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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.05 - AUGUST 2000
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Alter-Net-ive Worlds "Professor Pixelle, not to change the subject, but something's got me confused. Our e-lesson plan cites Fantasia as 'the greatest animated film that was never made.' I don't get it."
"Actually, Eric, that fits in with our next topic. Roy Disney was determined to stay in business despite his brother's abandonment of the field for a career in urban planning. Roy resurrected a discarded idea for a film called Fantasia that existed only as a series of notes from Walt. The film was intended to be an exercise in the higher arts; Roy believed that a market existed for adult cartoons that were sexy, yet more refined than the raucous, edgy and often violent products that were finding their way to America's PCs and laptops. In 1942 Roy Disney established the second Disney Studio and put the production of Fantasia in the hands of two loyalists left over from Walt's regime, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. It was hoped that this lightly erotic film, set to classical music, would recapture audiences and that the characters would spin off to the subscription Web site. "Under Thomas and Johnston the artistic renaissance known as 'Disney's New Wave' flourished, featuring artists and writers such as John Hubley, Dave Hilberman, Bill Hurtz and Steve Bosustow. They were soon joined by Chuck Jones who, tiring of rowdy cartoons and personality clashes, yearned for a more intellectual approach to animated shorts. This crew began to experiment with Fantasia, replacing classical music with jazz and finally breaking the segments up into convenient downloads. The most famous segment was, of course, 'Rooty Toot Toot.' Though Roy Disney's Fantasia was ultimately never made, the 'New Wave' ended up redesigning the entire look of Web cartoons by minimizing 3D sequences, eschewing special effects and abandoning attempts at motion-capture. These simple but stylish cartoons created a stir among the artistic community and had the added advantage of a fast download time." "Thanks, prof! I got it!" "This will be our stopping point for today. Next week we will examine how World War II affected the World Wide Web and how the Internet became a powerful tool for animated propaganda on both sides. The effect of the 'Tokio Jokio' virus as a weapon will be examined, and we will also see how government blackouts, firewalls, and discontinuation of local servers in the name of national security affected the history of animation. Your assignment is to read pages 65-98, including the section 'Hitler's Hackers.' Class is dismissed, and have a pleasant afternoon." Time: 21 August 2000 @1431/ Initiating shutdown sequence 3YB for hologram "Pixelle." Save image enhacement pathways and vocoder defaults. Deactivation table 4.009 in progress 5..4..3..2..1..end program. This column marks my first full year with Animation World Magazine! I would like to thank my very first editor, Michelle Klein-Hass of the late, lamented Animation Nerd's Paradise Web site for helping me to find a home here, and also Dan Sarto and Heather Kenyon of AWN for hosting me and allowing me to lend my voice to the animation community. Lastly, thanks to my readers, whose support, comments and cogent emails have been a joy to me over the past year. Thanks, one and all! Martin "Dr. Toon" Goodman is a longtime student and fan of animation. He lives in Anderson, Indiana.
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