All good things must come to an end. And for
Walt Disney Animation, the Renaissance Era that helped save the company came to a close
only a decade after it began. After years of animated feature films that
failed to connect with audiences, everything changed for Disney during the 1990s. But why
didn’t it last? Last year, in my video on the rivalry between
Don Bluth and Disney Animation, I discussed how Bluth and his production company briefly
beat Disney at their own game, finding success in the 80s as Disney struggled. Eventually,
new leadership and a modern approach to animation revitalized Disney and from 1989’s The Little
Mermaid through 1999’s Tarzan, Disney animation experienced the boom in popularity and quality
that came to be known as The Disney Renaissance. But eras end, and the fall from grace after
the Renaissance was extremely hard. But what led to the end of what many see as Disney
animation’s greatest era? How did the straight to video sequel boom and increasingly poor
leadership decisions cause the end of this period? And how have the mistakes made both
during and after the era shaped the 2 decades of Disney since? This is the death of the Disney Renaissance. The Birth of the Renaissance The rise and fall of the Disney Renaissance
happened entirely under the watch of one man: Michael Eisner. Eisner had risen to prominence as the president
and COO of Paramount Pictures and, in 1984, Disney shareholders Roy E. Disney and Sid
Bass used their power to bring in Eisner as CEO and Chairman of The Walt Disney Company
alongside Frank Wells as president. Eisner, in turn, quickly onboarded Jeffery Katzenberg,
also from Paramount, as chairman of Walt Disney Studios, and Roy E. Disney took over as chairman
of Walt Disney Feature Animation. And ok, hirings and firings at movie studios can be
really dry and boring if this isn’t your thing, but understanding this major shift
in power at Disney is important to understand the many highs and lows that followed. After taking over as CEO, Eisner had considered
actually completely shutting down the animation division following the massive string of disappointments
that marked the Disney Dark Age. Roy, however, promised to turn things around as its chairman. Disney’s approach to its animation division
changed almost overnight, with Katzenberg making his presence known by personally cutting
12 minutes out of The Black Cauldron after it had been completed and booting the animation
department out of the studio lot in Burbank to a bunch of warehouses in Glendale. And this is where 2 very important decisions
were made that expanded the impact of Disney animation. First, Roy’s Walt Disney Feature Animation
studio expanded its team and sped up its production timelines to start making feature films much
faster. Previously, Disney animated movies could take as long as 4 years to complete,
but Disney’s competition with Don Bluth Productions, which was making animated movies
much faster and beating Disney at the box office at the time, pushed the studio to make
films faster, with different teams working on multiple films simultaneously. Starting
with Oliver & Company in 1988, Disney has produced at least 1 new animated feature film
every year except for 1993. Second, Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation
Group was founded by Eisner with the intention of creating lower budget animated series and
fully securing Disney’s foothold in television, which they hadn’t really done before outside
of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color and the Mickey Mouse Club. The first shows
created were Adventures of the Gummi Bears, created by Michael Eisner literally because
he liked the candy so much, and The Wuzzles, which was a thing, in 1985. Soon, DTVA’s
output exploded, starting with the goat THE GOAT Ducktales in 1987. Eisner himself had intentions of being a TV
star, becoming the host of The Disney Sunday Movie and the eventual Wonderful World of
Disney. It was really nothing new for the company. Walt Disney himself was the host
and star of the program previously, which had gone under several different names. Growing
up, even I knew who Michael Eisner was as a little kid. Like, why would I know who a
CEO was? And tying himself to the iconography and magic of Disney was a key decision made
by Eisner to further cement his power in the company as the heir apparent to Walt. 1989’s The Little Mermaid is the beginning
of the Disney Renaissance. With a budget of $40 million, the film was the long-delayed
fulfillment of Walt Disney’s wish to adapt Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale. And
what made Little Mermaid drastically different from the decades of animated films that came
