October 6, 2025 • 22 mins
The source provides an extensive overview of the animated films of the 1990s, characterizing the decade as a "golden era" defined by advancements in technology and storytelling. It chronicles the best animated movie from each year of the decade, highlighting the significance of films from major studios like Disney's Renaissance (e.g., The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast), the revolutionary introduction of Pixar's fully CGI feature (Toy Story), and the influence of international works like Studio Ghibli's Princess Mononoke. Each film selection is justified based on its critical acclaim, cultural impact, and technical innovation, such as the use of Disney's CAPS system or stop-motion artistry. Ultimately, the text argues that these films collectively transformed the animation landscape and established a lasting legacy that continues to influence modern filmmaking.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to the deep dive. Today, we're diving into
something pretty special. We're taking a trip back to the nineteen.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Nineties, the nineties animation scene exactly.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
We've got a pile of sources here, articles, retrospectives, production notes,
and they all seem to agree. They call it a
golden era, sometimes even a renaissance for animated movies.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
And you know that's not just hype. It really feels earned.
The nineties weren't just about making good animated films. It
was a fundamental shift.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
A huge shift.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Yeah, totally. We're talking about this incredible decade where you
had these massive breakthroughs in storytelling, huge technological leaps happening
at the same time, and just this enormous cultural impact
kind of set the bar for well, everything that came after, really, right.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
So our mission today is to kind of move through
this quickly, but you know, properly. We want to nail
down what made the best or most significant animated film
from each year nineteen ninety right through to ninety nine
really stand.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Out technically and thematically.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Yeah, exactly. Think of it as like your crash course
in nineties animation innovation.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
And to get that landscape you really have to look
at who is driving things. I mean, obviously Disney's big comeback,
the Disney Renaissance, that's the foundation s everyone knows that part,
but that's only half the picture, right. The real energy,
the transformation, it came from competition from new players stepping up.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Okay, so who are we talking about.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Well, you've got the arrival of Pixar just completely changing
the game with CGI. They didn't just tweak the rules,
they threw the rule book out.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Right, and then DreamWorks jumping in later exactly.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
And you can't forget the growing influence from overseas like
Studio Ghibli from Japan. Their artistry was a whole different
kind of challenge to the tech focus in the West.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
So it was maturing in all directions story, tech, music
pretty much. And we can actually track that pretty well
year by year. So let's start at the beginning, back
when digital tools were just starting to help out the
traditional animators. Let's call this first chunk, say nineteen ninety
to ninety three, the dawn of digital assistance in Gothic Heights.
(02:04):
Sounds good, So nineteen ninety the film our sources point
to is The Rescuers down Under. Now for a lot
of people. This one's maybe a bit forgotten compared to
the later Disney hits.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
It definitely flies under the radar a bit.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
But technically it was a launch pad.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Right, Oh, absolutely, a quiet hero. You could say. It's
the sequel, obviously to the seventy seven film Bernard and
Bianca the Mice. They head to the Australian Outback to.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Save a kid and this rare eagle from a poacher.
Classic adventure stuff.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Yeah, themes of courage, teamwork, all that good stuff. But
like you said, it's real importance. It's technical historical almost.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Because this was one of the first big movies to
really use the CPS system computer Animation production system exactly.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
It wasn't the absolute first experiment Dizzy did with computers,
but it was the first feature to really rely on
CFPS for its whole pipeline.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
And we need to understand why CPS was such a
big deal before this animation was incredibly manual, right, like
physically painting plastic.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Cell painstakingly manual drawing inking the lines onto cells, than
hand painting every single one, thousands of them with specialized paints.
Sometimes pretty toxic stuff too, and.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Things could go wrong easily dust paint matching alignment.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Oh yeah, so many potential pitfalls, and then photographing each
cell frame by frame on these complex multiplane cameras to
get depth. It was slow, clunky.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
SEEPS fixed a lot of that.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
It was the bridge. It took the coloring, the compositing,
the multiplaying camera effects and digitize them so you could
still have that beautiful hand drawn animation, but you'd scan
it in color digitally, combined layers digitally. You kept the
warmth but lost the pain.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
So when you watch Rescuers down Under today, especially those
flight scenes with Wilbrid the Albatross, the sources call them breathtaking.
That's CPS in action.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
That's exactly it. The smoothness of movement, the complexity of
the camera angles, like when he's soaring over the outback.
CEEPS made that possible.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
More dynamic backgrounds, richer colors.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Way richer and consists, no more faded paint or duspecs.
The system allowed for layering and camera moves that just
weren't feasible before. It really set a new visual standard
for traditional animation. Right at the start of the decade.
It showed digital could help traditional art, not just replace it.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Okay, So Rescuers sets the technical stage in ninety then
nineteen ninety one arrives and bam, Beauty and the Beast.
This feels like a whole different level.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Well. It absolutely was universally called the pinnacle of the
Disney renaissance. I mean, people still argue it's one of
the greatest animated films ever.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Just a masterpiece. The visuals, the characters, the romance, yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
The depth of the story, Inner Beauty, Redemption. It hit
on all cylinders.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
But the key innovation here looking forward was blending two
D with three D right specifically in that iconic ballroom scene.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
That scene it's famous for a reason. It just was
impossible before CPPs and the willingness to experiment. They actually
built a three D wireframe model of the entire ballroom
in the computer okay, and then the anime Bell and
the Beast, the hand drawn characters and composited them into
that moving three D environment.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
So that incredible shot where the camera swoops around them
as they dance, that feeling of real space.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
That's the computer generated background moving in three dimensions, perfectly
synced with the two D characters. It was a huge
technical risk just for that one sequence.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Wow, but it worked. It elevated the emotion, didn't it completely.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
They realized that for the romance to truly soar, for
you to feel the grandeur of the castle, they needed
that cinematic scope. The technology just disappeared into the service
of the story, making that moment unforgettable.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
And the music, you can't talk about this film without
mentioning Alan Mankin and.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Howard Ashman absolutely Broadway caliber score. Tragically, Ashman passed away
before it was released, but his lyrics they brought such sophistication.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Songs like be Our Guest, Beauty and the Beast. They're classics,
and the industry noticed. This is huge. It was the
first animated film ever nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. Massive.
