Between retirements and defections to Don Bluth's studio, the old guard of Disney animators had quietly departed the studio by 1980, when producer Joe Hale took over The Back Cauldron.
The Bluth defection was only one controversy surrounding Disney's animation department. Since then, the animators have been moved off the lot and a new executive regime has assumed control. Now, some wonder – Is Disney's trademark form of storytelling in jeopardy as the studio becomes more concerned with live-action fare? No, says Hale, but the increased emphasis on live action has certainly had an impact.
"One of the problems we've had in the last few years," Hale admits, "is that Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and others have moved in and taken over special effects – they do in live action what we used to do only in animation. If we are going to have any kind of an impact and keep this industry going, we must go farther in animation than they have in live action."
The Black Cauldron's $25+ million pricetag and 70mm Dolby Stereo format boldly brings Lloyd Alexander's fantasy world where Lucas and Spielberg have gone before in the realm of expenditure, and re-asserts the studio's claim to preeminence in the field of fantasy storytelling. An added bonus to the production, Hale notes, was filling a cupboard which had been bare.
"The reason we spent the money on this feature was not only to do a picture but to train a whole new generation of animators. We had good background and layout departments, but really no experienced animators.
"I would say this studio is now set with animators for another 30 years," the producer claims. "At the beginning, I thought, 'If I can make a good picture and leave the studio in as good a shape as it was when I started here in '51, I'll be satisfied.' Now, I would match these animators against anybody from the past."
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