You know, there are always two sides to every story.
As is obvious by the articles that I’ve run at JimHillMedia.com over the past few days, my sympathies clearly lie with the animators and technicians whose jobs may be going away next week. IF executives from the Walt Disney Company actually go forward with their plan to shut WDFA’s Central Florida production unit.
But — that said — I’m still up for hearing the other side of the story. Having a Disney exec try and explain the corporation’s rationale for shutting down an animation studio that has produced three hits films in a row (I.E. “Mulan,” “Lilo and Stitch” and “Brother Bear”). Amazingly enough, one such executive has come forward. And — provided that I would do what I could to try and to mask his identity — he would attempt to explain why the Walt Disney Company feels that, given what’s going on with animated films today, that it just has no choice but to shut down WDFA-F.
Mind you, I don’t actually agree with everything that this Feature Animation insider has to say. But I still think that it makes for some compelling reading. His e-mail reads:
Jim:
I am one of those “alleged creative VPs” that you have been talking about in your “WDFAF Countdown” articles this week. And I’m writing today to take exception to some of the things that you’ve been saying in this series.
Okay, I’ll admit that — over the past few years — there have been some pretty questionable decisions made by the “useless suits” (as you call us) back here in Burbank. But a lot of those bad calls (I.E. Putting films into the production pipeline before all the story issues had been settled) were made under Disney Feature Animation’s previous management team. Now that Peter Schneider and Tom Schumacher have both moved on, WDFA is still in the process of regrouping. Picking up the pieces, if you will.
Because — whether we like to admit it or not — we know that the Mouse Factory is broken right now. That — for some reason — Disney Feature Animation has lost the ability to create films that can really connect with a mass audience. Oh, sure. Our films still do well with families and animation fans. And these titles tend to sell well whenever Buena Vista Home Entertainment puts them out on video and DVD. But where are the teens, the young couples on dates that used to turn out in droves for Disney animated features like “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Lion King” and “Aladdin”? These people still turn out in record numbers for Pixar pictures … But not for Disney’s animated features anymore. At least not any of our recent releases.
As you might expect, we’ve been doing a lot of market research, running a lot of surveys, trying to get to the bottom of WDFA’s disappearing audience problem. And you know what we’ve found, Jim? There’s just too much Disney animated product out there nowadays. We’ve glutted our own market.
I mean, look at the period from November 1st, 2003 to April 2nd, 2004. On the film side of the house, we had “Brother Bear” debut in theaters back on November 1st. Next week, the “Teacher’s Pet” movie pops up in theaters nationwide. And then — On April 2nd — “Home on the Range” hits the big screen. Meanwhile — over on the Buena Vista Home Entertainment side of things — we’ve just spent the four months promoting the hell out of “Finding Nemo” and “The Lion King.” This month, we’re hyping that “Sleeping Beauty,” “Fantasia” and “Fantasia 2000” are all supposedly going back into the vault at the end of January, never to seen again. Come February, BVHE will be promoting “Lion King 1 1/2.” Then in March, our big push will be “Brother Bear” ‘s release on home video and DVD.
You see what I’m saying, Jim. That’s an awful lot of product. So I guess you can understand why consumers don’t consider Disney animated films to be all that special anymore. Meanwhile — over at Pixar — what are they doing? Just one film a year. Which is why their stuff still seems special to the public. Which is why going out to see a new Pixar picture still seems like an event to most folks. Which is why people still rush out to see these films while they’re up on the big screen. Rather than waiting ’til these Pixar movies becomes available on home video and DVD.
Sadly, the exact opposite is what’s happening with Disney’s new animated features. Because so many consumers are now hip to the pattern (I.E. That — four to six months after a new Disney movie appears in theaters — that this same film will be available for purchase in the home video and DVD format), they no longer feel like they have to rush out to theaters to catch the latest WDFA release. (That’s what Disney’s own market survey work is telling us what happened with “Brother Bear,” Jim. Almost 35% of our North American target audience opted out of seeing that movie while it was in theaters. These consumers preferred to wait ’til “Brother Bear” was available on home video and DVD before finally checking out that flick. )
So you see, Jim, Disney — without actually ever intending to — has totally glutted its own market. We have diluted the Disney animation brand so much over the past few years that consumers can no longer differentiate between our high price theatrical releases and our low cost home premiere product. Which is why (we think) the grosses for WDFA’s films have been tracking steadily downward for the past five years.
