The Peak of Animation
Okay, let’s take a break from talking about slots all the time in order to talk about something a little bit different – animation! After all, I created this blog in order to bring more attention to animation in general, especially in slots, so it only makes sense that from time to time I talk about animation’s other forms, right? Well, just this once, I’d love to take a look at animated movies in order to share something peculiar I’ve noticed. Well, a few things really – first, animation in cinema seems to have its ups and its downs, and second, we’re absolutely enjoying one of the best ups ever right now.
Now, let me make it very clear that I’m no historian. Just because I study animation that doesn’t mean I know too much about animation history, so I’ll mostly be referring to Disney movies here in favor of others. For many, Disney is synonymous with animation, and while that’s not entirely true objectively, I think I can illustrate my point best by using Disney movies as examples. We all good? Okay, let’s start all the way back in 1937, with the release of the first major animated motion picture, which is none other than “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves”. This sparked the very first peak in animation, which continued for about five years and saw the release of “Pinocchio”, “Fantasia”, “Dumbo” and “Bambi”, which I’m sure you’d agree are among the finest animated movies ever made. However, can you name just one Disney movie released between 1942 and 1950? Just one? That is because during that period Disney made musicals such as “Saludos Amigos” and “Make Mine Music”. Yeah, it was a down time for animation.
But then things picked up again, and for a while, too! All the way until 1977, we’ve seen some amazing classics like “Cinderella”, “Peter Pan”, “Sleeping Beauty” and “101 Dalmatians”… But then in 1977 “The Rescuers” came out, and Disney couldn’t come up with a good movie right up until 1991! Technically “The Little Mermaid” came out in 1989, but personally I don’t regard that as a good movie. I can keep going on and on, but my point is that for every few years of great animation we also get a few years of not so great animation. Again – the same holds true for other companies, such as Warner Bros. and Dreamworks, but using Disney is the easiest way to illustrate it.
And what about now? Well, after some really disappointing stuff during the 2000s, it appears that animation has not only peaked – it’s skyrocketed straight into a golden age! In only the last 5-6 years or so we’ve had “Inside Out”, “How to Train your Dragon”, “Frozen”, “Zootopia”, “Song of the Sea”, “Tangled”, “Despicable Me”, “The LEGO Movie” and so many more! And they’re not only good – they’re great! “Zootopia” and “Inside Out” both have a 99% approval rating on review aggregator site “Rotten Tomatoes”, which is not only spectacular for an animated movie – it’s amazing for any movie, period! Right now, we’re seeing some of the greatest animated movies ever made! And yeah, of course we should be incredibly happy about this, but the question remains – how long will this animation golden age last for before the inevitable fall?