It basically told Hollywood, Hey, animation isn't just for kids anymore,
It's serious filmmaking.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
It redefined the possibilities. Yeah, a true game changer.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Okay, Moving into nineteen ninety two, Disney keeps the streak
going with Aladdin, still using TPS beautiful animation, but now
with this like really vibrant, energetic feel, Arabian folklore, street
rat Hero, Princess, Magic Lamp.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Great energy, great story. Yeah, but ninety two. Yeah, it's
all about the voice acting revolution, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
It really is. We have to talk about Robin Williams
as the Genie Iconic.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Our sources flat out say he redefined voice acting, and honestly,
they're right. How so what was different before him? Voice
acting and animation was usually pretty controlled, you know, Actors
read the script, matched the timing, the animator's.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Laid out standard procedure.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
But Williams just exploded. He brought this insane improvisation, this
rapid fire stream of jokes, impressions, pop culture references, stuff
that wasn't in the script at all.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Right. He was famous for that.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
He delivered hours of material, mostly off the cuff, and
it forced the animators to work backwards. How ania, Instead
of him matching their drawings, they had to match his performance.
They listened to his recordings and animated the Genie to
his energy, his timing, his wild shifts in character.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
That must have been incredibly difficult.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
A nightmare probably, But the result was electric. The Genie
felt alive, totally unpredictable. It proved that a celebrity voice
if used right, if you let the talent really cut
loose could elevate the.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Whole film, and it's set a precedent, didn't it for
comedic sidekicks?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Oh yeah, every fast talking, pop culture riffing sidekick since
owes something to William's genie. He just stole this show.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
And the music kept pace. A whole new world won
The Oscar Friend Like Me is just pure joy. Those
songs became huge cultural touchstones. Aladdin was this perfect storm,
top tier animation, great songs in this roundbreaking comedic performance.
Disney nailed the formula.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Okay, So that takes us to nineteen ninety three, and
now we take a sharp turn away from Disney's main studio.
We're diving into something completely different. The Nightmare Before Christmas Ay.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Yes, directed by Henry Seleek preucet by Timburton, a totally
different kind of innovation and.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Important because it showed the renaissance wasn't just about Disney
and two D exactly.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
This film brought stop motion animation back into the limelight
in big way. It's sophisticated, cool, commercially viable again.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
It's that unique visual style, that mix of like spooky
and whimsical Halloween Town meets Christmas.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Down that gothic fairy tale esthetic. It's unforgettable, but you
have to remember the process. Stop motion is incredibly painstaking.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Moving those puppets tiny amounts, frame by frame, twenty four
times for every single second of film. The patients involved
is mind boggling, but that's what gives it that unique
tactile quality. You feel like you could reach out and
touch it. It feels hand crafted, real in a way
that two D or even early CGI couldn't quite capture.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
It wasn't maybe the box office smash that Aladdin was initially.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
At least no, not immediately, but the sources all highlight
its sheer originality and the massive, enduring cult status it
built over time.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
And Danny Elfman's music is inseparable from it. This is Halloween?
Speaker 2 (09:10):
What's this totally iconic score? Nightmare proved there was a
real audience for animation beyond the traditional Disney style, and
that start motion could deliver artistically rich, feature length stories.
It definitely broadened the definition of what the nineties animation
boom was all about. Okay, so that wraps up the
first phase we've seen Disney harness, digital tools hit, artistic
(09:31):
eyes change, voice acting, and even branch into stop motion
via Burton Selec. Now let's move into the middle of
the decade nineteen ninety four to nineteen ninety six. You
call this section two Monumental Achievements and the CGI game Changer.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Right, this is where Disney arguably hits its absolute peak
with traditional animation. Right before, well, right before everything changes.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Again in nineteen ninety four is the peak, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
The Lion King absolutely described everywhere as Disney's magnum opus.
A monumental achievement. This was Disney firing on all cylinders,
the absolute height of their two D powers.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
The scale was just immense, and it had this weight
to it, drawing from Shakespeare Hamlet basically mixed with African mythology.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
It gave it this epic, almost mythic feel, and the
visuals just breathtaking. That opening Circle of Life sequence over
Pride Rock, or the stampede scene, that's got to be
one of the most famous and technically complex scenes in
animation history.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Definitely, let's talk about that stampede. How do you even
animate thousands of vildebeestes charging through a canyon in two D?
Speaker 1 (10:30):
It seems impossible.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Well, it was a hybrid approach really pushing CPPs to
its limit. The Vildebeest up close, interacting with Simba and Mafasa,
those were hand drawn, but the vast herd in the.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Background that was computer generated.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Yeah. They created digital models of the Vildbeast, animated the
stampede digitally, and then used CPS to seamlessly layer those
CG elements into the hand drawn scene. It led them
create this terrifying sense of scale and chaos that just
wouldn't have been possible otherwise. Show two D, boosted by
digital tools could be truly epic, and.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
It wasn't just technically amazing. It was a monster hit,
critically acclaimed, massive at the box office.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
A true critical and commercial druggernaut. One two oscars became
this global cultural phenomenon. Everyone saw the Lion.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
King and the music again Elton John and Tim Rice,
Circle of Life, Hakuna Matata, can You Feel the Love Tonight?
