Archive notice: This article was originally published on June 18, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Animated films from Walt Disney Studios will become rarities in the future. Although Disney’s success is founded on cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse and company, the group is sharply scaling back in this area. Productions with real actors, known as live-action films, are increasingly displacing the animated-film business, according to industry publication Film-Dienst. In addition, the online sector now plays a more significant role in the Disney group’s business strategy. “Animated films were the mainstay of youth programming for many years. One of the most important changes in our industry is the increase in live-action programming,” Disney Channels executive Rich Ross is quoted as saying by the Financial Times Deutschland.
After the 2002 film “Treasure Planet” flopped, causing Disney to incur losses of $98 million, the animated-film business slowed considerably. The group is repositioning itself and increasingly relies on teenage stars in television and film productions. Music-focused television films such as “Hannah Montana” and “High School Musical” generate greater returns for Disney. The two youth films Hannah Montana and the second of five planned High School Musical installments alone generated more than $1 billion. Animated films will not be removed entirely from Disney’s production schedule, but they now occupy a subordinate position and are being made significantly less often.
“Cinema audiences hardly notice the reduced activity because all Pixar films also carry the Walt Disney Company emblem,” writes Film-Dienst. In 2006, the Disney group acquired the animation market leader for $7.4 billion. However, many Pixar films also target adult audiences. Surprisingly, Disney reversed its decision to produce only computer-animated films in the future. The production “The Princess and the Frog” will mark a return to traditional 2D animation, although it is not expected before Christmas 2009. Until then, “Bolt” is Disney’s only computer-animated film.
