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[Lil' Dice]

http://au.news.yahoo.com/050726/3/v8nk.html

Disney To Close Sydney Animation Production Studio



SYDNEY, July 26 Asia Pulse - Australia's film industry has been dealt a blow with the decision by US entertainment giant Walt Disney Co to close its animation production studio in Sydney.

The closure of DisneyToon Studios Australia (DTSA) in mid-2006 will cost about 250 jobs, the company said. ADVERTISEMENT



"It is with regret that DisneyToon Studios has decided to close their animation production facility in Sydney in mid-2006," the company said in a statement today.

"This closure is a business decision due in large part to the changing creative climate and economic environment in which DisneyToon Studios requires more flexibility to choose the most appropriate and efficient animation process."

The demise of the Australian studio follows Disney's closure of other international facilities in recent years.

DisneyToon staff were told of the decision yesterday when all employees were briefed by general manager Philip Oakes.

"They just told us they wanted to finish up (films) Brother Bear and Cinderella III and the studio would shut down after that project," said a staff member who asked not to be named.

"They said primarily that they just can't guarantee getting enough constant work coming through to us here so that decision was made to close the studio.

"I think most people knew it was going to happen. You hear a few rumours.

"We are not covered by a union at all. They did hand us out some forms and are giving us a redundancy payout, which I think is pretty standard."

The DTSA began operations in Australia in 1988, taking over the old Hanna Barbera studios in Sydney's St Leonards.

Since then, the studio has grown rapidly and moved to the city with offices in Castlereagh Street in central Sydney.

DTSA started working mostly on television cartoons, such as Winnie the Pooh, Darkwing Duck, Goof Troop, Aladdin, Timon and Pumbaa, and Duck Daze.

However, as technologies advanced and Australian animation staff became more skilled, the studio began working on higher profile projects.

Its first feature film was the 1994 sequel to Aladdin, entitled The Return of Jafar, released direct to DVD.

Other films included the sequel to The Lion King, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, An Extremely Goofy Moviem and Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure.

In 2002, the DTSA produced its first theatrical release feature, Return to Neverland, the sequel to the 1953 Disney classic Peter Pan.

That film grossed more than $100 million at the worldwide box office.

In recent years, DisneyToon's US parent company closed all its overseas operations bar Australia and a small office in the Philippines.

In March last year, DisneyToon said "virtually all" of Walt Disney Co's hand-drawn animation was being produced in Sydney.

"The studio thought it was better to boil it down to what the audience would accept and Sydney being so good still remained," senior Disney animator Andreas Deja said earlier this year.

This year, DisneyToon Studio has produced animated movies Tarzan 2, Lilo and Stitch 2 and Bambi 2.

Animators in Sydney are currently working on Brother Bear 2 and the studio will close after production on Cinderella III.

"The many gifted and talented artists on the Australian team have made a tremendous contribution to Disney's animation endeavours," DisneyToon said in today's statement.

Disney said it would continue to employ 270 Australians around the country in other divisions.

ASIA PULSE

The end of 2D animation is nigh.....

 

[Sapiens]

Its first feature film was the 1994 sequel to Aladdin, entitled The Return of Jafar, released direct to DVD.

Hmm

 

[Zaptruder]

Wow... they worked on alot of shows that I used to watch as a kid. Sad to see 'em go.

 

[Dan]

"They just told us they wanted to finish up (films) Brother Bear and Cinderella III and the studio would shut down after that project," said a staff member who asked not to be named.

"They said primarily that they just can't guarantee getting enough constant work coming through to us here so that decision was made to close the studio.

Hmm, does that mean they'll be doing fewer DTV sequels? That would be surprising.

 

[FoneBone]

Hmm, does that mean they'll be doing fewer DTV sequels? That would be surprising.

No, they're just outsourcing those to Asian studios.

 

[J2 Cool]

When you wish upon a star... We'll close your fucking studio down!

