Walt Disney
October 13, 2014 § Leave a comment
The first films made by Walt Disney and his brother Roy were the Alice comedied, combination live action and animated shorts made in a style quite unlike that associated with modern Disney. The alt Disney company made about 70 of these films between 1923 and 1927, before the advent of Mickey Mouse in 1928 changed the emphasis of output.Mickeys arrival was followed by Pluto,Goofy, and Donald Duck. Until Disney produced its first feature length animation, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) the company concentrated on animated shorts featuring and expanding range of characters, most of which remain active in the 21st century Disney empire.
Snow White was a huge success and demonstrated that there was a worldwide market for animate features. Pinocchio was Disneys second feature. Based on the late 19th century Italian tale by Carlo Collodi, Pinnochio was not easy to adapt. Collodis central character is very unsympathetic and Disneys scriptwriters and animators had to modify both his physique and his attitude before he made it to the screen. Even so, Disneys Pinocchio retains a cruel moral tenor not in line with contemporary tastes.
The quality of early Disney films is legend. Entirely hand made and drawn scene by scene, the images have a depth and resonance that is not seen in present day animation. Disney animators first started taking technological short cuts in the early 1960s. Xerox machines were used in the making of one Hundred and One Dalmatians, allowing the multiplication of a single sketch of a few dogs to fill a whole screen.
In the 1960s and 1970s Disney animated features went through a stagnant period. Things began to improve in the 1980s as new technologies facilitated animated effects that helped compensate for the loss of the handmade. A series of box office earners followed, including Beauty and The Beast (1991) and The Lion King (1994). Using sophisticated computer animation, these afforded spectacular vistas, satisfying detail, and heart thumping action sequences, all at once. In 1995 Disney teamed up with the ground breaking 3-D computer animationstudio Pixar to make Toy Story, follwing up with other successes such as A Bugs Life (1998) and Monsters Inc (2002). Matching technological developments with child friendly tales, Disney has maintained its pre eminence in animated features for more than 60 years.
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