before was a greater commitment to quality, including one of the biggest budgets for an
animated film to date, a massive staff spread across both the main facility in Glendale
and a satellite in Florida, the use of live action references, and the musical creations
of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, jumping from the off-broadway Little Shop of Horrors
to Disney. The Little Mermaid recaptured the epic fantasy that had defined the golden age
of Disney animation and was a massive worldwide hit, becoming the first animated feature to
cross $100 million, despite Katzenberg telling his staff that it was “a girl’s film”
that would do poorly. And although the following year’s Rescuers
Down Under was a disappointment, Disney created nonstop success with its features as Beauty
and the Beast became the first ever animated feature film to receive an Academy Award nomination
for best picture, a huge achievement that declared a new era of critical and commercial
success was here for a company that had nearly stopped making animated movies a few years
prior. And you know what? Beauty and the Beast deserves it, this is one of the best movies
ever. The Peabo Bryson and Celine Dion cover during the credits? I cry every time! Aladdin and Lion King were also smash hits,
setting a precedent for Disney’s use of established movie stars as characters, despite
a major falling out with Robin Williams when they used his name as a promotional tactic
against his express wishes. More on that in a minute. The Disney Renaissance was in full swing,
but 1994 changed everything at Disney. On April 3, Walt Disney Company President
Frank Wells died in a helicopter crash alongside his pilot and rock climber Beverly Johnson
in Nevada after a skiing trip. After a decade leading Disney alongside Eisner and Katzenberg,
Wells’ sudden passing left a power vacuum in the company. Before Wells’ death, Katzenberg had pressed
to gain more power in Disney, asking Eisner to make him president and move Wells into
the vice chairman position. According to Katzenberg, Eisner told him, “If for any reason Frank
is not here … you are the number-two person and I want you to have the job.” But it
was clear that despite their long-term working relationship, the two were consistently at
odds with one another. And after Wells’ death, Eisner announced he would take on the
responsibilities of the role instead of appointing Katzenberg. In the months after, Katzenberg and Eisner
battled publicly in the media over who should have power at Disney, with both interviewed
by the press to have their sides heard. But in August, Eisner announced that Katzenberg
was leaving the company, with Eisner saying, “The job that (Katzenberg) would have wanted
does not exist in this company. This is not a Shakespearean tragedy. This is people moving
on with their lives, and doing new and interesting things.” In response, Katzenberg told the media, “Now
it’s time to move on. I wanted a challenge beyond the job I’ve done for 10 years and
Michael could not create that opportunity for me here at Disney.” Behind the scenes, it was both Eisner and
Roy E. Disney that resisted Katzenberg’s play for more power, seeing him as hungry
for fame and the wrong person to gain more control at Disney. And Katzenberg was not
a popular figure in general at the studio. His push for more films drove the Renaissance
forward, but he also constantly battled creators, having a huge fight with directors John Musker
and Ron Clements when he demanded “Part of Your World” be cut out of the picture.
Katzenberg would go on to sue Disney for his termination, getting $250 million in a settlement. It didn’t take long for the ousted chairman
to find a new seat of power, forming Dreamworks Pictures with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen
that October and immediately forming plans to rival Disney. The story of Dreamworks is
a whole tangled mess that would need its own video and this is where we leave Katzenberg
to return to Eisner, who bought Capital Cities/ABC Inc. for $19 billion in 1995. Disney had only
grown bigger. Cue Eisner hiring Michael Ovitz as the new
president and 14 disastrous months in the position. But hey, he got a $140 million severance
package out of it. Nice work if you can find it. Now, with little competition within the studio,
Eisner could exert even more control over the direction of Disney. Coming to Home Video Despite making a long line of classic family
films, Disney depended on theatrical re-releases for decades to keep their characters popular
with new generations of fans. That all changed in the 1980s with the rise of VHS tapes and