 

[belgurdo]

Disney is dead

Hail anime and independent european studios

 

[impirius]

Hmm

And they wonder why it didn't sell well

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

And they wonder why it didn't sell well

I believe that he's referring to the "DVD" thing...it was released on vhs.

 

[Ferny84]

Animators in Sydney are currently working on Brother Bear 2 and the studio will close after production on Cinderella III.

Disney's running out of ideas!

 

[Jill Sandwich]

Nah, they just have a fucking tool in charge of the company

 

[J2 Cool]

Pixar better not re-sign with these idiots

 

[FoneBone]

Pixar better not re-sign with these idiots

I think not re-signing would be a mistake.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

I think not re-signing would be a mistake.

Here's a good question: When people go to see a Pixar movie nowadays, do they go because "They're going to see a new Disney movie"? Or because they're going "To see the latest Pixar movie?"

I guess the question is: Is it really the Disney brand name that sells Pixar's films? No doubt it helped the first Toy Story's success immensely, as at that time(1995), Disney was still churning out animated hit after hit.

I personally think Pixar would be just fine on their own or with another distributer. Truly, Disney would be the ones in trouble if Pixar were to leave, and not vice-versa.

 

[Deku]

Disney is worthless. Animation is the domain of the Japanese now. The Japanese government recently announced a push to promote Japanese animation, games and cultural products overseas. So I assume many of the struggling animation studios in Japan would be benefiting from this.

As for Pixar, they can go to any Studio and continue making their great animated films. Although I really hope they stop making light hearted funny movies and create a division or a team that do some serious themed CG work.

 

[J2 Cool]

As for Pixar, they can go to any Studio and continue making their great animated films. Although I really hope they stop making light hearted funny movies and create a division or a team that do some serious themed CG work.

I'm kind of hoping for this as well. Grow some balls and start creating a variety of projects with more frequent release dates. I believe they have the ability to be the premiere animation studio in the world. Could shape the future of animation in America. I don't know if they want to be so bold though. If they were to follow this path, Brad Bird's Ray Gunn would be a good place to start.

 

[FoneBone]

I've said it before, but sequels to Pixar movies made without Pixar's involvement have the potential to tarnish their reputation. And I really don't want to see non-Pixar sequels to Toy Story, Monsters Inc, and The Incredibles.

 

[Kai Dracon]

Well, Disney (the corporation, not the man), now your failure is complete.

Disney's transformation into MegaCorp is just about complete at this point. 2D animation dead? Hardly, I think. Aside from Japan and Europe, I strongly suspect that with Disney totally out of the picture in the West, others will rise to fill the void. There are already projects underway by groups of writers, animators, and indie filmmakers - some of whom are late of Disney, or direct students of the classical Disney style of animation.

And as for Pixar - I know that most everyone I know considers Pixar films to be Pixar films... not Disney films.

 

[FoneBone]

And as for Pixar - I know that most everyone I know considers Pixar films to be Pixar films... not Disney films.

But audiences are still likely to associate sequels to Pixar films with Pixar, regardless of whether they were involved at all.

 

[temp]

I believe that he's referring to the "DVD" thing...it was released on vhs.

Yeah, he was joking.

 

[u_neek]

Just in: Aladdin: The Return of Jafar just released on Blu-Ray - Disney expects to sell billions of copies...

 

[DDayton]

You guys do know that it's our old buddy Michael Eisner who's behind all of this, right? First he goes for the stupid idea of making cheap sequels to decent films, then he shuts down all standard animation. The reasoning being that "audience want 3D CGI films now" because of the success of Pixar and of Dreamworks's Shrek. (Let's just ignore the fact that the past several Disney animated films were LOUSY -- it must be the animation style!)

Bah.

What would be funny is if Pixar remained disconnected with Disney and began their own traditional animation team.

 

[Tedesco!]

The tread topic alone made me laugh. I could care less about Disney as Pixar is where it's at.

 

[lexy]

Disney is dead

Hail anime and independent european studios

No.