#wda: starter

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Jennifer Lee, CCO of Walt Disney Animation Studios, via an interview for Fandango... On FROZEN III and IV being made back to back...

“We’re working in a room where this half is FROZEN III, this half is FROZEN IV, we’re standing in the middle going back & forth”

For many observers, this is recalling the grueling production of ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE and how Sony made it seem - up until last year's strikes and that story on alleged animator crunch - that BEYOND THE SPIDER-VERSE would debut less than a year later. ACROSS debuted June 2, 2023, and BEYOND was meant for March 29, 2024...

And yet, they were nowhere near getting that picture off the ground, and it remains date-less. Which is good, but it should've never been given the 3/29/2024 date to begin with if it was nowhere near leaving the station... And I've said before that these dates are really just announced to whet the appetites of investors and shareholders, but... Here's the thing...

After guesting on a podcast recently and talking about all the eras of Disney Feature Animation, I've come to suspect something about Jennifer Lee's tenure as WDAS leader...

And I think it all goes back to her feature directorial debut, the original FROZEN...

FROZEN was changed dramatically within a year of its release. Like as late as June 2013, when its teaser was out... The movie was released in November 2013...

Now, luckily for everyone involved, the film was a critical hit, an Oscar winner, and a financial explosion. Me? I think the film has always been something of a mess, seemingly hastily thrown together and it was evident to me that stuff was being worked on at last minute... But I'm not the rest of the world, who went gaga for the movie. There are parts of it that really work on their own, but I feel it needed another year in the works to really come together as a grand slam.

Every once in a while, an animated movie is taken apart and put back together way too close to release date. Infamously, Pixar's TOY STORY 2 was dramatically overhauled within a year of release, and few feel that that film is anything less than great. But that's a sort-of an "okay, phew, we made it, but NEVER again" thing. TOY STORY 2 is a rare instance where they worked way too hard under such immense pressure, and delivered something really good.

And it should've never happened on FROZEN. I know that the studios "have" to meet these release dates and not miss those scheduled promotional tie-ins (see MINIONS 2 merchandise and early MARIO MOVIE Happy Meal toys, for starters), but this isn't it... Especially when you're seemingly doing it again and again and again.

Before I go on, yes, John Lasseter also did similar stuff. FROZEN was a movie he oversaw after all. ZOOTOPIA saw a protagonist swap and a massive overhaul about a year and a few months away from its release date. One character was rewritten and redesigned for MOANA, with another one's presence dialed down significantly... But only after some merchandise was made. It wasn't as common under Lasseter as it is now, though. Lasseter tended to break stuff apart and boot directors off of movies well before they came out. The issue with Lasseter was that he wanted directors to make the movie HE wanted to make, but he usually got the dirty work out of the way earlier. Not... Less than 5 months away from release!

I get the sense that FROZEN director-writer Lee - upon becoming the CCO of Disney Animation following Lasseter's prolonged exit - thinks you can just do that with any animation production willy-nilly and it'll turn out just fine in the end.

FROZEN II had a whole Disney+ documentary admitting to this, RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON had a massive director change about a year away from release, STRANGE WORLD and WISH felt similarly thrown together. MOANA 2 was a Disney+ show first, and became a movie... Seemingly not too long ago. Many directors left under Lee, much like they did under Lasseter. Don Hall left, as did Carlos Lopez Estrada. It seems like no progress has been made on whatever it is Suzi Yoonessi and Josie Trinidad are/were working on.

From my outside perspective, Lee's WDAS doesn't lock a picture a year in advance, making tiny revisions along the way, and hoping for the best when the thing is completed. To me, it seems like they needlessly change and rearrange huge vital chunks of their movies so close to completion, no doubt a strain on the crews and no doubt a reason why some - myself included, as I try to be fair - are a little underwhelmed with their recent work. And then they take too much advice from focus groups, or one of the crew's kids, and then go and re-do whole things because of that... Like, what's going on over there? And it's equally wrong that at Sony Animation, Phil Lord seemed to have kept changing things on ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE to the point where at least more than one version was rolling in theaters...

You just gotta lock the damn thing a year away from release. Novel concept, I guess. If it really isn't working, then delay it. That's what Pixar did with GOOD DINOSAUR and ELIO. Disney Animation did that with THE LION KING... But I guess that's a lot to ask for.