VCR players, with Disney releasing their first wave of home videos in 1980 and their first
rerelease of a classic film in 1984 with Robin Hood under the title of Disney Classic. And
thus began the concept of the Disney Vault, with the company reissuing their movies every
10 years and pausing distribution in between to create artificial scarcity. The tactic, and VHS as a whole, was a huge
boon to the popularity of Disney movies, and this would soon be put to use for a brand
new line of films. What’s important to understand is that The
Walt Disney Company is a conglomerate made up of many different units that have their
own products and specialties. Break it down like this: The Walt Disney Company is the overarching
organization. One of its divisions is Walt Disney Entertainment, with one of the units
within this division being Walt Disney Animation Studios. And within this stood Disney MovieToons,
founded in 1990 to make DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (a banger). Eventually,
this division would merge with Walt Disney Video Premieres, with Sharon Morril becoming
executive vice president of this unit and Disney TV Animation. The result was that this
TV-based animation studio existed alongside the feature film-focused Disney Animation,
not under them. By the time Aladdin opened in 1992, Disney’s
animated series were finding real success with shows like The New Adventures of Winnie
the Pooh and The Little Mermaid, so the company decided to spin Aladdin off into its own ongoing
series produced by Tad Stones and Alan Zaslove. During the brainstorming process, Stones came
up with a story that would bridge the original film to the series. However, when Stones pitched
the idea to Eisner and Disney Feature Animation president Peter Schneider, the executives
believed that sequels would only hurt the Disney reputation. Still, they went forward
with the film that would be The Return of Jafar in 1994 to make the series happen. Return of Jafar set the precedent for every
straight to video Disney movie that followed. First, Robin Williams refused to return to
voice the Genie due to a public falling out with how Disney promoted Aladdin using him
as the key figure, so instead voice actor Dan Castellaneta voiced the Genie in both
this sequel and the tv show. Second, basically all of the cast and crew had nothing to do
with the original. Third, the budget and production schedule was way smaller than the feature
film, costing $3.5 million compared to the theatrical film’s $28 million. Fourth, it
stunk. And fifth, it was a massive success, making more than $300 million with more than
10.5 million copies sold, whereas Aladdin made $504 million. Despite their initial reservations, Stones
recalls Eisner’s response to Return of Jafar’s success simply being, “Well, what should
the next one be?” Cue the Disney straight to video boom of the
90s. The next to be made was Aladdin and The King
of Thieves, an improvement for sure with Robin Williams back after getting a $1 million salary
and a public apology. And then it’s sequel city baybeeeeeeee. Two Beauty and the Beast
midquels that act like Brian’s Winter to the original Hatchet (that’s a deep cut
90s young adult novel reference), and then a whole slew of sequels to both recent and
old Disney films. Here are the rest of the Disney straight to video sequels, all done
in one single breath: Pocahontas 2, Lion King 2, An Extremely Goofy
Movie (some might say TOO Goofy), Little Mermaid 2, Lady and the Tramp 2, Cinderella 2, Hunchback
2, Atlantis Milo’s Return, 101 Dalmatians 2, Lion King 1 and a Half, Mulan 2, Tarzan
2, Lilo and Stitch 2, Kronk’s New Groove, Bambi 2, Brother Bear 2, Fox and the Hound
2, Cinderella 3, and The Little Mermaid Ariel’s Beginning. That’s not including the films created as
essentially pilots for tv shows, like Tarzan and Jane, and standalones made by MovieToons,
like Mickey’s Once AND Twice Upon a Christmas. And, yeah, a lot of these are bad, but I just
gotta say that “He Lives In You” from Lion King 2 Simba’s Pride is the best Lion
King song. It’s so good they put it in the Broadway adaptation! Some of these were created to soft launch
new animated series that could air on the Disney Channel or ABC, some were just one
and dones meant to grab some quick cash and keep the properties alive for new generations
of fans, leading to theme park appearances and merchandise. The problem with these movies, despite them
being, you know, completely disposable ass, is that so many of them walk back the plot
developments and character arcs that happen in the originals. These classic Disney movies
tell complete stories with morals and lessons in line with their fairytale inspirations.
