I was just thinking about how I would enjoy returning to the wonderful world of blogging, and as I was thinking about how I really didn't have the time or the inclination to set up a brand new blog, I remembered that I had this one! I have deleted one post that I decided was pretty embarassing, and will probably go back and make sure I don't sound like a fool anywhere else here, but other than that, I'm just picking up where I left off about 2 years ago! Expect more musings about all kinds of stuff - movies, food, people, theme parks, my life - it'll all be very exciting, I'm sure.
And speaking of talking about movies, I wanted to share thoughts about one in particular that I consider to be the greatest of all time, the movie that continues to influence my work / life to this day.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit was and still is widely regarded as a cinematic masterpiece by many, a game changer for animation and visual effects, and really set the bar a lot higher for what is possible in filmmaking in general. But while I can and probably will gush about all of those things and why I think its the greatest movie ever made in a future post, I want to gripe about one particular problem that I'm having - it's not getting the credit it deserves.
Let me explain. In the animation world, we as an industry phase through different ages, much like music, live action movies, and almost anything else, really. The golden age of animation is regarded to take place between the mid to late 1930's and run through the early 60's; the period varies depending on who you ask, this is all highly subjective. Today, we are going through what many in the industry believe to be a second golden age, thanks in part to television shows like Steven Universe, Gravity Falls, and features like Zootopia and Moana. The period that I want to focus on is one of high influence in the animation world, you might say it defined the generation of now 20 and 30 somethings - the Disney Renaissance. Think movies like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King (my personal favorite from this period). And tell me to get a life in the comments section if you want, but I have a serious problem with how much credit one movie gets for the stage setting that Who Framed Roger Rabbit did into the era.
If you ask most Disney fans what movie started the Disney renaissance, more often than not they'll immediately rattle off The Little Mermaid. Now, don't get me wrong, Mermaid has more than earned its spot among the Disney classics, its a beautiful film in just about every conceivable way. I'm not here to bash on a film that I actually enjoy quite a bit. I do, however, want to take you back about 10 years before Roger Rabbit and Mermaid came out. If you don't know a lot about the history of Disney animation, I'll summarize by saying that the first couple of decades after Walt's death were pretty embarrassing for the animation studio.
Probably had something to do with people
really not wanting to spend an hour and a half with this guy.
There were a noticeable number of animated flops coming from Disney's animation studio, the most prominent of which is The Black Cauldron. I don't think Disney really even officially recognizes that movie. Either way, even the movies that performed better such as Fox and the Hound and The Great Mouse Detectives just weren't doing well enough to justify keeping the animation ship alive. Animation was getting too financially risky, and Disney executives were getting ready to pull the plug on animation altogether.
Than in 1988, Touchstone released a technologically advanced, but classically grounded, movie that changed hearts and minds about animation in general. That movie was not The Little Mermaid.
I am the master of subtle hints.
As I've stated before, this shouldn't be interpreted as a bash festival for Mermaid... But to be the first movie in the Disney Renaissance is not the same as breaking the ground for it. Roger Rabbit was the first success the Walt Disney company has seen from an animated property in a long time, at least of that magnitude. And Disney wasn't the only company to take notice of the success. It is very probable that Steven Spielberg would not have even considered Tiny Toons or Animaniacs without seeing the success of Roger Rabbit... And without that success, it's probable that the door couldn't have opened for shows like Batman the Animated Series, or later down the road, Teen Titans. Universal immediately brought Roger Rabbit's director, Robert Zemeckis, back to finish Back to the Future parts 2 and 3. And as far as Disney goes, well... The renewed interest in animation following Roger Rabbit bolstered Disney in such a way to produce the multiple animated shows that we 90s kids still subconsciously hum the theme songs to. So all of this is to say that because Roger Rabbit was such a success, it sent shockwaves throughout the film and animation industry as a whole.
But back to my original point. Roger Rabbit proved that the Disney brand of animation was still wanted and viable with enough high quality work (ironic because outside of the few Disney animators that helped bring Roger to life this wasn't a film that the Disney studio spent much time breathing life into... I digress). Before this assurance and because of the terrible box office numbers the post-Walt animated films were producing at the time, animation was starting to seem too risky. So is it because of Roger that we get to enjoy watching Sebastian serenading Prince Eric into kissing Ariel? Is it because of Roger that we got to see the Beast love and be loved in return? Is it because of Roger that we got to enjoy that satisfying scene where Simba threw Scar off the side of Pride Rock? My speculation is, yes. Who Framed Roger Rabbit proved that animation done well can bring in hefty returns, so Disney rebuilt the confidence to say yes to putting in more effort to plus The Little Mermaid to the point that working more to improve it would seem like overkill.
My whole argument in summary is this: The Little Mermaid was the first of the greatest Disney films of the millennial generation. It was the first of the spark that became the Disney Renaissance. But let's be 100% real here: That is in almost complete thanks to the film that really set the stage for the Disney Renaissance... Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
