In 1937, Walt Disney Animation Studio changed the film industry when they released the world’s first fully animated feature-length film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. And that was just the beginning of what would become one of the top animation studios in the world. Since then, Disney has created dozens of incredible animated films, including The Lion King (1994), Beauty and the Beast (1991), The Little Mermaid (1989), and The Jungle Book (1967).
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Disney’s animation status skyrocketed even further when the Mouse House began working with Pixar Animation Studios. Disney and Pixar officially teamed up in 1986 but changed the game once again when they released Toy Story in 1995. Toy Story was the first feature-length film created completely by computer animation.
Disney and Pixar paved the way for computer animation and have created so many iconic films, like A Bug’s Life (1998), Monsters, Inc. (2001), Cars (2006), Up (2009), and Coco (2017).
While Disney is currently putting hundreds of millions of dollars into its live-action remakes, that does not mean that it has forgotten about its animation roots. In fact, Disney has several animated movies and series planned for release in the next few years. However, all of that is currently in jeopardy as another major Hollywood strike looms.
The Animation Guild — which boasts 6,000 members — is currently trying to negotiate a new contract, but talks with the studios are stalling. A recent rally was held by the guild, led by two beloved Disney animators, Mike Rianda of Gravity Falls and Disney Legend James Baxter.
Baxter has worked on more than a dozen Disney projects, including The Little Mermaid, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Enchanted (2007), Mary Poppins Returns (2018), and Once Upon a Studio (2023).
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As with the Writers’ and SAG-AFTRA Strikes last year, the biggest point of contention in contract negotiations is the increased use of artificial intelligence.
“Animation is most vulnerable to outsourcing and it’s already happening. Animation is most vulnerable to AI threat and it’s already happening,” Julia Prescott, animation writer for Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, told the crowd of thousands.
“You told us that addressing the impact of generative AI tools and processes are of the greatest importance and that you want us to make sure jobs in animation are made for human beings and not software routines,” Steve Kaplan, the Animation Guild’s business representative, said.
The Guild said that studios are being short-sighted, not realizing that artificial intelligence is not capable of doing the same kind of work as artists. They claim that studios are increasingly outsourcing jobs, cutting budgets, and eliminating staff, but in the end, it will only hurt them and the quality of their movies and television shows.
The Animation Guild has said that it will have no problem voting on a strike if they are unable to negotiate new and fair contracts. The Guild is also being supported by the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA, since those two groups were supported by the Animation Guild during their strikes that lasted for months last summer.
Should the animation guild go on strike, some major Disney and Pixar projects will be put on pause, most likely screwing up their release dates. The studios are currently working on an Inside Out (2016) series for Disney+. During this year’s D23 Expo, Disney also shared that Zootopia 2, Frozen III, and Toy Story 5 were also in the works. Pixar is also working on Incredibles 3 and a new original film called Hoppers.
In addition to protections from being replaced by artificial intelligence, the Animation Guild is also demanding that animators be paid the same as live-action writers by WGA standards. The Guild said that its animators only receive about 20% – 40% of what the writers are paid, even though they do the same amount of work. They also don’t receive compensation for the research that goes into their animation.
Do you think animators should be paid more for the work they do? Let us know in the comments!