The State of Disney Animation

Since 2009, Disney animation has been on an upward tick in creativity and commercial success with recent classics like Tangled and Frozen. The question, however, is what is the current state of Disney animation? Has Disney recaptured the classical glory from the days of Walt or even returned to from like in the 90s? Is Disney starting a brand new revolution in animation nowadays?

In order to properly answer these questions, we must first trace back the history of Disney animation as a whole and see the progression of the studio. These different ages are defined by myself in accordance to the history of Disney animated films. It all started, of course, back in 1937 with the release of the first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This signaled the beginning of the First Golden Age of Disney which would last up until 1967 with the combination of the death of Walt Disney and the release of The Jungle Book. In this time period, such genre-defining films like Cinderella, Peter Pan, and Sleeping Beauty were released to go along with Pinocchio, Dumbo, Alice in Wonderland, and many more. Release after release, Disney continually produced classics, thus signifying a golden age for the studio. Throw in the fact that Disney was also having outrageous success with its live action films like Mary Poppins, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and Swiss Family Robinson as well as the creation of Disneyland and there's no doubt the company had reached unrivaled heights.

However, once Walt Disney passed away in December 1966, Disney's First Golden Age ended after the release of The Jungle Book (Walt had overseen about half of the film so I include it in the First Golden Age). After Walt's death, Disney animation enters into a time that I refer to as the Lost Age. Without their leader, the studio was not quite sure what their identity was and the films released during this period reflect that lost feeling. It wasn't necessarily that they were producing bad films; in fact, some of the films released from 1967 to 1988 are quite good, such as The AristoCats, The Fox and the Hound, and Robin Hood. What is lacking, however, is classic Disney. Odds are that most Disney fans would not put Robin Hood up against Bambi or Aladdin in the conversation for best Disney film ever. Without Walt, the studio was left searching for a formula that could work.

They searched for years to find that formula, but in 1989, they finally realized that Walt's own original formula was never broken and didn't need to be updated. In 1989, Disney released The Little Mermaid and therefore enters into the Second Golden Age of Disney. This age is reminiscent of the days when Walt was still alive with the studio constantly releasing classic after classic with the likes of Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. Some of the most beloved animated films of all-time were released during this fantastic decade for the company. This age would last until 1999 with the release of Tarzan and the rise of Pixar came about.

At the turn of the millennium, computer animation was all the rage thanks to Pixar Animation Studios and their recent hits like Toy Story and A Bug's Life. Consequently, Disney began to once again attempt to reinvent their winning formula. The thought process for the studio coming out of the 90s was that they needed to appeal greater to boys and young men after primarily focusing on girls and young women with the bevy of princess movies from the 90s. As a result, you see such releases as Lilo & Stitch and The Emperor's New Groove being released. While such films certainly have a relatively cult following (I'm a proud member of the Lilo & Stitch fandom), these films have yet to reach classic Disney status like films like Mulan and Hercules have reached. Factor into the equation that Pixar has just released the commercial and critical success Toy Story 2 and would subsequently release classics Finding Nemo and The Incredibles in the following years, and Disney is suddenly playing second fiddle in the animation business in the Pixar Age.

The Pixar Age is still going on to this day as evidenced by the tremendous success of this past summer's hit, Inside Out. The question, though, is what is the state of animation on the Disney side? Can Disney and Pixar coexist at the top of the animation business? Some would surely argue that the magic of the years of Walt or even the 90s can never again be reached by Disney. I, however, would counter that argument by proposing that Disney is actually currently in the infancy stage of their Third Golden Age. It all started with the hand drawn underrated Disney classic, The Princess and the Frog in 2009. This upward trend would continue in 2010 with Tangled, followed by Wreck-It Ralph in 2012, Frozen in 2013, and Big Hero 6 in 2014. Those five are five soon-to-be Disney classics. I would actually say that Tangled and Frozen have actually already reached classic status. The quality of these five films are far and away of higher quality than anything produced by the studio from 2003 to 2008 with the release of the likes of Chicken Little and Bolt highlighted the studio's slate or even superior than a majority of the films released in the Lost Age like Oliver & Company and The Great Mouse Detective.

Disney animation is reaching a place they haven't been to since the late 90s, and as a Disney fan, that's something to get excited for. Next year will be a big test to whether Disney is in fact in this Third Golden Age or not. In March 2016, Disney will release Zootopia and will then release their next princess movie in November 2016 with Moana. Both have consistently received solid positive early buzz, and if Disney can finish 2016 with two additional classics on their hands, it is totally acceptable to declare the studio to be in the midst of yet another golden age.

One thing is for sure: Disney animation has been impacted lives of people all around the globe since 1937, and in 2137, we'll still be talking about these remarkable films. So go and watch Lady and the Tramp or The Hunchback of Notre Dame and recapture the magic all over again and get excited for this potential Third Golden Age of Disney.

-Cody Fleenor