Also, there's your answer as to why WDAS will likely not make any 2D movies anytime soon. Sorry y'all, but Donald Duck's appearance on HOT ONES isn't the sign of a full-on mainstream 2D feature comeback. The studio heads and clout-loaded producers can micromanage these CG films a lot easier, without all that pesky stuff with lead animators and the whole 2D process/pipeline getting in their way, in their attempts to get the "story" right whilst keeping the assembly line going.

And ya wonder why an animation strike is currently underway...

[jacks-onian]

“It’s-” Jack’s hand thumped on the side of the dome, maybe the twentieth time, palm beginning to become too numb to feel the sting of the force with which he assaulted the barrier. “I can’t go through it,” he panted, speaking to himself as there didn’t seem to be a single living soul within miles. He leaned up against it and pressed his forehead to the surface. He pushed his head harder, forcing his eyes closed, and soon all the muscles in his upper body were trying and get himself to phase through it, his body burning, the tension in his stomach making him feel queasy. “Fuck. Please let me through it, please...”

[roselinewynters]

“shit-” it was the first word out of her mouth as she started awake, the gravity of the situation taking little time to sink in. she had been on her honeymoon. she and carter had been...- doing what people on their honeymoon DID. and whatever had happened ; where she was, now - rose was there sans a stitch of clothing. she was in a giftstore, that much she knew from the fact that as quickly as she registered the situation, she was able to move in behind a rack ; just in time for the door to swing open, and for someone else to enter. so. it could get worse. taking stock of her surroundings and realizing she was near enough to some sweaters ( wda was emblazoned on their chests, but that didn’t make SENSE- ), she cleared her throat and made her presence known with a softly spoken, “could you- uh- maybe, perhaps, throw me over a pair of pants?” 

[rheawindsor]

“oh- man- i’m sorry-” it didn’t take long for rhea to realize that she had just found her first occupied room. she hadn’t been knocking on any of the doors she was pushing through, simply inching her way inside of every room, taking a quick look and leaving ; but the fact that there was a full bodied person there when there were few of those anywhere else had her jumping out of her skin ( and back a step ), hand gripping the doorknob tighter than tight, heart feeling as if it had come to a complete, dead, stop. she tried not to sound too frightened out of her wits, though the adrenaline that had started pumping at the sight of them was hard ignore. “i was just-” deep breath, leveling herself, “i was just looking for people’s pets. so they’re not trapped inside a room.”

[alexander-kaligaris]

“What the actual fuck?” Alex stared at his phone in shock, pressing the send button on anything he could, - tweet, text, phone call, anything - trying (to no avail) to get a message through. “I had this stupid town. Get me the hell out of here.”

[cfselcouth]

alva’s not in the mood to talk. “ have you ever been hit with a lacrosse stick ? “ she narrows her eyes, swings the crosse until its leaning against her shoulder. “ FOLLOW UP: would you like to be ? “

[inviictas]

“this shit is EXACTLY why this town should be turned into a test zone.” not that the dome going up and her coworkers disappearing hadn’t been good for nikki, cause the two events SURE had ; the safe left open in the office meant that she’d been able to help herself, and even now, her pockets were stuffed with notes that didn’t belong to her. the PROBLEM was that she was trapped - they all were - and in an apocalyptic nightmare, money didn’t mean SHIT. what was the point in finally being financially stable if you couldn’t even reap those tax benefits? tossing yet another rock at the dome, only for it to fall to the ground with a clunk, nikki grumbled something indiscernible ( the only clear word being ‘fuck’  ) before adding, a little clearer, “this is what happens, right? everything goes well for, like, a month, and then some shit happens to turn this place into a living hellhole all over again. i should have listened to the guy that wrote the ten worst places to live in the world article. FLORIDA would be better than this.” 

[spellboxnd]

earth wasn’t anything like he remembered — although his memories were limited (made up?) and this wasn’t the same place he’d lived — but still, it felt...different. for so long he’d dreamed of being home, and here he was, closer than ever, and trapped — again. it was nearly laughable. 

at the very least, the food was better. “you know,” he began, taking another bite out of the very sweet, very cold uh...food item he’d found. “i didn’t remember earth food being this cold. and look! it turns my tongue blue! i didn’t know humans could change colors.”

[stephaniewindsor]

“If you come any closer I’ll fucking hit you,” giving the bat a swing for good measure, Steph lunged forward slightly. Maybe there were better ways to respond to the chaos outside, but Stephanie had never been known for her tact.