Which is why Disney Feature Animation is currently in the middle of a rebuilding process, Jim. Step 1 in this plan is bringing all of the company’s top animation talent back to Burbank. Getting all of our best animators and story people back together under one roof. Recreating what Disney Feature Animation was like back in the late 1980s, when everybody was working on the very same movie. When we didn’t divide our talent between separate and competing projects, but all worked together to make the best possible pictures.
Yes, making a move like this comes with a pretty hefty price tag. It meant letting go of all of those great artists who worked at the Parisian studio, all those animators who did such nice work on “The Goofy Movie,” “Hunchback “and “Tarzan.” And it also means cutting loose our Feature Animation — Florida unit (Which — arguably — has been WDFA’s most consistent production unit. Year after year, these guys have turned out top quality work. I mean, how can you complain about the string of pictures that these folks churned out. “Mulan,” “Lilo and Stitch,” “Brother Bear.” Those titles will be making millions for the Mouse for decades yet to come.
But we had to do it, Jim. We really had no choice. WDFA is fighting for its life right now. This is a triage situation, Hill. And — given that the bulk of the Walt Disney Company’s animation production facilities are based in Burbank — it just made sense (in the long run) that, if this division of the Disney corporation was going to make one last stab at survival, that it would be have to be done out here in Southern California. Where — after all — Disney Feature Animation got its start back in the 1930s.
Please be aware, Jim, that this was NOT a casual decision. Something that we took lightly. In fact, for quite a while, there was an alternate scenario we were actively thinking about. Which involved shutting Burbank’s Feature Animation unit down and shifting the company’s entire animation operation down to Orlando. Where — given that it cost us a third less to produce animated films down there as it does to make them out here in Southern California — made sense. At least from a financial point of view. But then — when we began weighing what the possible public relations ramifications might be if the Walt Disney Company did something like that — shutting down WDFA-F instead really did seem to be the smarter choice.
Look, I know that some very talented people in Florida are losing jobs that they love, Jim. And — while I know that no one is going to believe this when I say it — but there are people here in the executive branch at Disney Feature Animation who actually do feel badly about this. If it’s any consolation, our arm of WDFA has also had to take a number of hits. We’ve lost a lot of people too, had our salaries cut. So it’s not as if the WDFAF crew is the only group that’s feeling the effects of all these changes.
You have to keep in mind that our Number No. 1 goal right now, Jim, is to save Disney Feature Animation. Eisner’s told us that we have to turn this division of the Walt Disney Company back into the profit center that it was back in the early 1990s or Disney’s going to start out-sourcing stuff. That’s what “Valiant” actually is, Hill. A test run for the WDFA out-sourcing concept. Right now, Disney’s only slated to release this Vanguard Animation picture in North America. But if this U.K. based CG production proves to be a big enough hit, it soon won’t be just the guys in Orlando who’ll be out of work. It’ll be every single person at Disney Feature Animation — from us “useless suits” (as you like to call us, Jim) right on down to the guy who guards the door at the Sorcerer Mickey building.
Anyway, I just thought that you and your readers would to know that there really is another side to this story. Yes, it’s unfortunate that Disney Feature Animation seems to have lost its way over the past few years. Yes, it’s sad that all those talented animators and technicians in Paris and Orlando have had to lose their jobs. But — right now — it’s that we can do to keep this once proud division of the Walt Disney Company alive.
It may not look like it from the outside, but there are really some of us “pinheaded” Disney executives who actually care about the traditions of great story telling at Walt Disney Studios. We aren’t shutting down entire divisions of Disney Feature Animation just because it amuses us or just because we enjoy firing people. In fact, most of us hate having to tell friends and co-workers that we’ve worked with for years that jobs that they love are going away. But — when you’re trying to save a sinking ship — you do whatever you have to. Even if you don’t like what you’re doing.
Anyway, thanks for allowing me to vent, Jim. Here’s hoping that you — and your readers — have open-enough minds so that you can possibly see the other side of the equation here.
An “empty-headed executive”
Again, I don’t exactly buy everything that this Disney Feature Animation vet was trying to sell. But — even so — I think that he brings up some very interesting points.
Your thoughts?