Disney Animation's Golden Era Explained

Summary

Disney's golden era, spanning the late 1930s to early 1940s, revolutionized animation with groundbreaking films like 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'. Despite high costs and mixed reception with films like 'Pinocchio' and 'Fantasia', the era pushed artistic boundaries with innovative techniques and storytelling. 'Dumbo' and 'Bambi', though simpler and less profitable, continued the legacy of artistic excellence, setting the stage for future Disney classics.

Takeaways

• 🎨 Walt Disney's ambition in the late 1930s and early 1940s led to the creation of the Golden Era of Disney Animation.
• 🏆 Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies brought Walt Disney success and Oscar nominations, but he sought to push animation further.
• 🎬 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first full-length drama film made through hand-drawn animation, taking three years to develop.
• 💰 Snow White's budget was initially estimated at $250,000 but ended up costing $1.5 million, a significant financial risk for Disney.
• 🌟 Snow White was a critical and financial success, grossing over $6.5 million and becoming the highest-grossing film at the time.
• 📈 Pinocchio, Disney's second full-length animation, was more artistically ambitious but less financially successful, costing nearly $2.3 million.
• 🎼 Fantasia was an innovative musical experience with visual animations, utilizing a new sound system called Fantasound, considered an early form of surround sound.
• 🐘 Dumbo was a simpler, more cost-effective film that was completed within the same year and was both a critical and commercial success.
• 🦌 Bambi was an artistic masterpiece with impressionistic backgrounds and lifelike character movements but was less successful with audiences.
• 🌍 World War II affected international film releases and the availability of animators, impacting Disney's ability to produce blockbuster hits.
• 🚀 The Golden Era's innovations in animation techniques and storytelling laid the foundation for future Disney success and the evolution of the medium.

Q & A

What is considered the beginning of Disney Animation's golden era?

The beginning of Disney Animation's golden era is marked by the success of Mickey Mouse in 1928 and the subsequent introduction of Silly Symphonies in 1929.

What was the first full-length animated drama film produced by Walt Disney?

The first full-length animated drama film produced by Walt Disney was 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,' which began development in 1934.

How long did it take to animate 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'?

Animating 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' took over three years to complete.

What was the original estimated budget for 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'?

The original estimated budget for 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' was $250,000.

What was the final cost of producing 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'?

The final cost of producing 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' was $1.5 million.

Why was 'Pinocchio' considered a financial disappointment despite its artistic achievements?

'Pinocchio' was considered a financial disappointment because it only grossed over $1 million at the box office, which was not as high as expected and took years to recoup its production costs.

What technological innovation was used in 'Fantasia' to enhance the viewing experience?

The multi-plane camera and the Fantasound sound system, which is considered one of the first surround sound systems, were used in 'Fantasia' to create a more immersive viewing and listening experience.

How much did the production of 'Fantasia' cost, and what was its financial outcome?

The production of 'Fantasia' cost $2.2 million, and despite initial success, it eventually resulted in a financial loss due to the high costs of installation for the Fantasound system.

What was the budget for 'Dumbo', and how did its financial performance compare to previous Disney films?

The budget for 'Dumbo' was $950,000, which was significantly lower than the budgets of 'Pinocchio' and 'Fantasia'. It was financially successful, grossing $1.6 million and receiving critical acclaim.

What factors contributed to the financial and critical failure of 'Bambi'?

The financial and critical failure of 'Bambi' was due to its high production costs of $1.7 million, its less fantastical and dramatic story, and the fact that it was released during a time of international turmoil caused by World War II.

How did World War II impact Disney Animation's ability to release successful films after the golden era?

World War II caused problems with international film releases and led to many animators going to war or going on strike, resulting in a long period without another critical and financial blockbuster for Disney.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 The Dawn of Disney's Golden Era

This paragraph delves into the inception of Disney Animation's golden era, a transformative period in the late 1930s and early 1940s. It highlights Walt Disney's vision to elevate animation beyond mere entertainment, introducing the Silly Symphonies and pioneering full-length animated features like 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.' The paragraph details the risks and innovations involved, including the use of color, realistic human animation, and the multi-plane camera effect. Despite initial skepticism and a ballooning budget, 'Snow White' emerged as a critical and commercial success, setting the stage for Disney's future endeavors.

