Rapunzel Gets New Life
Walt Disney Feature Animation Converts to Pixar's Story is God Credo
Pixar culture has infected the staff of Walt Disney Feature Animation, and guys like Rapunzel director Glen Keane couldn't be happier.
(Source: animationguildblog.blogspot.com)
(Writer's note: In case you were wondering, the above link goes to the blog site for The Animation Guild, Local 839 IATSE. These are the guys who represent all the people who work in the animated studios in Hollywood, with the exception of Pixar which is a non-union shop.)
TAG business rep Steve Hulett recently cruised by Walt Disney Feature Animation to check out an employee meeting they were having. Apparently this was one of a series of meetings to let everyone know what's going on at the Mouse House.
Rapunzel senior director Glen Keane spoke, according to Hulett, he's "happy with the new direction of Rapunzel and credited the new regime with helping to make the picture better."
That "new regime" refers to Pixar honchos John Lasseter (Toy Story, Cars) and Ed Catmull, who were tasked with restoring WDFA's tarnished name when the Mouse House bought Pixar in April of 2006.
Keane and co-director Dean Wellins are now on full-speed ahead with Rapunzel, which is currently up on reels. The movie stars the voice of Kristin Chenoweth (Wicked). Keane and Wellins have been very happy with the advice they've gotten with the second and third acts for the movie. Lasseter had unequivocally approved of the first act, saying he "can't remember ever seeing a movie that has such a powerful beginning as Rapunzel."
It seems, after the initial growing pains that accompanied Lasseter & Catmull's arrival at WDFA, the overall mood at the studio is a lot brighter than in previous years.
"One employee said to me," writes Hulett in his blog, "that he thought story development was way better than when he first came to the studio (he's been there a few years). I said that, judging from the morale of story crews up on the third floor, I think that's true. The artists don't feel as constricted and hemmed in by executives with their reams of notes the way they did several years back. Now its (sic) peers reviewing peers. Most people in the story department seem to like that a whole lot better."
As you are probably more than aware, the "executives with their reams of notes" era that Hulett talks about, was instituted by then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner who would infamously write "Where's the wow?" on scripts he didn't like. Although Eisner, along with Jeffrey Katzenberg, spearheaded Disney's "animation renaissance" in the late 1980's and early 1990's, the quality (and box office) of their animated flicks plummeted after Katzenberg's acrimonious departure in 1994.
Now that Lasseter and Catmull are calling the shots at WDFA, the animators seem a lot happier. The box office results from such an atmosphere have yet to be determined, but from an artistic perspective this seems like a very good thing. Generally, happy employees are more productive employees and it was obvious that Walt Disney Feature Animation was suffering for quite some time before Lasseter and Catmull took over.
Pixar has a reputation for being good to its employees (which is why they've been able to stay a non-union shop), and as for its box office . . . let's just say that record speaks for itself. Or witness Disney CEO Robert Iger's 2005 observation that he couldn't think of a bona fide Disney animated hit made in the last 10 years that hadn't been produced by the boys in Emeryville.
There were some questions about how the old guard of Disney animated directors (guys like Keane, Ron Clement and John Musker) were going to feel about taking orders from Lasseter and Catmull, but that seems to have worked itself out, with the vivid exception of Chris Sanders (Lilo and Stitch) who is now working for DreamWorks.
Rapunzel is scheduled to be Disney's big summer release for 2010.