Unforgettable songs. They just cemented the film's place and culture.
Lion King really felt like the ultimate expression of what
Disney's two D renaissance could achieve. Epic story, stunning visuals,
Timeless music nineteen ninety four was their peak. Okay, hold
(11:37):
that thought peak two d achievement. Because nineteen ninety five
arrives and the ground shifts completely. We go from Disney's
masterpiece to Pixar and Toy Story. This is it, the
turning point, the moment animation history splits into before and after.
Toy Story, Pixar's first feature and the key thing, the
absolute game changer. It was the first ever feature length
(11:57):
film made entirely with CGI. No hand drawn sells, No,
I ain't no multiplane camera.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
All all digital start to finish, which was a massive
gamble back then. Early CGI often look well kind of
cold plastic key The Uncanny Valley was a real problem.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
So why did Toy Story work so spectacularly? Well, it
wasn't just the novelty, was it. No, absolutely not. The
sources hammer this home. Pixar succeeded because they focused on story.
They proved this brand new, potentially sterile technology could be
used to tell a really heartfelt, funny, sophisticated story that
connected with audiences on an emotional level. The story of
(12:31):
Woody and Buzz old toy versus new toy, dealing with jealousy, friendship,
figuring out who you.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Are, universal themes things everyone relates to and they poured
so much effort into the details, making the plastic look
like plastic. The fabric looked like fabric. But it was
the characters brought to life by incredible voice acting from
Tom Hanks and Tim Allen that made you believe in them.
You forgot they were CGI.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
And it wasn't just for kids. The humor, the emotion,
it worked for everybody.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
It transcended age groups. As a review said, Toy Story
basically prove CGI wasn't just a gimmick. It was a
powerful new way to tell stories, and the entire industry,
including Disney, had to react.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
It was revolutionary, a total paradigm shift. Okay, so nineteen
eighty six Pixar has thrown down the gauntlet with CGI.
How does Disney respond?
Speaker 2 (13:17):
They go in a completely different direction again, right towards maturity,
the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Yeah, this was a fascinating move, really ambitious, really daring.
They took Victor Hugo's novel, which is incredibly dark and complex,
and decided not to shy away from the mature themes
too much.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
We're talking about Quasimodo, the bell Ringer, dealing with prejudice, cruelty, and.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
The villain Frallo. He's not just a cackling bad guy.
He's driven by religious hypocrisy, prejudice, and well lust. Yeah,
which was incredibly intense for a Disney film.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
That hell Fire sequence where Fraula is grappling with his
obsession with Esmeralda. It's visually stunning but also genuinely disturbing.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
It's one of the darkest, most psychologically complex scenes Disney
has ever animated. It deals with sin, damnation, desire, incredibly
mature stuff.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
So artistically daring, yes, but did audiences embrace it. It
wasn't Lion King numbers, was it. No, it definitely wasn't.
And this is important, Hunchback kind of struggled commercially compared
to the other Renaissance hits. It seemed to push the
boundaries of the Disney brand. Maybe a bit too far
for some audiences.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Too dark, too complex.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Possibly it had these powerful moments that's commentary on injustice
and compassion, but it maybe lack that easy, feel good
factor of Aladdin or a Beauty in the Beast. It
showed that artistic ambition is great, but maybe there's a
limit to how dark the mainstream Disney brand could go.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Back then an interesting tension, so it didn't land commercially
like the others, but artistically.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Artistically it's stunning. The animation is gorgeous, the Mangan and
Schwartz scores incredible, songs like out There are just soaring.
Its willingness to tackle those heavy themes makes it the
standout for nineteen ninety six. Even if it wasn't the
biggest hit, it dared to be different. Okay. That brings
us to the final stretch nineteen ninety seven to nineteen
ninety nine, Section three, Expanding horizons and underdog classics. The
(15:09):
field's wider now, Disney still a powerhouse, Pixars established, and
we're seeing more influence from elsewhere, definitely, and nineteen ninety
seven is a prime example of that global expansion. This
is the year Studio Ghibli and Hio Miyazaki really burst
into mainstream Western awareness with twin test Mononoke, a.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Landmark film for anime, getting global recognition, huge.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
And visually just yeah wow. In a world increasingly focused
on CGI, Mononoke was this stunning statement about the power
and beauty of traditional hand drawn animation when done at
the absolute highest level, the detail, the world building.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
It's breathtaking, but it wasn't just visually different thematically, it
was challenging too, right, especially for Western audiences used to
clear good versus.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Evil, massively challenging. It's about the environment, the clash between
industry and nature. But the key thing, as the sources
point out, is its nuanced portrayal of morality. There are
no clear heroes.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Or villains explain that. Why was that so radical? Compared
to say Lion King.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Well, in Lion King, Scar is just bad right, evil
uncle wants power. In Mononoke, you have San fighting fiercely
for the forest gods, which seems heroic. But then her
main human adversary, Lady Eboshi, who runs the ironworks, destroying
the forest.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
She seems like the villain, but she's.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Also providing refuge and work for lepers and former prostitutes,
people rejected by society. She's building a community. Her reasons
are complex, even arguably good from her perspective, even if
her actions are destructive to nature.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
So it doesn't give you easy answers. You have to
grapple with the gray areas exactly.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
It refused to simplify the conflict that moral complexity was
a huge step forward for animated storytelling on a global stage.
