Art vs Commercialization

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Closing Thoughts

In my final installment of this blog I hope to synthesize my frustrations in a cogent way and look back at my previous blog topics to do so.

At a glance, I’ll admit, it must look like I hate Disney and everything Disney has made with a burning passion. However this is not the case. As many stern but loving fathers have said, “I’m not angry, just disappointed.” I have loved many Disney films and franchises, and not just in the snobby classic way. Lilo and Stitch? Banger. Emperor’s New Groove? Iconic.

No no no it’s not that I hate Disney at all, I actually really do love many of the works they have produced. The thing I take issue with is The Suits. Who are The Suits, you may ask? The Suits are the ones with money who decide what gets green lit to go on to be produced. And typically the ones with money are not the artists that make it.

I especially take issue with artists that are put on a film or sequel or reboot who have new and fresh ideas to “plus” an idea and are unjustly cast aside, overlooked, or straight up fired. It’s The Suits that make these calls and continue to let average or below average movies get made.

I mean who wants to watch what these guys think is interesting? Not me.

Cast Aside:

Like in my first few blogs with Fischinger and Dalì, these artists had ideas to develop their part in production but were not given credit they deserved. In Fischinger’s case, he was not even credited.

Overlooked:

An overlooked artist, that Disney has not paid dues to accordingly, is someone like Mary Goodrich Jensen. You can read more about her in my previous post. In the scheme of artists screwed over by Disney, the overlooked are the ones that sewed magic into the film in the first place, and were taken advantage of. Robin Williams also fits in this category. And why would the beloved Robin Williams be in this category at all? Because of The Suits.

Straight up Fired:

Artists that Disney screwed over the absolute most, in my eyes, are the ones that are let go from a project they crafted. My Star Wars post and Brenda Chapman post talk about two events where directors leading a movie wanted to take creative liberties in their own production and were ultimately fired for their “outlandish” ideas. Why? THE SUITS!

So no, I don’t believe Disney is entirely bad, but I do defend artistic pursuit and the beauty it brings. The Suits have learned over the past decade that excellence is not necessary to make the big bucks anymore. And because of that, excellence isn’t the standard. Mediocrity is. They’ll make millions anyways so why put a bigger budget or a bigger brain trust behind anything new at all? The cast aside, the overlooked, and the straight up fired contain a body of hyper creative and extremely passionate people. I want to be able to see what those people want to make! Not just see what The Suits say they have the budget to churn out this year. I want to see excellence and artistry and I believe Disney can make that – it’s just a matter of when they’ll trust their artists again to make something as wacky David Spade turning into a llama.

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Robin Williams – Letting the Genie Free

Robin Williams

Robin Williams is a name and voice no one can forget. Let me illuminate some Disney Drama in honor of one of the most beloved voice actors and comedians.

First off, the 90s were a huge comeback decade for Robin. Disney recently casted Williams in two huge live action roles: Good Morning Vietnam and Dead Poets Society which both earned him Oscar nominations. When he was approached for the iconic role of Genie in Aladdin, he decided he owed it to them and took a major pay cut for the role.

However, there was one caveat.

Robin requested that Disney Marketing would not use his name or voice in the advertising for Aladdin because of another live action film called Toys which was to be released the same year, something Robin was extremely passionate about.

And what did Disney do?

CEO of Douchebags, Jefferey Katzenberg (head chairman of Disney at the time) was in the process of blazing trails through the Disney Renaissance of the 90s. He made Genie the vehicle for marketing, and Williams and Toys were hurt.

Jefferey Katzenberg, holding all the power and wealth he has (colorized, circa 1992)

So after a pay cut, explicit betrayal of trust, and 0 earnings from marketing his own voice, Williams decided he wouldn’t work with Katzenberg anymore, and Disney lost Robin for Aladdin’s sequel. He even advised Billy Crystal to not play the role as Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story (who later, when Pixar was under different management voiced Mike Wazowski).

However, blood wasn’t bad forever. Years later, Disney issued a formal apology from then chairman, Joe Roth, genuinely stating how sorry they were for the backstabbing. Robin accepted this apology and even came back to voice Genie in Aladdin and the King of Thieves. (It should be said that Katzenberg had already fucked off to found DreamWorks and steal more ideas. Maybe King of Thieves was based on real life.)

It is also worth noting that casting the huge sensation Robin Williams as Genie created a monstrous downhill avalanche of animated movies casting A-list stars to draw crowds. Thereby spending a huge portion of the budget on star power rather than story or art, but maybe that’s for another angry blog.

My ability to talk about animation history versus my word count space: itty bitty living space

Regardless of drama, we all love you, Robin. Rest in power.

Sources:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000245/

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-24-ca-54095-story.html

https://youtu.be/CK-VbToD0eM

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Protected: Destino – Animation Lost in Time

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My First Blog Post

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

Brenda Chapman – Happy International Women’s Day

Happy International Women’s Day.

It’s no secret that the animation industry is a boys club. According to data from L.A studios “In 2006, men made up 84% of the animation workforce, whereas roles filled by women totalled 16%. In 2015, men make up 80% and roles filled by women still only total 20%.”

Now considering it was a fairly unpopular movie when it came out, I have to assume not many readers saw Pixar’s Brave when it hit theaters in 2012. This is unfortunate for many reasons. The main reason being it is Pixar’s first female main character, Princess Merida, and first female director, Brenda Chapman.

2012. First female director. Seems a bit late, don’t you think? But what’s worse? She was kicked off a story which was so deeply personal to her. Similarly to my Star Wars post, the major corporation Disney (who already owned Pixar at this point) fucked over another Lead Creative and fired her off her own story. She is still credited as director but ultimately Brave ended up being directed by Mark Andrews, a Pixar vet having worked on Ratatouille and The Incredibles.

“We are replaced on a regular basis — and that was a real issue for me. This was a story that I created, which came from a very personal place, as a woman and a mother. To have it taken away and given to someone else, and a man at that, was truly distressing on so many levels.” – Brenda Chapman, 2012

It’s frustrating to see how frequently this happens to women in the industry whether their position is undermined because of their femininity or taken away from them completely for not engaging entirely with a male centric point of view and direction.

My point is not to defend Brave as a movie; I can admit, while it was beautiful, there was a lot wrong with it. My point is to defend women’s right to direct and learn from their mistakes. Not remove them from movies they put their heart into when it doesn’t go the way male executives want it to.

Only 3% of animated film directors over the last 12 years were women, while 13% of episodes evaluated across popular animated TV programs from 2018 had female directors. Only one female film director and three female TV directors were women from underrepresented racial/ethnic backgrounds. – USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative

With these harrowing statistics it is easy to be disheartened, especially as a woman entering the industry within a matter of years. But the good news from all of this is that the Inclusion Initiative is partnering with Women in Animation and they have a goal of 50/50 by 2025. It’s my hope that this inclusion act will focus on racially and gender-identity diverse women too.

With any luck at all, I hope the future of animation is female.