Have you ever seen Walt Disney’s Pinocchio? Remember when the giant whale Monstro swallowed Pinocchio and held him prisoner in a belly as big as a cathedral?
Or Fantasia? Remember the terrible battle between two huge dinosaurs - a Stegosaurus and a Tyrannosaurus Rex? Remember the evil creatures who came alive at night on Bald Mountain? Remember poor Mickey Mouse and the dancing broomsticks who tried to drown him in buckets of water?
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These were Disney masterpieces. They were full-length animated features - king-sized cartoons. Every character was drawn by hand. Each scene was drawn by hand. Dozens of artists teamed up and worked thousands of hours to produce all the still paintings that, when shown together rapidly, made the cartoon characters come alive.
The pictures were incredibly realistic. The heroes were brave and the villains were frightening and evil. Action filled the screen from start to finish.
But those days are gone. All that’s left are the reruns.
Why?
Because full-length, animated cartoons have become tremendously expensive.
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