05:01

🎼 The Evolution and Challenges of Disney's Artistic Ambitions

The second paragraph explores the evolution of Disney's artistic ambitions with films like 'Pinocchio,' 'Fantasia,' 'Dumbo,' and 'Bambi.' It discusses the challenges faced in terms of budget constraints and public reception, as well as the innovative techniques used to enhance storytelling and visual artistry. 'Pinocchio,' while beautiful, did not achieve the same success as 'Snow White,' leading to financial struggles for the studio. 'Fantasia,' an ambitious musical experiment, introduced the Fantasound system, precursor to modern surround sound, but also resulted in significant financial losses. 'Dumbo,' with its simpler approach and lower budget, was a commercial success, contrasting with the more dramatic and less successful 'Bambi.' The paragraph concludes by reflecting on the legacy of Disney's golden era and the impact of external factors like World War II on the studio's future.

Keywords

💡Golden Era

The 'Golden Era' refers to the period in the late 1930s and early 1940s when Disney Animation produced groundbreaking and innovative films that changed the landscape of animation. In the video, this term is used to describe the time when Walt Disney took significant risks in animation, leading to the creation of full-length animated features that were artistically and technically advanced for their time.

💡Walt Disney

Walt Disney is the central figure in the video, recognized as the visionary behind the innovative animation techniques and storytelling that characterized the Golden Era of Disney Animation. He is depicted as an ambitious individual who saw animation as an art form capable of more than just short, comedic cartoons, leading to the development of full-length animated films.

💡Silly Symphonies

Silly Symphonies was a series of animated musical cartoons produced by Walt Disney Productions in the late 1920s and early 1930s. In the video, Silly Symphonies is mentioned as a stepping stone for Disney's experimentation with animation as an art form, introducing color and sound synchronization, which eventually paved the way for more ambitious projects.

💡Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first full-length animated feature film produced by Walt Disney. The video highlights its significance as the catalyst of the Golden Era, being a risky venture that took three years to develop and cost significantly more than any previous animation project. Its success marked a turning point for Disney Animation and the animation industry as a whole.

💡Pinocchio

Pinocchio is the second full-length animated feature by Disney, which, as mentioned in the video, was produced with an even larger budget than Snow White. It pushed the boundaries of animation with realistic effects and the use of the multi-plane camera, contributing to the artistic achievements of the Golden Era, despite initially not being as financially successful as Snow White.

💡Fantasia

Fantasia is a unique film in the Disney canon, combining classical music with animated visuals. The video describes it as an ambitious project that introduced Fantasound, an early form of surround sound, and showcased a variety of animation styles. It represents the innovative spirit of the Golden Era, even though it was not as commercially successful as hoped.

💡Dumbo

Dumbo, Disney's fourth full-length animated feature, is highlighted in the video for its simplicity and cost-effective production. Despite being shorter and less expensive than its predecessors, Dumbo was a commercial success and received critical acclaim for its charm and endearing storytelling, which contrasted with the more complex and costly films that preceded it.

💡Bambi

Bambi is noted in the video as the last film of Disney's Golden Era. It is praised for its artistic achievements, with impressionistic backgrounds and lifelike character movements. However, the video also points out that Bambi's dramatic narrative and themes did not resonate as strongly with audiences as the charm of Dumbo, leading to a less successful reception.

💡Multi-plane Camera

The multi-plane camera was an innovative technology used during the Golden Era, as mentioned in the video in relation to Pinocchio. It allowed for a more three-dimensional effect in animation by combining different layers of artwork, simulating depth and the illusion of camera movement, which was a significant advancement in the art of animation.

💡Innovation

Innovation is a recurring theme in the video, describing the continuous push by Disney Animation to experiment with new techniques and ideas in animation. From the use of color and sound in Silly Symphonies to the development of the multi-plane camera and the artistic achievements in films like Fantasia and Bambi, innovation was key to the Golden Era's legacy.

💡Risk

Risk-taking is a central concept in the video, illustrating Walt Disney's willingness to invest in expensive and unproven ideas. The development of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, and Fantasia involved significant financial risks, which ultimately paid off in terms of artistic achievements, even if not always in immediate financial success.