Happily ever after is cliche, but it's an intrinsic part of the Disney formula. So how
do you continue the story when your protagonists have already rode off into a perfect life? Well, here’s some of the absolutely insane
stuff that happens in Disney’s cosmic gumbo of straight to video sequels. Pocahontas 2 decides to become kinda historically
accurate and have our lead fall in love with the suddenly introduced John Rolfe during
her trip to London. And the two sail off into the sunset. Uhhhhh you know she DIED right
after that, right, Disney? Little Mermaid 2 has Ariel and Eric have a
daughter and then hide her mermaid heritage from her for 12 years, cutting off all contact
with Atlantis because of Ursula’s suddenly revealed evil sister. Hunchback 2 reveals that Quasimodo’s bell
is actually filled with jewels, and is the target of a villain’s heist! There’s also
a new love interest for our poor, rejected bell-loving dang-ass freak. Atlantis: Milo’s Return ends with Atlantis
raised to the surface to be part of all of humanity. Don’t worry guys, I’m sure humanity
won’t rob you of your resources and persecute you for being different. Mulan 2 has Mushu break up Mulan and Shang
to create a bunch of romantic tension in an arranged marriage story. Lilo and Stitch 2 is actually a banger and
so is the show and its spinoff movies. Brother Bear 2 once again has Kenai consider
turning back into a human, this time for love, and we already did this, Disney. Lion King 1½ is basically Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern are dead. I actually really liked this one as a kid. Cinderella 3 is a time travel story that changes
the events of the original. One of Cinderella’s step-sisters, Anastasia, who used to be a
piece of shit, is good now. People can change! A lot of these movies actually take place
in the middle of the originals, with creators wising up that they couldn’t really continue
the story of a lot of these movies. Given that quite a few have a time skip with kid
versions growing up into their adult selves, there’s an opening for another story to
take place. Enchanted Christmas, Lion King 1½, Tarzan 2, and Fox and the Hound 2 all
do this. Of course, given that these stories are already set in place, not much can actually
happen, in fear of creating a time paradox. That could destroy the entire universe! So
these have no stakes. Belle’s Magical World, Cinderella 2, and
Atlantis: Milo’s Return are actually just multiple episodes of canceled tv shows smashed
together. And it’s very obvious. Almost all of these movies were poorly received
by both fans and critics, but they also all made tons of money with little production
cost. In a time when Disney was more popular than they had ever been before, straight to
video movies were another resource stream adding to a juggernaut gaining speed. Reputation
be damned, they were here to stay. Disney Outside Animation Animation sits at the heart of Disney. I mean,
it’s the reason it exists at all, but as a conglomerate encompassing live action films,
tv, theme parks, and all sorts of acquired businesses, Disney under Eisner did a lot
more than just animation. And the 90s was when Disney began its true aspirations to
become a corporate titan. Touchstone Pictures was founded in 1984 by
then-CEO Ron W. Miller shortly before his ousting in favor of Eisner, but the new heads
of Disney decided to continue with Touchstone as a way for the company to produce non-family
films and establish the Disney foothold in PG-13 and R-rated pictures that could be distanced
from the Disney reputation. Here’s a few of the major Touchstone films released in
the 80s and 90s: Splash, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, The
Color of Money, Adventures in Babysitting, Three Men and a Baby, Who Framed Roger Rabbit,
Dead Poets Society, Pretty Woman, What About Bob, The Rocketeer, Father of the Bride, Sister
Act, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Con Air, Face Off, Air Force One, Kundun,
He Got Game, Armageddon, The Patriot, Rushmore, Beloved, Bringing Out the Dead, and The Insider.
Touchstone was also expanded into Touchstone Television for a massive amount of live action
sitcoms and dramas. And of course when you talk about Disney in
the 90s, you have to talk about The Disney Channel. Launched as a premium cable network
in 1983, the Disney Channel began shifting to basic cable in 1990 before becoming fully
available in 1993. At first, the channel was the place for original animated series to
premiere before moving to network TV, like TaleSpin, Darkwing Duck, and the eventual
movie spin offs like Aladdin and Hercules. But by the end of the 90s, The Disney Channel
became defined by live action, with series like The Famous Jett Jackson setting the precedent.
