[dementia]

I wrote an article about this for a magazine I occasionally contribute to. Very sad time for traditional animation. Here's a few little bits and pieces of information the last days of Disney hand drawn animated movies:

The last hand drawn animated movie to gross more than 100 million dollars in the US was Tarzan. Before that you have to go back to the Lion King. Lilo and Stitch came pretty close, but didn't quite make it. Compared to the success of the CGI movies, the comparison just isn't good.

There was one last traditionally animated film that Disney animators were in the middle of working while they were fired, "A Few Good Ghosts." Studio bosses weren't happy with how it was progressing so they just cut it.

If you're looking for one movie to place blame to go ahead and point to Treasure Planet. The movie cost quite a bit and was a complete and utter failure in the box office and even in home video. At a cost of $180 million (including $40 million for advertising), and a worldwide gross of $101 million, this is Disney's biggest financial loss.

The last hope is the group of Disney animators that were let go. A number of them started their own company called Legacy Animation Studios, with the goal of carrying on Walt's legacy of handdrawn animation.

So there you go. I don't forsee hand drawn films gone forever, but I think you're looking at a good 6 or 7 years before we see another.