100 Years of Disney

NICK EICHR, HOST: Today is Friday, October 6th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: a big anniversary for the entertainment industry.

This month the Walt Disney Company celebrates its 100th birthday. Here’s Arts and Culture editor Collin Garbarino with a look at the legacy of Disney animation.

MUSIC: [Intro to “When You Wish Upon a Star”]

COLLIN GARBARINO: No other name is as closely associated with animation as Walt Disney. In October of 1923, Walt and his brother Roy founded Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in Los Angeles. This small group of animators working on short films would grow into a global entertainment empire. After some fits and starts working on short cartoons for other studios, Disney had a breakthrough with a lovable new character, Mickey Mouse.

AUDIO: [Mickey Mouse whistling in Steamboat Willie]

Steamboat Willie wasn’t Disney’s first cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse, but it was the first with its own soundtrack. Mickey and Steamboat Willie became hits. And Disney’s Silly Symphonies became popular fixtures in cinema houses.

But Walt wasn’t satisfied with short musical cartoons. In the mid 1930s, Disney took a big risk, starting work on a feature length animated film.

SNOW WHITE: [singing] Some day my prince will come. Some day we’ll meet again.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs debuted in 1937.

Snow White in technicolor was a technological breakthrough. Disney’s animators had to invent many techniques that would become standard animation practice for decades. Snow White has a brief 83-minute runtime, but it cost 1.5 million dollars to make. That was a lot of money in the 1930s. If the movie had flopped, it would have ruined the studio. The movie ended up making more than $8 million in its first run, becoming the highest grossing film up to that time.

For the next three decades, Walt Disney Productions released a new animated feature almost every year. Disney’s most beloved films come from this era—movies like Dumbo, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and Sleeping Beauty.

AURORA: [singing] I know you. I walked with you once upon a dream. I know you. The gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam.

Those early Disney movies are full of optimism, maybe even naivety. But they reflect the optimistic culture of postwar America. There’s nothing cynical in these stories about the importance of love and family. Disney’s catalog from this era has aged well and can bear repeated viewings.

Walt Disney died in 1966, and the last movie he touched was The Jungle Book, another classic. But Walt’s absence was immediately felt. The quality of Disney movies worsened in the 70s and 80s. Compared to The Jungle Book, it’s hard to think of Disney’s next animated feature The Aristocats as anything but a disappointment.

Robin Hood and Winnie the Pooh have their charms, but I can’t say much good about The Rescuers, The Black Cauldron, or Oliver and Company. The films from this era feel dated compared to the timeless storytelling of the earlier era. The malaise America felt in the aftermath of the cultural upheaval of the late 60s seems to have crept into these films.

But just when most people thought Disney had run its course, the animation studio roared back with 1989’s The Little Mermaid.

ARIEL: Look at this stuff. Isn’t it neat? Wouldn’t you think my collection’s complete?

I saw it in the theater, and I was stunned by how good it was. And believe me, it’s hard to stun a teenage boy with a musical love story. The Little Mermaid launched Disney’s renaissance. In quick succession, we got Beauty and the Beast in 1991, Aladdin in 1992, and The Lion King in 1994. Six songs and a goofy sidekick became Disney’s formula for blockbuster success. The Lion King still holds the box office record for a traditionally animated movie.

But these films weren’t a return to Disney’s golden age. The movies of the renaissance are more complicated including a touch of cynicism and individualism. The storylines push that “follow your heart” mantra to the max, not tempering it with obligations to family and community. We get a lot of rebellious teens who are discontent with their lives. And they risk disaster without thinking about anyone but themselves.

After The Lion King, Disney’s newfound formula for success became a rut that led to lackluster films. Does anyone really like Pocahontas or The Hunchback of Notre Dame? It turns out six songs and a goofy sidekick won’t cut it. Movies need compelling stories, but many films from this era substitute messaging for story.

At the same time Disney foundered, a new animation studio focusing first and foremost on storytelling burst on the scene.

MUSIC: [“You’ve Got a Friend in Me”]

In 1995, Pixar’s Toy Story boasted impressive computer animation, but it was the story of friendship that captivated audiences. Disney continued to make hyper-individualistic films laced with progressive social piety, all of them lackluster. Disney released 16 films in the 15 years after Toy Story came out. Most people would be hard pressed to name one of them.

Pixar, on the other hand, had hit after hit.

Since Walt Disney Animation couldn’t beat Pixar, the Walt Disney Company decided to buy Pixar in 2006.

John Lasseter, Pixar’s chief, became the head of Disney’s animation as well, and Pixar’s culture started to rub off on Disney’s stodgy animation studio. Disney’s storytelling became centered on character and heartfelt relationships, rather than gimmicks and tired formulas. The movies improved dramatically. Everyone knows how big Frozen became. But Tangled, Big Hero 6, and Moana are all fabulous too.

MAUI: [singing] What can I say except, “You’re welcome!” for the tides, the sun, the sky.

But this revival in storytelling proved short-lived. Five years ago, Lasseter left under a cloud, and rather than Pixar rejuvenating Disney, the Disney culture has sucked the life out of Pixar. With the exception of the delightful Encanto, all of Disney’s and Pixar’s animated movies over the last few years have been duds.

At 100 years old, Disney animation once again looks like a spent force chasing ephemeral cultural fads rather than offering timeless stories about the most important things in life. Walt Disney might have been a visionary, but I can’t imagine this current malaise was what he envisioned.

I’m Collin Garbarino.

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