And of course, there’s the Disney Channel Original movies. I’m talking stone cold
classics like Under Wraps, Brink, Halloweentown, and Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century. Disney’s
acquisition of ABC in 1996 gave it another outlet for its growing TV production. The crazy success of the Disney Channel in
the 2000s is a topic for another day, but its expansion in the 90s made it possible
to become its own mini universe of live action films and shows that shaped a generation of
both audiences and stars. Disney theme parks, on the other hand, were
one of the company’s major struggles in the 90s. Eisner’s push for new attractions led to
a collaboration with George Lucas resulting in Star Tours, the Indiana Jones Adventure,
and Captain EO, but it also resulted in the launch of Disney Cruise Line and 5 new parks
opening during his tenure as CEO - Disney/MGM Studios, California Adventure, Animal Kingdom,
Euro Disney, and Hong Kong Disneyland. However, almost all of these new openings struggled,
Euro Disney in particular was an embarrassment, leading to reactionary cost cutting at other
parks and increased prices, with things like the disastrous Tomorrowland revamp and the
poor initial layout of California Adventure due to Eisner’s dual approach of vast expansion
and little budget. All of this was directly linked to Eisner with his regular appearances
on The Wonderful World of Disney, touting the latest and greatest updates to Disney
parks under his watch. But just as quickly as the 90s had brought
new levels of success, the end of the decade would turn the tide against Disney once again. Death and Beyond No one declares the actual end of an era right
when it happens. These things are always defined in retrospect. The death of the Disney Renaissance
is a slow wind down that started with Pocahontas in 1995. Pocahontas was the passion project
of Katzenberg, who saw it as the heir to Beauty and the Beast and a serious, sweeping romance
that he favored over Lion King, telling the company that Pocahontas would be a huge hit
and that silly lion Hamlet movie would definitely not be. As a result, Disney Animation put
their full weight behind Pocahontas with a bigger, more experienced team and a higher
budget. Of course, Lion King was a sensation, making $763.5 million and being critically
acclaimed while Pocahontas made $346 million and had a very mixed reception. Disney wasn’t
hurting for money, but it had made its first major misstep of the era. Afterward, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules,
Mulan, and Tarzan all had slower box offices, but still ALL had straight to video sequels.
Mulan 2 came out all the way after in 2005. Why?? I guess that’s not as bad as the 64
year gap between Bambi in 1942 and frickin Bambi 2 in 2006. Bambi has hit retirement
age. WHY is he getting a sequel??? The reason the Renaissance truly died can
be attributed to several factors all coming together after a decade of classic films and
poor business choices: The straight to video business model had sped
up to be faster than the theatrical model. From 1998 through 2006, Disney MovieToons,
eventually renamed DisneyToon Studios, made 28 home video movies, with 20 of them being
direct sequels or prequels to feature films. Now, the sequel strategy blamed on diluting
the Disney brand was bigger than the original movies they were diluting in the first place.
And like Disney’s theatrical output, the straight to video movies’ sales dwindled,
too. The Renaissance approach to stories was getting
stale. Essentially, the outsider discovers a new world, finds romance with a kindred
soul, is attacked by a villain whose romantic interest has been spurned, all packaged within
a musical formula was used way too often. The Renaissance movies have a sort of swooning
romance that harkens back to the Disney Golden Age, but it eventually became cliche. It didn’t
help that Howard Ashman, who set the precedent for the types of songs that defined the era,
passed away in 1991 due to complications from HIV. Yes, I love plenty of the songs in Lion
King, Hercules, and Tarzan (you’ll be in my heart? I cry every time!), but they aren’t
Ashman. And finally, the hand drawn animation that
had been perfected through the use of the CAPS system was beginning to fall behind the
times as other studios like Pixar innovated with digital animation. As the last Renaissance
film, Tarzan uses by far the most digital animation of the era to bring its jungle to
life with Deep Canvas for 3D backgrounds that emulated painting, resulting in what was at
the time the most expensive animated film ever made at $130 million. The post-renaissance era saw Disney embrace
straight to video releases even more, experiment with story structures to not seem out of touch
with audiences, and begin to create fully digital films outside of their collaboration
with Pixar. It was also filled with swings and misses that saw the studio struggle to
find a hit. While Fantasia 2000 was the first film released
in the Post-Renaissance Era, and was a flop that barely made back its budget, The Emperor’s
New Groove is the true dividing line, as it began its troubled production in 1997 and
was delayed until the end of 2000. Don’t get me wrong, I love Emperor’s New Groove!
(Pacha and Kuzko going back to back to climb up the canyon wall? I cry every time!) But
this is definitely a different mode of Disney movie than the prestige of much of the Renaissance.