[undcrlings]

“no no no no, this is not happening,” the brunette insisted, as she slowly turned her head, taking in her surroundings. it had been years since she’d last stepped foot in this godforsaken school- and they had been some of the best, most peaceful years of her life. who knew you could be so successful when you didn’t have to worry about dying every other day of the week, oh wait, she did. leaving walt disney academy behind had been one of the best decisions of her life, and yet, there she was, standing in the middle of the sidewalk, like she’d never left. “this isn’t funny!” she called out, hands placed on her hips, “you can take me home now!”

[sniickt]

she had seen this play out before. at least ; a version of it. laura had grown up at a time when mutants were feared and hunted, their only safety being the wilderness far beyond the canadian border. supplies had to be rationed, stockpiled when the opportunity arose for the future hardships. her first thought when she discovered that she was trapped within this town, was not to seek out all others and begin attempts to unravel the mystery. it was to seek out supplies in one of the abandoned buena vista grocery stores. her arms were overflowing with long lasting foodstuffs when it happened ; when she came across another, and cut them off from the item she had been heading STRAIGHT for. she didn’t have any room in which to grasp them, but she had no issue in extending the two claws of one hand to pierce through the top of the package and trap it to the shelf. “that is mine.” 

[criedpowcr]

ONE MOMENT miss eliza diggs was in her bakery and the next she ISN’T. glinda’s. named after her mother. it was her CHILD ; she bought the place in horrible condition and was able to turn it into a beautiful cafe & bakery. she had never been so proud of something in her life as she was of glinda’s. she walks a few blocks and tries to figure out where she is. she definitely doesn’t remember anything. when she tried to remember how she got here all she got was nothingless.

“ hey - , “ the happiness and optimism were gone from her facial expression and tone of her voice. “ do you know where we are ? i don’t... remember anything. “ her throat tightens as she forces herself to NOT CRY. but her vision stars to blur as tears form , whether she wanted them to or not. 

[rcttlingstars]

there was nothing close to amusement in kalei’s features as she slowly turns in a circle, eyes wide as she takes in the view that buena vista has to offer. it’s a beautiful town, but beauty can only hide so many ugly memories before it too turns sour. “you’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” she mutters to herself, placing her hands on her hips. of all places to wake up, it had to be here. in this town ? of course it was this town. the world just loved to give her a grand ‘ fuck you ’ whenever she thought she was making progress with herself. “dude, at least tell me there’s still decent food and supplies around here. it’d suck if we had to go all ... lord of the flies on each other.” she’s speaking to no one in particular. hell, she doesn’t even know if there’s anyone else in town. 

[skellingtoncass-blog]

“There’s something awfully ironic about this happening when I was finalizing my vacation details.............”Cassandra said,grimacing as she looked around. “I know I said less then kind things about staying here over the summer but fate didn’t have to fuck me over.”

[scout-pan-blog]

@roselinewynters for a really old starter call !

scout readjusted her posture for what had to be the fifth time in ten minutes, an insufferable sigh ripping away from her as her eyes ran impatiently to the blonde beside her. “while this is most definitely riveting, i’d rather be doing anything else in the world.” the last word of her sentence came with a heavy sigh, burdened by the thought of that very concept: being out there, being anywhere but here, able to do whatever she wanted. she hadn’t actually left buena vista in a long while, and now she couldn’t for the life of her remember why. her only ties left to the town were school-related, and she didn’t even like school. she wondered now whether or not it would be harder to be free for a while before having it cut short, or to have gotten used to the feeling of being stuck. she missed knowing the option was there. desperate for any kind of distraction, she twisted away from the glass in order to stare at her partner. “okay, fun but severely depressing game: where would you go if the dome just lifted right now? what would you do, who would you see? all of that. oh, oh! what would you eat?”

[alexander-kaligaris]

He had been trying so hard not to drink. He hadn’t been drunk in over 4 years - there had been other things to fill that void, soccer mainly. But gods did he want a fucking beer. Not for the taste of course, but what it did to him. There was something so easy about the dizzying comfort of being drunk. Of feeling like things didn’t matter. So here he was, several drinks in. “What?” Alex asked, looking remorsefully at the person beside him. “It’s the end of the fucking world, what am I supposed to do about that?”