It showed animation could handle these incredibly nuanced adult themes.
Mononoke really opened the door for wider appreciation of anime
in the West.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Okay, let's jump back to Disney for nineteen ninety eight,
they deliver Mulan still two D. Still has that Disney feel,
but a different kind of hero this time.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Yeah, really important evolution for the Disney heroin. Based on
the Chinese legend, Mulan is this fierce independent heroine. She's
not waiting for a prince. She disguises herself as a
man to take her father's place in the army.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
So the story is all about her courage, her journey
of finding her identity, breaking gender.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Roles exactly themes of honor, family, identity, and yeah, definitely
gender equality. Plus they put a lot of effort into
the cultural setting and sensitivity. The animation was vibrant, especially
the battle.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Scenes and memorable songs. Of course, Reflection became a huge hit, a.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Real anthem for anyone feeling like they don't quite fit in,
and I'll make a man out of you. It's just
a classic training montage song. Plus you had Eddie Murphy
as Mushu, the little Dragon sidekick.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Bringing back that Robin williamsesque comedic energy.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
A little bit. Yeah, it provided the levity. Mingo no
Wen's voice acting gave Mulan real strength and vulnerability. Mulan
showed Disney could still evolve telling stories about strong, self
reliant women within their classic framework. It proved two D
was still incredibly potent. Right.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
That takes us to the very end of the decade.
Nineteen ninety nine and the film we land on is
The Iron Giant, not Disney, not Pixar. This is Warner Bros.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Directed by Brad Bird, who would later do The Incredibles
for Pixar, and The Iron Giant is just special, a
real underdog classic.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Technically, it's interesting because it blends animation styles right masterfully.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
He uses beautiful traditional hand drawn animation for the boy
Hogarth in the nineteen fifties cold war setting, but the
Giant himself is animated using CGI and the blend works seamlessly.
You totally believe the Giant exists in that hand drawn world.
It showed you could use both techniques together, taking the
best of both worlds to.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Serve the story and the story it's set during the
Cold War, paranoia A boy finds this giant robot from
a space.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Yeah, it immediately taps into themes of fear, misunderstanding, xenophobia.
But at its heart, it's this incredibly moving story about friendship,
choice and sacrifice.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
You are who you choose to be.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
That line, it's devastatingly powerful, especially coming from the giant
a voice so perfectly with such minimalism by Vin Diesel.
The core message about choosing humanity over being a weapon,
it's profound.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
But here's the catch. The Paradox critically acclaimed right. People
loved it.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Adored it, critics called it a masterpiece almost.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Immediately, but it bombed at the box office initially.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Yeah, it was a huge commercial disappointment at first, and
the sources point mainly to poor marketing by Warner Bros.
They just didn't seem to know how to sell this thoughtful,
emotional sci fi film.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
They didn't give it the push it needed, so it
didn't make a big splash like Toy Story or Lion
King right away.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
No, But over the years, through word of mouth home video,
people discovered it. It built this massive, devoted fan base.
Its legacy now is undeniable.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
So it became a classic despite the initial fumble ex
It proves that sheer quality and emotional resonance could win
out in the end even without a massive marketing machine
behind it. Initially, The Iron Giant feels like a perfect
coda to the decade. Animation can be serious, beautiful blend
techniques tell deeply human stories, but it needs belief behind it.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Wow, Okay, looking back across that whole decade nineteen ninety
to nineteen ninety nine, it really is an incredible journey.
From rescuers down under just starting to use CPS.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
To the artistic peak of Beauty and the Beasts.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
The voice acting revolution in Alantin.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Yes, stop motion magic of Nightmare.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
The sheer epic scale of Lion King, the.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Total disruption of toy story in CGI, the risky maturity
of Hunchback, the global sophistication of Mononoke.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
The evolving heroine in Mulan.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
And ending on the profound heart of The Iron Giant.
You really see why people call it a renaissance. It
was just packed with change and creativity.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
So if we try to boil it down, what are
the big threads running through all this, Well, you've got
four main things I think that really shaped animation going forward. First,
Disney's renaissance itself, pushing two D artistry and emotional storytelling
to its absolute limit.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Right perfecting that classical form.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Second Pixar arriving with Toy Story and just proving that
CGI wasn't just viable but maybe better for certain kinds
of character driven stories that forced everyone to adapt. Studio
Ghibli and Princess Mononoke showing the West the incredible depth
and moral complexity possible in hand drawn animation, offering a
vital counterpoint to the CGI rush, broadening horizons. And finally,
(21:34):
the validation of other techniques like stop motion with Nightmare
before Christmas, proving future animation didn't have to be just
one thing.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
So lots of different paths, different techniques.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
But the core takeaway I think across all of them,
whether it's hand drawn, stop motion, CGI, is that great
storytelling is what lasts. Taking risks with story, pushing boundaries
emotionally and thematically. That's what creates that benchmark for animated excellence.
This horses talk about the tools change, but the need
for heart art for a compelling story.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
That's constant It always comes back to the story and
often the risks taken for the story.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Exactly, which leads to a good final thought for you,
the listener, to chew on after this deep dive. OK,
when you think about all these groundbreaking films from the
nineties and all the risks they took, which risk do
you think had the most lasting impact on the animation
we see today? Was it Disney pushing into darker, more
(22:27):
complex themes like in Hunchback, Or was.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
It Pixar's huge technological leap with Toy Story, basically setting
the template for how most big animated movies are made now.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Or maybe it was the moral ambiguity that films like
Princess Mononoki brought to a wider audience, showing that animation
could tackle really complex, nuanced conflicts without easy answers.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Which risk echoes the loudest today.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Something to ponder, definitely something to think about. It was
an incredible.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Decade, it absolutely was. Thanks for taking this deep dive
with us.
