney full legth musical film. Remember the days when every June you always had a disney film to look foward to, sometimes it was the holiday season, but mostly summer. I mean i know we have lost Howard Ashman and Allan Menken has popped up once in awhile, but Disney needs to return to its roots. When I think of great disney films I think of great songs. Even Pixar had there niche with Randy Newman, even though the character didnt sing. I just think its a shame when characters are doing karaoke of Spice Girls, I was disgusted. Disney is not Pixar, Disney is not Dreamworks. They need to realize that. We need greats like Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty and the beast that actually got nominated for best feature film in the acadam awards. I could survive with Phil Collins he did two very good scores with Tarzan and Brother Bear, but we need to see disney return to its broadway ways. Just imagine the stunning CGI and stunning songs, man I can smell 300 million box office. Well thats all the grunt I got, just letting out some steam after my nightmarish Chicken Little experience last night. Please discuss

 

[Connor002]

Just a note: your opinions would seem more valid if you took the time to proof read of spell check your posts.

On Topic:

Well thats all the grunt I got, just letting out some steam after my nightmarish Chicken Little experience last night.

Nightmarish? I have not seen the movie, but I feel confident that "nightmarish" is an overstatment.

I do agree that music has always been an important part of the Disney movie experience, but I don't agree with your intention to vent this here. I believe a quote from American Adventure fits in here "The golden age is never the present age." We see this as a lowpoint in the Disney history, but only time will tell if it truly is.

 

[ThreeCircles]

I loved Chicken Little!

 

[DarkMeasures]

I personally hated how the movies were done in the 90's. Everyone was a freakin broadway musical and there weren't any other kinds of musicals or just non-musicals.

Now, I personally would like the movies to have beautiful songs, but I wouldn't want the characters breaking out into song. It just seems silly unless it is an actual broadway production.

 

[wdwswan&dolphin]

Will we ever see the Disney Musical Films Again?

Sadly, no, we probably won't. I personally wish Disney would make a film like Gauche the Cellist http://danielthomas.org/pop/film_reviews/goshu.htm, My Neighbor Totoro http://danielthomas.org/pop/film_reviews/totoro.htm, My Neighbors the Yamadas http://danielthomas.org/pop/film_reviews/yamadas.htm, Only Yesterday http://danielthomas.org/pop/film_reviews/yesterday.htm, or Whisper of the Heart http://danielthomas.org/pop/film_reviews/whisper.htm, though. Not totally improbable since many gifted Disney animators, such as Glen Keane, are Studio Ghibli fans, but it seems more likely that if Disney ever returns to 2D, they'll only do musicals. I love animated musicals, but the medium of animation is so vast and so wide it can encompass other genres, as shown by the success of directors Miyazaki and Takahata of Studio Ghibli. I only wish that Americans could see that animation is capable of maturity in content and artistry. On an artistic note, Disney does seem to follow an almost textbook-approach to their animation, but I'd love to see them do a more stylized approach to character movement and design in a couple of works----I don't necessarily think that would be betraying the concept of "illusion of life" in character motion, since animation is an art after all, and looking at modern art for the last hundred years, art is vast in what paths it can take. Sorry for my ranting and raving partially off-topic, but that's how I see it.

 

[dizpins14]

I think eventually they will have to when they go to make a new parade or attraction like Philarmagic and realize they do not have a recent movie to add to the mix.

 

[Dorindavar]

I think they might. Every once in a while the masses are ready for something like that. For right now a musical would be quite unsuccessful, but perhaps in another few years they would be back. I would like to see one, but I hope they don't purely put out musicals again.

 

[prberk]

I agree that that musical is their bread-and-butter. It drives so many parts of the business.

The other animation is fun, and I liked Chicken Little; but I agree that only Disney can be Disney. The problem is that they got lazy and started making animated movies more by marketing than by true artistry.

The early '90s "second golden age" happened when someone realized this very thing after another long period of no musicals and/or mediocre output. They decided to hire the best and go for a true, timeless story and classic musical elements, with great animation and good writing. It worked... and will work again, when they realize the value of it again ... and put everything into it again.

The more recent musicals were sub-par, and every film since then has suffered. But when they do it right, as they did with Beauty and the Beast (and even "Mermaid"), people will take notice (as they did then, following the eighties dry spell), and it will hit big (again).

I just hope Disney doesn't hurt its own reputation for too much longer with subpar video sequels before they realize this.

Paul

 

[wdwswan&dolphin]

I just hope Disney doesn't hurt its own reputation for too much longer with subpar video sequels before they realize this.

