This year will see a record number of computer animated films released in theaters. Only one of those is made by Pixar, which means most of them probably won’t be very good (Weinstein Company, I’m looking at you). 3-D CGI is officially no longer a novelty, which may mean that audiences are ready to get over it and make room for mostly dead 2-D animation to return.
Disney is betting on it, and Variety says they’re returning to 2-D animation for the first time since 2004’s Home on the Range. They’ll do it with a movie called The Frog Princess, being developed by John Musker and Robert Clements. They’re the guys responsible for Disney 2-D classics like Aladdin and The Little Mermaid. The interesting thing here is that both Musker and Clements abandoned Disney several years ago, and only recently returned after the very public merger of Disney and Pixar, which put people like John Lasseter in charge of Disney’s animation division. With the help of Pixar’s team, it looks like Disney is regaining its reputation as a haven for great animation talent.
Don’t think that means Disney’s slowing down on releasing more 3-D CGI movies. Their upcoming slate of computer animated movies includes Meet the Robinsons, Rapunzel, Joel Jump, and the next Pixar movie Ratatouille.