Welcome back to the deep dive. Today, we're diving into
something pretty special. We're taking a trip back to the nineteen.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Nineties, the nineties animation scene exactly.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
We've got a pile of sources here, articles, retrospectives, production notes,
and they all seem to agree. They call it a
golden era, sometimes even a renaissance for animated movies.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
And you know that's not just hype. It really feels earned.
The nineties weren't just about making good animated films. It
was a fundamental shift.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
A huge shift.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Yeah, totally. We're talking about this incredible decade where you
had these massive breakthroughs in storytelling, huge technological leaps happening
at the same time, and just this enormous cultural impact
kind of set the bar for well, everything that came after, really, right.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
So our mission today is to kind of move through
this quickly, but you know, properly. We want to nail
down what made the best or most significant animated film
from each year nineteen ninety right through to ninety nine
really stand.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Out technically and thematically.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Yeah, exactly. Think of it as like your crash course
in nineties animation innovation.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
And to get that landscape you really have to look
at who is driving things. I mean, obviously Disney's big comeback,
the Disney Renaissance, that's the foundation s everyone knows that part,
but that's only half the picture, right. The real energy,
the transformation, it came from competition from new players stepping up.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Okay, so who are we talking about.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Well, you've got the arrival of Pixar just completely changing
the game with CGI. They didn't just tweak the rules,
they threw the rule book out.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Right, and then DreamWorks jumping in later exactly.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
And you can't forget the growing influence from overseas like
Studio Ghibli from Japan. Their artistry was a whole different
kind of challenge to the tech focus in the West.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
So it was maturing in all directions story, tech, music
pretty much. And we can actually track that pretty well
year by year. So let's start at the beginning, back
when digital tools were just starting to help out the
traditional animators. Let's call this first chunk, say nineteen ninety
to ninety three, the dawn of digital assistance in Gothic Heights.
(02:04):
Sounds good, So nineteen ninety the film our sources point
to is The Rescuers down Under. Now for a lot
of people. This one's maybe a bit forgotten compared to
the later Disney hits.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
It definitely flies under the radar a bit.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
But technically it was a launch pad.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Right, Oh, absolutely, a quiet hero. You could say. It's
the sequel, obviously to the seventy seven film Bernard and
Bianca the Mice. They head to the Australian Outback to.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Save a kid and this rare eagle from a poacher.
Classic adventure stuff.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Yeah, themes of courage, teamwork, all that good stuff. But
like you said, it's real importance. It's technical historical almost.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Because this was one of the first big movies to
really use the CPS system computer Animation production system exactly.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
It wasn't the absolute first experiment Dizzy did with computers,
but it was the first feature to really rely on
CFPS for its whole pipeline.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
And we need to understand why CPS was such a
big deal before this animation was incredibly manual, right, like
physically painting plastic.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Cell painstakingly manual drawing inking the lines onto cells, than
hand painting every single one, thousands of them with specialized paints.
Sometimes pretty toxic stuff too, and.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Things could go wrong easily dust paint matching alignment.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Oh yeah, so many potential pitfalls, and then photographing each
cell frame by frame on these complex multiplane cameras to
get depth. It was slow, clunky.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
SEEPS fixed a lot of that.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
It was the bridge. It took the coloring, the compositing,
the multiplaying camera effects and digitize them so you could
still have that beautiful hand drawn animation, but you'd scan
it in color digitally, combined layers digitally. You kept the
warmth but lost the pain.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
So when you watch Rescuers down Under today, especially those
flight scenes with Wilbrid the Albatross, the sources call them breathtaking.
That's CPS in action.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
That's exactly it. The smoothness of movement, the complexity of
the camera angles, like when he's soaring over the outback.
CEEPS made that possible.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
More dynamic backgrounds, richer colors.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Way richer and consists, no more faded paint or duspecs.
The system allowed for layering and camera moves that just
weren't feasible before. It really set a new visual standard
for traditional animation. Right at the start of the decade.
It showed digital could help traditional art, not just replace it.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Okay, So Rescuers sets the technical stage in ninety then
nineteen ninety one arrives and bam, Beauty and the Beast.
This feels like a whole different level.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Well. It absolutely was universally called the pinnacle of the
Disney renaissance. I mean, people still argue it's one of
the greatest animated films ever.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Just a masterpiece. The visuals, the characters, the romance, yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
The depth of the story, Inner Beauty, Redemption. It hit
on all cylinders.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
But the key innovation here looking forward was blending two
D with three D right specifically in that iconic ballroom scene.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
That scene it's famous for a reason. It just was
impossible before CPPs and the willingness to experiment. They actually
built a three D wireframe model of the entire ballroom
in the computer okay, and then the anime Bell and
the Beast, the hand drawn characters and composited them into
that moving three D environment.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
So that incredible shot where the camera swoops around them
as they dance, that feeling of real space.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
That's the computer generated background moving in three dimensions, perfectly
synced with the two D characters. It was a huge
technical risk just for that one sequence.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Wow, but it worked. It elevated the emotion, didn't it completely.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
They realized that for the romance to truly soar, for
you to feel the grandeur of the castle, they needed
that cinematic scope. The technology just disappeared into the service
of the story, making that moment unforgettable.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
And the music, you can't talk about this film without
mentioning Alan Mankin and.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Howard Ashman absolutely Broadway caliber score. Tragically, Ashman passed away
before it was released, but his lyrics they brought such sophistication.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Songs like be Our Guest, Beauty and the Beast. They're classics,
and the industry noticed. This is huge. It was the
first animated film ever nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. Massive.