Paul

That's a little harsh -- they may be terrible content-wise, but in terms of character animation, they are definitely better than Disney's 1970s-1980s output. Of course, against the standard of the three Disney Golden Ages of animation, the animation isn't very good. It's serviceable, but that's about it. Anyway, when I watch something, I try to keep an open mind regarding the style of animation, since very few animation studios outside of Disney choose to use full animation all the time -- for example, Studio Ghibli, the "Disney of Japan", uses a very skillfull mixture of limited (or "stylised") and full (or "realistic") animation in their films, and yet Disney often uses two of their best films, "Kiki's Delivery Service" and "My Neighbor Totoro", to train their animators. Plus, Pixar is heavily influenced by Studio Ghibli's films and John Lasseter is a long-time friend and admirer of Hayao Miyazaki.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

I just saw "Spirited Away" in cartooning class at school the other day. Not a big fan of Anime, but I loved this movie.


Yensid "Yubaba-.-.-.-Yubaba-."tlaw1969

 

[wdwswan&dolphin]

I just saw "Spirited Away" in cartooning class at school the other day. Not a big fan of Anime, but I loved this movie.


Yensid "Yubaba-.-.-.-Yubaba-."tlaw1969

Look here: www.nausicaa.net
You should see his earlier films, then, from Castle of Cagliostro to Princess Mononoke, and his TV series Future Boy Conan and Sherlock Hound. Also, check out the works of Isao Takahata, whose versatility is unrivalled in the animation world, from his early series such as Heidi to his work on the animated anthology Winter Days. If you'd like, I have a lot of rare short films made by Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and others at Tokyo Movie Shinshia, Studio Ghibli, and Nippon Animation, if you're interested, including the rare 1984 Little Nemo Pilot Film.

BTW, what did you think of the animation quality? It may have lacked fluidity, but at least in my perspective, framerate notwithstanding, the animation is first-rate in its attention to the way people move and its genuine expressiveness and believability. You can see why such animators as Glen Keane, Nick Park, Yuri Norstein, Sylvain Chomet, and John Lasseter admire his work.

 

[prberk]

That's a little harsh -- they may be terrible content-wise, but in terms of character animation, they are definitely better than Disney's 1970s-1980s output. Of course, against the standard of the three Disney Golden Ages of animation, the animation isn't very good. It's serviceable, but that's about it. Anyway, when I watch something, I try to keep an open mind regarding the style of animation, since very few animation studios outside of Disney choose to use full animation all the time -- for example, Studio Ghibli, the "Disney of Japan", uses a very skillfull mixture of limited (or "stylised") and full (or "realistic") animation in their films, and yet Disney often uses two of their best films, "Kiki's Delivery Service" and "My Neighbor Totoro", to train their animators. Plus, Pixar is heavily influenced by Studio Ghibli's films and John Lasseter is a long-time friend and admirer of Hayao Miyazaki.

Hmm. That is an interesting thought (that the character animation might still be more worthwhile). My only problem is that they market them as feature films just like the originals. And they are just not as good. And content matters most.

I think that Pixar has learned from the old Disney in that regard (not the '70s so much as the "golden ages" that you mentioned -- when there were no sequels unless there was a really good story for it).

Anyhow, the classic musicals (with unique and timeless stories, and good characterization) are what Disney needs to keep at its core (even though every film does not need to be one).

Paul

 

[speck76]

It would be nice, but I doubt it is very likely to happen.....it is funny that most true musicals never made it to film in the past, but WDFA did a great job producing original musicals, and then transfering them to the stage (either in the parks, or on Broadway)

Now it is the opposite.....with Chicago, Phantom, and now Rent making the leap from stage to screen.

 

[lebeau]

Will we see the Broadway musical style animated feature again someday? I would think so. It proved so successful in the past I'm sure someone will try it again eventually.

There are several very good reasons we haven't seen one in a while. Following the crazy success of Little Mermaid-Lion King, Disney animated features became a bit formulaic. Several were very entertaining (Mulan, Hercules) but they had lost the must-see event status that the earlier films enjoyed.

Meanwhile, Pixar movies are using some music (with Randy Newman of all people) and are doing very well outside of the musical formula. Disney moved towards this music but not musical approach with Tarzan.

Eventually, Disney was grasping. The animated market it had completely dominated in the 90s (and they were the playground bullies during this period) was becomming competitive. The Pixar films were their most successful and they weren't even making those. So, they scrapped the musical formula and started trying things like Atlantis.

The final nail in the coffin for the traditional Disney musical was Shrek. It's easy to loose sight of the immense impact Shrek had on Disney animation. Everything about it made the old fashioned Disney animated features seem quaint. Most obviously, it was technologically more advanced than hand drawn animation. But more importantly it thumbed it's nose at the Disney formula over and over again.

But I think if Disney released a traditional animated musical that was as good as Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin today, it would be a hit and it would reignite the old style. Someone will figure that out sonner or later.