By Winnie the Pooh was one of the greatest films of 2011 (I loved it so much I wrote a feature for it). It unfortunately was forgotten shortly thereafter because it was quietly released during an especially loud Summer. And unfortunately for fans of hand drawn animation, Disney has taken that low-key performance as a sign that hand drawn animation isn’t wanted anymore.
A few days ago, Disney CEO, Bob Iger, announced that none of Disney’s animation studios have plans for a 2D, or hand drawn, animated feature and the studios won’t be working on any in the near future as they move further toward CG animation (with amount of success Tangled got that’s no surprise, but that was just a good movie).
Perhaps Disney might make a nostalgic move back in a few years, but this is sort of sad. It’s like the end of an era. Maybe they can try and do what they did with Paperman? I’d be fine with that, but as of now I’m really, really sad. It just won’t feel completely like Disney anymore.
[via /Film]