BW Media Spotlight

I’m not exaggerating when I say that Disney has dropped traditional drawn, or “2D”, animation. Any cartoon they’ve put out lately–be it streaming, on their remaining TV presence, and of course movies–have been in 3D or done by an outside studio, with the company that was once a leader in animation serving as distributor at best. Phineas & Ferb, Milo Murphy’s Law, Hailey’s On It, certain Marvel shows until recently, and even the Mickey Mouse shorts by people who clearly didn’t understand 1920s-1930s animation or humor and made something ugly and disappointing–were not made by Disney animators. Traditional animators are gone at that company (or so it appears), and in its place are either computer-generated “3D” animation or live-action demakes of 2D classics right up to the “Disney Renaissance”, a period where Walt Disney Studios was making the best of both methods to create new and interesting stories.

Fansided’s Along Main St., their Disney-focused section, recently released an article suggesting The Walt Disney Company, which hasn’t done anything Walt would have done since Bob Iger showed up, proving that Michael Eisner was not the worst thing to happen to the company, might bring back 2D animation thanks to one comment from one person, and it’s the first time I heard of 2D artists still existing at Disney Animation beyond designing characters for the 3D movies.

This week, Jared Bush shared how important diversity was to the Walt Disney Company and the role it played in the creation of its films. While some might roll their eyes at the premise at first, he’s not talking about a forced DEI initiative, but diversifying the type of media Disney puts out.

“I love 2D,” Bush said. “Right now we have 2D artists who are doing some bonkers amazing things. I’ll leave it at that,” Bush said with a wink when we asked about the format returning to the studio.

If you’re anything like this writer [Along Main St. contributor Zach Glass], that nugget of information had your radar going off. As much as Disney has helped shape the animation industry, it feels like the studio has completely forgotten its roots.

Jared Bush is a Disney movie director putting together a sequel to the excellent movie Zootopia. What could the 2D artists be working on? My guess is merchandise or the aforementioned character models because while Disney has all but abandoned “those silly cartoons” under Hollywood’s continued pushback against animated productions daring to think they’re equal to live-action, the only animation they have put out is computer generated, and not only by Pixar, a company they acquired because of their success in 3D animation until recently.

Look, I’m not bothered by which format you go by. As I wrote in my Art Of Storytelling series, both serve a use depending on the needs of your story and which better brings it to life. I am disappointed traditional animation has been abandoned by a company founded by a man whose goal was to push the boundaries of animation as a form of storytelling. Bringing that back may bring back a lot of traditionalists, and show Disney can work in both forms and do it well…at least if it wasn’t modern Disney.

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