It basically told Hollywood, Hey, animation isn't just for kids anymore,
It's serious filmmaking.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
It redefined the possibilities. Yeah, a true game changer.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Okay, Moving into nineteen ninety two, Disney keeps the streak
going with Aladdin, still using TPS beautiful animation, but now
with this like really vibrant, energetic feel, Arabian folklore, street
rat Hero, Princess, Magic Lamp.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Great energy, great story. Yeah, but ninety two. Yeah, it's
all about the voice acting revolution, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
It really is. We have to talk about Robin Williams
as the Genie Iconic.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Our sources flat out say he redefined voice acting, and honestly,
they're right. How so what was different before him? Voice
acting and animation was usually pretty controlled, you know, Actors
read the script, matched the timing, the animator's.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Laid out standard procedure.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
But Williams just exploded. He brought this insane improvisation, this
rapid fire stream of jokes, impressions, pop culture references, stuff
that wasn't in the script at all.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Right. He was famous for that.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
He delivered hours of material, mostly off the cuff, and
it forced the animators to work backwards. How ania, Instead
of him matching their drawings, they had to match his performance.
They listened to his recordings and animated the Genie to
his energy, his timing, his wild shifts in character.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
That must have been incredibly difficult.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
A nightmare probably, But the result was electric. The Genie
felt alive, totally unpredictable. It proved that a celebrity voice
if used right, if you let the talent really cut
loose could elevate the.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Whole film, and it's set a precedent, didn't it for
comedic sidekicks?
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Oh yeah, every fast talking, pop culture riffing sidekick since
owes something to William's genie. He just stole this show.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
And the music kept pace. A whole new world won
The Oscar Friend Like Me is just pure joy. Those
songs became huge cultural touchstones. Aladdin was this perfect storm,
top tier animation, great songs in this roundbreaking comedic performance.
Disney nailed the formula.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Okay, So that takes us to nineteen ninety three, and
now we take a sharp turn away from Disney's main studio.
We're diving into something completely different. The Nightmare Before Christmas Ay.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Yes, directed by Henry Seleek preucet by Timburton, a totally
different kind of innovation and.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Important because it showed the renaissance wasn't just about Disney
and two D exactly.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
This film brought stop motion animation back into the limelight
in big way. It's sophisticated, cool, commercially viable again.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
It's that unique visual style, that mix of like spooky
and whimsical Halloween Town meets Christmas.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Down that gothic fairy tale esthetic. It's unforgettable, but you
have to remember the process. Stop motion is incredibly painstaking.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Moving those puppets tiny amounts, frame by frame, twenty four
times for every single second of film. The patients involved
is mind boggling, but that's what gives it that unique
tactile quality. You feel like you could reach out and
touch it. It feels hand crafted, real in a way
that two D or even early CGI couldn't quite capture.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
It wasn't maybe the box office smash that Aladdin was initially.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
At least no, not immediately, but the sources all highlight
its sheer originality and the massive, enduring cult status it
built over time.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
And Danny Elfman's music is inseparable from it. This is Halloween?
Speaker 2 (09:10):
What's this totally iconic score? Nightmare proved there was a
real audience for animation beyond the traditional Disney style, and
that start motion could deliver artistically rich, feature length stories.
It definitely broadened the definition of what the nineties animation
boom was all about. Okay, so that wraps up the
first phase we've seen Disney harness, digital tools hit, artistic
(09:31):
eyes change, voice acting, and even branch into stop motion
via Burton Selec. Now let's move into the middle of
the decade nineteen ninety four to nineteen ninety six. You
call this section two Monumental Achievements and the CGI game Changer.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Right, this is where Disney arguably hits its absolute peak
with traditional animation. Right before, well, right before everything changes.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Again in nineteen ninety four is the peak, isn't it.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
The Lion King absolutely described everywhere as Disney's magnum opus.
A monumental achievement. This was Disney firing on all cylinders,
the absolute height of their two D powers.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
The scale was just immense, and it had this weight
to it, drawing from Shakespeare Hamlet basically mixed with African mythology.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
It gave it this epic, almost mythic feel, and the
visuals just breathtaking. That opening Circle of Life sequence over
Pride Rock, or the stampede scene, that's got to be
one of the most famous and technically complex scenes in
animation history.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Definitely, let's talk about that stampede. How do you even
animate thousands of vildebeestes charging through a canyon in two D?
Speaker 1 (10:30):
It seems impossible.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Well, it was a hybrid approach really pushing CPPs to
its limit. The Vildebeest up close, interacting with Simba and Mafasa,
those were hand drawn, but the vast herd in the.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Background that was computer generated.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Yeah. They created digital models of the Vildbeast, animated the
stampede digitally, and then used CPS to seamlessly layer those
CG elements into the hand drawn scene. It led them
create this terrifying sense of scale and chaos that just
wouldn't have been possible otherwise. Show two D, boosted by
digital tools could be truly epic, and.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
It wasn't just technically amazing. It was a monster hit,
critically acclaimed, massive at the box office.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
A true critical and commercial druggernaut. One two oscars became
this global cultural phenomenon. Everyone saw the Lion.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
King and the music again Elton John and Tim Rice,
Circle of Life, Hakuna Matata, can You Feel the Love Tonight?
