- Jim Hill reports on Toontown's latest tragedy: Disney
Feature Animation's decision to let studio vets John Musker and Ron Clements
go.
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- It's the end of an era, people. John Musker and Ron Musker
-- arguably two of the best directors that Disney Feature Animation ever
had -- are exiting the Mouse House today.
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- Why for? Because ... well ... to be honest, I haven't
heard an explanation yet that makes any sense.
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- One studio insider told me that the Mouse House supposedly
opted not to renew Ron'n'John's contracts because their last picture (2002's
"Treasure Planet") had performed so poorly at the box office.
"There's only one hard and fast rule in Hollywood, Jim," said
this Disney vet. "You're only as good as your last picture. 'Treasure
Planet' tanked. Which is why management thought that Ron'n'John were now
expendable."
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- "Expendable"?! The guys who directed "The
Great Mouse Detective" AND "The Little Mermaid" AND "Aladdin"
AND "Hercules" are "expendable"? Does an idea like
this even remotely make sense to anyone outside of the Team Disney Burbank
building?
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- Everyone talks about Disney had this second Golden Age
of Animation back in the late 1980s / early 1990s. But Ron'n'John? They're
the guys who actually made this second Golden Age happen.
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- I mean, how many of you remember the early 1980s? When
Disney Feature Animation had pinned all of its hopes and dreams on a single
70MM epic, "The Black Cauldron"? Well, Ron'n'John were among
the very few within WDFA to recognize that "Cauldron" was going
to be a train wreck. Which is why these two guys thought "We'd better
get another project going ASAP."
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- Well, thank goodness that Musker and Clements were able
to persuade then-Disney Productions studio head Ron Miller to let them
start development of another animated feature. One that would be based
on Eve Titus' charming children's book, "Basil of Baker Street."
It was this 1986 Walt Disney Pictures release -- not the bloated, botched
"Black Cauldron" -- that actually signaled to the world that
Disney Feature Animation was on its way back.
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- Ron'n'John? Yeah, for a while there, these guys really
did seem to have a magic touch. After all, they're the team that took Hans
Christian Anderson's saddest story and turned it into the motion picture
that every little girl loves, "The Little Mermaid." That 1989
Walt Disney Pictures release broke box office records around the world
as teens and adults everywhere rediscovered just how entertaining a Disney
animated feature could be.
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- And Musker and Clements continued to work their magic
with the studio's 1992 release, "Aladdin." Longtime WDFA employees
(the few there are that are left, anyway) will tell you what a mess that
movie was at first. How there were two genies, how Aladdin had three best
friends as well as a mother to deal with. How Howard Ashman's original
script for this WDFA project was charming but completely unworkable.
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- Well, Ron'n'John waded into this mess. And -- with their
unerring eye for seeing what would make a good story great -- they radically
overhauled Ashman's "Aladdin" screenplay. Pruning extraneous
plot points, finding an emotional through-line for the story. The end result
was one of Walt Disney Pictures' most entertaining -- and most successful
-- motion pictures.
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- Okay. I know. Some of you may find fault in Musker and
Clements' next project for the studio, Disney's 1997 release, "Hercules."
Me? Every time I watch this film, I like it more and more.
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- I mean, how can you not like a picture that has so skillfully
mixes 1930s era screwball comic dialogue, epic action sequences and heart-on-your-sleeve
emotions? Some people say that "Hercules" moves too fast. Me?
I say that this film was 'way ahead of its time. Take another look at "Hercules"
today. You'll see that it really is this undiscovered gem.
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- The same (I think) could be said about Ron'n'John's last
project for Disney Feature Animation, "Treasure Planet." Before
I wrote today's article, I actually drove down to Hartford, CT so that
I could see this sci-fi adventure one more time up on the big screen. (Seriously,
folks. 15 months after the film's initial theatrical release, the Crown
Odyssey Theater is still showing the IMAX version of "Treasure Planet"
once every day. For further information, follow <http://www.bigmoviezone.com/txshows/theaters/?uniq=708this
link.)
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- As I sat there -- watching John Ripa's Jim Hawkins, Glen
Keane's Long John Silver, Ken Duncan's Captain Amelia and Sergio Pablos'
Dr. Doppler -- I kept thinking "This was a flop?" Just as I did
back in November of 2002, I found this film to be supremely entertaining.
Loaded with great characters and exciting set pieces.
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- Of course, given how poorly "Treasure Planet"
performed at the box office in 2002, I realize that I'm really in the minority
here. But -- that said -- I still think that time will be kind to this
Musker and Clements' film. That audiences will eventually come to enjoy
and appreciate this epic animated adventure.
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- I was hoping that we all might get the chance to see
what Ron'n'John would do next for the Mouse House. Lately, I had been hearing
rumors that these two had been lending their talents to the "Rapuznel
Unbraided" team. Which -- given this team's obvious talent for turning
familiar fairy tales into huge box office hits -- seemed like a pretty
obvious thing for Disney to do.
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- Which is why I'm just flabbergasted to hear that Disney
Feature Animation opted not to renew Musker and Clements' deal with the
studio. This (to me, anyway) just makes absolutely no sense. I mean, does
the Mouse really want truly talented guys like Ron'n'John out there making
movies for Disney's competition?
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- Because that's the story that's currently going around
about Musker and Clements. That these two filmmakers are already in the
running to direct a major animated release for an independent studio. What's
the title of the film? My source wouldn't say ... Other than to suggest
that this film will be based on a famous comic strip.
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- So here we are. On Ron'n'John's very last day of working
for the Mouse Factory. If you were to combine the amount of time that these
two put at for Disney Feature Animation, you'd be talking about over 50
years. Five decades of fillmaking. That's pretty impressive, don't you
think.
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- Well, the boneheads who run Walt Disney Studios nowadays
obviously don't think so. Those empty suits ... They have absolutely no
loyalty any more. They just can't seem to recall the over 50 years of good
work that Musker and Clements have done for the Disney corporation. When
it comes to the Mouse these days, it's strictly "What have you done
for me lately?"
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- Needless to say, I think that letting Ron'n'John go is
a huge error on Disney's part. Which -- coupled with Mickey's decision
to shut down Feature Animation Florida earlier this month -- sends a pretty
clear signal to the world. Which is: The Walt Disney Company isn't interested
in making good movies anymore. It's all about containing costs at the Mouse
House nowadays. The bottom line is now the top priority.
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- Here's hoping that Musker and Clements end up at a studio
that actually appreciates their talent. As for the management of Walt Disney
Feature Animation... Just how many stupid decisions can you guys make in
a single month? Shutting down a satellite studio that produced three hit
films for Disney in a row coupled with letting one of the company's winningest
directorial teams walk off the lot ... Do you think that anyone else in
LA thinks that this is a good idea? Don't you realize that WDFA is becoming
the laughing stock of the industry.
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- I wish I had said this. But I didn't. But one unnamed
animation wag once said: "You wanna start a really great animation
studio? Just go stand out on the sidewalk in Burbank and hire everyone
that Disney lets go?" Well, if someone wants to get a real head start
on starting a truly great animation studio, I suggest that you stand outside
the Sorcerer Mickey building at 5 p.m. today.
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- But -- hey -- you didn't hear that from me.
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- http://www.jimhillmedia.com/legacy/index.htm?../articles/01232004.1.htm~
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