Highlights

Disney Animation's golden era was a period of groundbreaking and innovative moviemaking in animation.

Walt Disney's ambition in the late 1930s and early 1940s led to the creation of full-length animated dramas.

The Silly Symphonies series showcased Disney's early experiments with color and sound in animation.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first full-length animated feature film, pushing artistic boundaries.

Snow White's budget was significantly higher than typical Mickey Mouse cartoons, leading to financial risk.

The film's release in 1937 was met with rave reviews and became the highest-grossing film at the time.

Pinocchio, produced after Snow White, introduced new effects and the multi-plane camera for a 3D effect.

Fantasia was a unique venture, combining orchestrated music with visual animations.

Fantasia's production involved a new sound system, Fantasound, considered an early surround sound system.

Dumbo was a cost-effective film that was both a critical and commercial success.

Bambi was an artistically impressive film but did not achieve the same success as Dumbo.

The golden era films were artistically innovative but faced challenges in audience reception and financial success.

World War II impacted international film releases and the availability of animators.

The golden era's legacy is fondly remembered for its risk-taking and innovation in animation.

The era's films set the stage for future Disney animation, blending artistry, comedy, drama, and Disney magic.

The golden era's films, despite their challenges, were critical in the evolution of animation as an art form.

Transcripts

Disney Animation's golden era was the

first era of Disney animation not only

would it go on to change what animation

could be but also put Walt Disney in his

studio years ahead of their time taking

place over the span of just a few short

years in the late 1930s and early 1940s

the golden era holds up as

groundbreaking innovative moviemaking so

let's explore it after years of hard

work in the success of Mickey Mouse in

1928 Walt Disney had finally found his

mark on the Hollywood scene but that

wasn't enough for an ambitious man in

his late 20s he didn't settle on just

having the most popular cartoon

character while most people who saw

cartoons as nothing more than five

minutes that played prior to films at

local cinema Walt saw the potential and

animation as moving artwork with the

debut of his Silly Symphonies in 1929 he

played with the idea of artwork

eventually adding color to go with his

sound cartoons Mickey Mouse and Silly

Symphonies were getting him Oscar

nominations and recognition around the

world but he thought the medium could be

pushed even further instead of creating

short five-minute jokes while was going

to make a full-length drama film made

entirely through hand-drawn animation

Disney's golden era consists of his

first five films each of which push

boundaries artistically in their own way

with the first being the catalysts to

see if the experiment would even work

that was Snow White in the Seven Dwarfs

beginning with the development in 1934

animating the eighty-three minute film

took over three years Hollywood in the

larger media considered Snow White to be

Disney's downfall he had announced the

film in 1934 but continued to have

nothing to show for it but a larger and

ever-increasing budget originally he had

estimated to make the film for two

hundred and fifty thousand dollars but

it would end up costing 1.5 million

comparatively the average Mickey Mouse

cartoon cost around 25,000

to make and what many consider the

greatest film of all time 1941 Citizen

Kane cost eight hundred and forty

thousand dollars the overly inflated

budget came at the cost of coloring the

animation cells animating humans to have

realistic flowing movements changing the

story to have some gags rewrites to keep

the story moving forward and making sure

the background and character artwork

felt artistic and charming

despite being ridiculed for spending as

much as he did on such a risky film Walt

Disney and his staff were dedicated to

the project and it would eventually pay

off the release of the film in December

of 1937 saw the film get rave reviews

and by the end of its original

theatrical run in 1939 it had grossed

over 6.5 million dollars the

highest-grossing film to that date

Disney knocked it out of the park with

Snow White and now he needed to follow

it up with something that pushed the

envelope even further Pinocchio was put

into production in 1938 with a budget

that went above and beyond Snow White

and the Seven Dwarfs eventually costing

the company nearly 2.3 million dollars

the Disney Animation team took what they

learned on Snow White and applied the

color is sound in realistic movements to

their second film wanting to top Snow

White

they pushed themselves to add in new

effects making smoke moving objects in

water feel realistic for example the

scenes taking place in the water are

drawn with lots of details on the

up-close waves but not as many in the

background giving a natural atmospheric

effect a technique often used by many

skilled artists to mimic the way the

human eye sees and focuses in real life