Unforgettable songs. They just cemented the film's place and culture.
Lion King really felt like the ultimate expression of what
Disney's two D renaissance could achieve. Epic story, stunning visuals,
Timeless music nineteen ninety four was their peak. Okay, hold
(11:37):
that thought peak two d achievement. Because nineteen ninety five
arrives and the ground shifts completely. We go from Disney's
masterpiece to Pixar and Toy Story. This is it, the
turning point, the moment animation history splits into before and after.
Toy Story, Pixar's first feature and the key thing, the
absolute game changer. It was the first ever feature length
(11:57):
film made entirely with CGI. No hand drawn sells, No,
I ain't no multiplane camera.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
All all digital start to finish, which was a massive
gamble back then. Early CGI often look well kind of
cold plastic key The Uncanny Valley was a real problem.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
So why did Toy Story work so spectacularly? Well, it
wasn't just the novelty, was it. No, absolutely not. The
sources hammer this home. Pixar succeeded because they focused on story.
They proved this brand new, potentially sterile technology could be
used to tell a really heartfelt, funny, sophisticated story that
connected with audiences on an emotional level. The story of
(12:31):
Woody and Buzz old toy versus new toy, dealing with jealousy, friendship,
figuring out who you.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Are, universal themes things everyone relates to and they poured
so much effort into the details, making the plastic look
like plastic. The fabric looked like fabric. But it was
the characters brought to life by incredible voice acting from
Tom Hanks and Tim Allen that made you believe in them.
You forgot they were CGI.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
And it wasn't just for kids. The humor, the emotion,
it worked for everybody.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
It transcended age groups. As a review said, Toy Story
basically prove CGI wasn't just a gimmick. It was a
powerful new way to tell stories, and the entire industry,
including Disney, had to react.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
It was revolutionary, a total paradigm shift. Okay, so nineteen
eighty six Pixar has thrown down the gauntlet with CGI.
How does Disney respond?
Speaker 2 (13:17):
They go in a completely different direction again, right towards maturity,
the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Yeah, this was a fascinating move, really ambitious, really daring.
They took Victor Hugo's novel, which is incredibly dark and complex,
and decided not to shy away from the mature themes
too much.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
We're talking about Quasimodo, the bell Ringer, dealing with prejudice, cruelty, and.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
The villain Frallo. He's not just a cackling bad guy.
He's driven by religious hypocrisy, prejudice, and well lust. Yeah,
which was incredibly intense for a Disney film.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
That hell Fire sequence where Fraula is grappling with his
obsession with Esmeralda. It's visually stunning but also genuinely disturbing.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
It's one of the darkest, most psychologically complex scenes Disney
has ever animated. It deals with sin, damnation, desire, incredibly
mature stuff.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
So artistically daring, yes, but did audiences embrace it. It
wasn't Lion King numbers, was it. No, it definitely wasn't.
And this is important, Hunchback kind of struggled commercially compared
to the other Renaissance hits. It seemed to push the
boundaries of the Disney brand. Maybe a bit too far
for some audiences.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Too dark, too complex.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Possibly it had these powerful moments that's commentary on injustice
and compassion, but it maybe lack that easy, feel good
factor of Aladdin or a Beauty in the Beast. It
showed that artistic ambition is great, but maybe there's a
limit to how dark the mainstream Disney brand could go.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Back then an interesting tension, so it didn't land commercially
like the others, but artistically.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Artistically it's stunning. The animation is gorgeous, the Mangan and
Schwartz scores incredible, songs like out There are just soaring.
Its willingness to tackle those heavy themes makes it the
standout for nineteen ninety six. Even if it wasn't the
biggest hit, it dared to be different. Okay. That brings
us to the final stretch nineteen ninety seven to nineteen
ninety nine, Section three, Expanding horizons and underdog classics. The
(15:09):
field's wider now, Disney still a powerhouse, Pixars established, and
we're seeing more influence from elsewhere, definitely, and nineteen ninety
seven is a prime example of that global expansion. This
is the year Studio Ghibli and Hio Miyazaki really burst
into mainstream Western awareness with twin test Mononoke, a.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Landmark film for anime, getting global recognition, huge.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
And visually just yeah wow. In a world increasingly focused
on CGI, Mononoke was this stunning statement about the power
and beauty of traditional hand drawn animation when done at
the absolute highest level, the detail, the world building.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
It's breathtaking, but it wasn't just visually different thematically, it
was challenging too, right, especially for Western audiences used to
clear good versus.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Evil, massively challenging. It's about the environment, the clash between
industry and nature. But the key thing, as the sources
point out, is its nuanced portrayal of morality. There are
no clear heroes.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Or villains explain that. Why was that so radical? Compared
to say Lion King.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Well, in Lion King, Scar is just bad right, evil
uncle wants power. In Mononoke, you have San fighting fiercely
for the forest gods, which seems heroic. But then her
main human adversary, Lady Eboshi, who runs the ironworks, destroying
the forest.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
She seems like the villain, but she's.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Also providing refuge and work for lepers and former prostitutes,
people rejected by society. She's building a community. Her reasons
are complex, even arguably good from her perspective, even if
her actions are destructive to nature.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
So it doesn't give you easy answers. You have to
grapple with the gray areas exactly.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
It refused to simplify the conflict that moral complexity was
a huge step forward for animated storytelling on a global stage.
It showed animation could handle these incredibly nuanced adult themes.