Actually, Emperor’s New Groove was originally set to be a much more epic story along the
lines of Lion King originally titled Kingdom of the Sun, but major production problems
and the underperformance of prestige films like Pocahontus and Hunchback caused Disney
to completely rework the film into the screwball comedy it became. Sting was NOT PLEASED. On top of that, New Groove had the worst box
office performance of any Disney animated movie since the Dark Ages in the 80s. In total,
the post-renaissance era included 11 animated feature films. And while these involved a
variety of directors and styles, their unifying theme is Disney struggling to find a new successful
approach and most of them being financial disappointments outside Lilo and Stitch. And
there are a huge number of basically forgotten Disney animated films from this time. Dinosaur,
Treasure Planet, Home on the Range, Chicken Little, and Meet The Robinsons all feel like
they could have come from a rival studio and have mostly not been translated by Disney
into the rest of their multimedia empire. Not even a straight to video sequel. Eisner had been a controversial CEO for years,
but the string of big failures finally cost him his job, with an internal shareholder
revolt leading to Eisner officially stepping down in 2005, replaced by Bob Iger. And Iger’s
rise brought fast changes. DisneyToon’s focus on making direct sequels
to theatrical films came to an end in 2006 when John Lassetter was appointed chief creative
officer of both Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios. And Lassetter made it explicitly
clear that he felt direct to video sequels were hurting Disney’s brand. At the time
of Lassetter’s takeover, DisneyToon was working on The Tinkerbell Movie, but the new
head deemed the version that was being made as "virtually unwatchable," demanding the
film undergo major revisions and firing Sharon Morrill as the DisneyToon head. The last video sequel produced by DisneyToon
was The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning in 2008, with DisneyToon afterward focused
on CGI spinoffs, with the reworked Tinker Bell movie being the source of most of these
films. The Disney Vault practiced continued through the DVD and Blu-Ray eras, and actually
only stopped in 2019 with the debut of Disney Plus. By the time DisneyToon Studios was closed
in 2018, it had made 47 films, with “Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast” being
its last. As for Lassetter, he was ousted from Disney after his decades-long series
of allegations regarding sexual misconduct were revealed to the public. RIP bozo. While it's easy to demonize the home video
section of Disney Animation, you shouldn’t forget the people who worked there, trying
their best to make fun films for children that had limited budgets, short schedules,
and were seen as the B or C team. Also A Goofy Movie is a jam. (Eye to Eye? I cry every time!) What I think is hilarious is that the long-derided
focus on straight to video sequels that brought about the end of the Disney Renaissance has
essentially returned in new packaging. Pixar pumps out sequel after sequel now instead
of the original ideas that made them the heir to the renaissance. The never-ending parade
of really bad live action remakes are trading off the iconography of the originals like
the straight to video sequels did. And Disney Plus has multiplied the footprint of money
making IP to keep audiences buying merch but instead of sequels to feature films, it’s
live action miniseries spin offs of major properties like Marvel and Star Wars. Meanwhile,
animation has taken a massive downgrade in Disney’s priority, with then-CEO Bob Chapek
saying, “Our fans and audiences put their kids to bed at night after watching Pinocchio,
Dumbo, or Little Mermaid, then they’re probably not going to tune in to another animated movie,
they want something for them.” Animation fans were NOT PLEASED. With animated films meant for theaters like
Turning Red, Raya and the Last Dragon, and Encanto given little or no time in theaters
and then punted to Disney+, it’s clear that something has fundamentally changed once again
in Disney’s views on animation. The Revival Era that reinvigorated Disney once the post-Renaissance
doldrums were over is at an end, whether or not it’s been officially recognized. Call
it the Post-Revival era, that’s kinda boring, call it The Streaming Era, that’s a little
on the nose, call it The Descent, oooh yeah that sounds spooky! In any case, Disney seems
to be in the midst of making the same mistakes that ended the Renaissance. The only difference
is that they’re too big to fail now. At the time of this video’s publication,
Disney is celebrating their 100th anniversary, and across that century, the company has served
as everything from a pioneer to a failure to a corporate giant, with each era being
as unpredictable as the last, and each shifting on seemingly simple but important decisions
on how the company handles its most important properties, with animation always at the center,
no matter what the company says. Will Disney continue its downward spiral?
Or will passionate artists and the belief in making something better turn things around
once again? One thing’s for certain, all good things
must come to an end.