similar effects were created with the

studio's new multi-plane camera giving

background foreground and character

artists the ability to combine their

efforts with one snap of the camera the

multi-plane camera not only give a 3d

effect but could also give the feel of

the camera panning across the screen

just like a major live-action movie

could despite all of the hard

and innovation with animation Disney's

second full-length animation film

Pinocchio wasn't the crowd-pleasing

encore that Disney wanted it to be the

film is beautiful and artistically

wonderful but it wasn't as funny as his

Mickey Mouse cartoons and it wasn't as

groundbreaking as Snow White was

Pinocchio only managed to gross over 1

million dollars at the box office and it

would take years before eventually

making its money back well nokia was in

production another venture and

groundbreaking animation was also in the

works Walt wanted to create an

orchestrated musical experience with

visual animations that didn't have

boundaries

after meeting composer Leopold Stokowski

in 1937 they planned to work on a Mickey

Mouse short which would eventually end

up becoming sorcerer Mickey but the

shorts budget quickly rose in Walt's

brother Roy insisted on minimizing the

production while instead opted to

maximize it by not just doing the short

but a series of shorts that would create

a full-length feature film Fantasia

would eventually be a traveling music

production wall in a small crew invested

$200,000 in a new sound system called

Fanta some think of Fanta sound as the

first surround sound system something we

all know when we go to the theaters

today each theater that Fantasia

traveled to was updated with 85,000

dollars in upgrades over a thousand

artists worked on Fantasia and it's

different elements with the picture not

having a singular narrative but instead

letting the music drive the film forward

adding visuals that felt natural to the

musical piece Walt would make over 1

million dollars in the first couple of

cities that played in but the

installation for Fanta soda and the

hybrid action costs of 2.2 million

dollars eventually lost the company more

money than Pinocchio did Walt Disney

needed revenue to keep his company

afloat he'd struggled once but had spent

too much money on a new production

studio and two features that were

artistic but not what the public wanted

from the Disney name Dumbo would be

Disney Animation's fourth full-length

animated film with

$950,000 budget it would be under half

the cost of Pinocchio or Fantasia and

would also be Disney's shortest animated

feature clocking in at 64 minutes while

asked his animators to keep the costs

down and keep things simple character

designs backgrounds and the story were

simpler with the animation feeling more

cartoonish than any of the previous

films of that era the simplicity paid

off as well allowing for the film to be

started and finished within the same

year in 1941 and the film would gross

1.6 million dollars with critics

praising the film as charming endearing

and above all else the best cartoon to

come out from Disney yet while Dumbo is

a major success partially due to its

simplicity and cost-cutting another film

was in production that would continue

the soaring costs of disease previous

films eventually costing the company 1.7

million dollars

Bambi would be the last film of Disney's

golden era but would fall short of the

comeback Dumbo tried to recreate like

Pinocchio Bambi is a beautifully artsy

film the background paintings feeling

impressionistic and the characters of

the forest studied to perfection feel

lifelike in their movements and actions

where Dumbo felt cartoonish Bambi felt

like an artistic masterpiece its take on

man being the villain the loss of

Bambi's mother and the fire that engulfs

the forest all live on and infamy but

the entire film failed with critics as

it was nearly the exact opposite of

Dumbo the charm and endearing features

of Dumbo are lost with Bambi's less

fantastical and quite dramatic story of

forest creatures

come

my son

today we look back at Disney's golden

era fondly

however the innovative risk-taking

animation team at Disney had failed to

create something spectacular outside of

Snow White's groundbreaking achievement

and with World War two causing problems

with international film releases and

with many of the animators either going

to war or going on strike would be a

long time until Disney would have

another critical and financial

blockbuster on his hands but the war

would bring another chance for his team

to innovate an experiment even further

eventually leading to the perfect

mixture of artistry comedy drama and

Disney magic tell us in the comments

below what your favorite film from the

golden era is and if you haven't already

check out the previous disney animation

eras video which gives an overview of

all the films Disney has put out to date

and subscribe to this channel because in

the next Disney Animation's era video we

cover the wartime era which takes place

from 1943 to 1949 and if you need even

more animation history in your life we

here at network 1901 also have a Pixar

animation era's explained video thank

you for watching and hurry back