Mononoke really opened the door for wider appreciation of anime
in the West.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Okay, let's jump back to Disney for nineteen ninety eight,
they deliver Mulan still two D. Still has that Disney feel,
but a different kind of hero this time.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Yeah, really important evolution for the Disney heroin. Based on
the Chinese legend, Mulan is this fierce independent heroine. She's
not waiting for a prince. She disguises herself as a
man to take her father's place in the army.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
So the story is all about her courage, her journey
of finding her identity, breaking gender.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Roles exactly themes of honor, family, identity, and yeah, definitely
gender equality. Plus they put a lot of effort into
the cultural setting and sensitivity. The animation was vibrant, especially
the battle.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Scenes and memorable songs. Of course, Reflection became a huge hit, a.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Real anthem for anyone feeling like they don't quite fit in,
and I'll make a man out of you. It's just
a classic training montage song. Plus you had Eddie Murphy
as Mushu, the little Dragon sidekick.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Bringing back that Robin williamsesque comedic energy.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
A little bit. Yeah, it provided the levity. Mingo no
Wen's voice acting gave Mulan real strength and vulnerability. Mulan
showed Disney could still evolve telling stories about strong, self
reliant women within their classic framework. It proved two D
was still incredibly potent. Right.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
That takes us to the very end of the decade.
Nineteen ninety nine and the film we land on is
The Iron Giant, not Disney, not Pixar. This is Warner Bros.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Directed by Brad Bird, who would later do The Incredibles
for Pixar, and The Iron Giant is just special, a
real underdog classic.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Technically, it's interesting because it blends animation styles right masterfully.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
He uses beautiful traditional hand drawn animation for the boy
Hogarth in the nineteen fifties cold war setting, but the
Giant himself is animated using CGI and the blend works seamlessly.
You totally believe the Giant exists in that hand drawn world.
It showed you could use both techniques together, taking the
best of both worlds to.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Serve the story and the story it's set during the
Cold War, paranoia A boy finds this giant robot from
a space.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Yeah, it immediately taps into themes of fear, misunderstanding, xenophobia.
But at its heart, it's this incredibly moving story about friendship,
choice and sacrifice.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
You are who you choose to be.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
That line, it's devastatingly powerful, especially coming from the giant
a voice so perfectly with such minimalism by Vin Diesel.
The core message about choosing humanity over being a weapon,
it's profound.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
But here's the catch. The Paradox critically acclaimed right. People
loved it.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Adored it, critics called it a masterpiece almost.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Immediately, but it bombed at the box office initially.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Yeah, it was a huge commercial disappointment at first, and
the sources point mainly to poor marketing by Warner Bros.
They just didn't seem to know how to sell this thoughtful,
emotional sci fi film.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
They didn't give it the push it needed, so it
didn't make a big splash like Toy Story or Lion
King right away.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
No, But over the years, through word of mouth home video,
people discovered it. It built this massive, devoted fan base.
Its legacy now is undeniable.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
So it became a classic despite the initial fumble ex
It proves that sheer quality and emotional resonance could win
out in the end even without a massive marketing machine
behind it. Initially, The Iron Giant feels like a perfect
coda to the decade. Animation can be serious, beautiful blend
techniques tell deeply human stories, but it needs belief behind it.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Wow, Okay, looking back across that whole decade nineteen ninety
to nineteen ninety nine, it really is an incredible journey.
From rescuers down under just starting to use CPS.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
To the artistic peak of Beauty and the Beasts.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
The voice acting revolution in Alantin.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Yes, stop motion magic of Nightmare.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
The sheer epic scale of Lion King, the.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Total disruption of toy story in CGI, the risky maturity
of Hunchback, the global sophistication of Mononoke.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
The evolving heroine in Mulan.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
And ending on the profound heart of The Iron Giant.
You really see why people call it a renaissance. It
was just packed with change and creativity.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
So if we try to boil it down, what are
the big threads running through all this, Well, you've got
four main things I think that really shaped animation going forward. First,
Disney's renaissance itself, pushing two D artistry and emotional storytelling
to its absolute limit.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Right perfecting that classical form.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Second Pixar arriving with Toy Story and just proving that
CGI wasn't just viable but maybe better for certain kinds
of character driven stories that forced everyone to adapt. Studio
Ghibli and Princess Mononoke showing the West the incredible depth
and moral complexity possible in hand drawn animation, offering a
vital counterpoint to the CGI rush, broadening horizons. And finally,
(21:34):
the validation of other techniques like stop motion with Nightmare
before Christmas, proving future animation didn't have to be just
one thing.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
So lots of different paths, different techniques.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
But the core takeaway I think across all of them,
whether it's hand drawn, stop motion, CGI, is that great
storytelling is what lasts. Taking risks with story, pushing boundaries
emotionally and thematically. That's what creates that benchmark for animated excellence.
This horses talk about the tools change, but the need
for heart art for a compelling story.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
That's constant It always comes back to the story and
often the risks taken for the story.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Exactly, which leads to a good final thought for you,
the listener, to chew on after this deep dive. OK,
when you think about all these groundbreaking films from the
nineties and all the risks they took, which risk do
you think had the most lasting impact on the animation
we see today? Was it Disney pushing into darker, more
(22:27):
complex themes like in Hunchback, Or was.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
It Pixar's huge technological leap with Toy Story, basically setting
the template for how most big animated movies are made now.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
Or maybe it was the moral ambiguity that films like
Princess Mononoki brought to a wider audience, showing that animation
could tackle really complex, nuanced conflicts without easy answers.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Which risk echoes the loudest today.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Something to ponder, definitely something to think about. It was
an incredible.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Decade, it absolutely was. Thanks for taking this deep dive
with us.
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