Disney Animation Flops: Then and Now

There are Disney hits, and there are Disney films that are flops... If you're completely new to box office, film history, and even The Walt Disney Company's own history... This may come as a big shock to you. A good number of the most iconic Disney animated features were flops upon their respective initial releases... …

THE BLACK CAULDRON’s Brief Re-issue

The history of The Walt Disney Company is filled to the brim with stories. There are plenty of well-known stories regarding their animated features, their live-action endeavors, the theme parks, the cartoon shorts, and several other works of media that they put out. Today, I'm going to talk about The Black Cauldron... Again... The Black Cauldron …

The Typography of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase 3 & 4

Phase Three marks an era of change for the Marvel Cinematic Universe... For one, by the time Phase Three's first film - 2016's Captain America: Civil War - was in full production, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was able to break the production company off from Marvel Entertainment. Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter infamously cut corners, …

The Typography of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase 1 & 2

I wasn't sure whether I would make a series examining the logos of the ever-expanding, massively successful Marvel Cinematic Universe. Having already done Pixar, and now covering the library of Disney animated features, I wasn't sure if tackling Marvel logos would be worth it. For one, these films are newer and more contemporary, lots has …

The Typography of Disney Animation Logos #10: Transitional Features

Now we work our way through the mid-1980s, and closer towards Disney's rebirth... Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio Fantasia Dumbo and Bambi Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, and Make Mine Music Fun & Fancy Free, Melody Time, and The Adventures of the Ichabod and Mr. Toad Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter …

The Typography of Disney Animation Logos #9: The Bronze Age Continued

Next up are a set of films that comprise the late 1970s and early 1980s... By this point in time, Disney animated features took longer to ready. A new film would arrive every 3-4 years. Of course, this was still an age where home video was just beginning to become a thing. Home video wouldn't …

Literally Animation…

Imagine that... A trailer for an upcoming Disney sequel has me thinking about animation in general. What else is new? Trailers can be funny beasts... They can present a movie in a way that's so different from the tone of the finished product. Animated movies can certainly be an example of this. It's always quite …

The Typography of Disney Animation Logos #6: The Early-to-Mid ’50s

After years of anthology features and saving on money, Walt Disney finally took the big gamble... A new, single-story, feature-length animated film. It was released at the beginning of the new decade, the 1950s... Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio Fantasia Dumbo and Bambi Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, and Make Mine Music …

Disney Snobbery

Sometimes, being the kind of Disney "fan" I am is full of contradictions... Cliche as it is to say, the work of The Walt Disney Company has millions and millions of fans, and not everybody is going to view that massive, gargantuan body of work the same way. That is obvious, isn't it? Even when …

Spider-Reversal

Is Sony Pictures Animation's 2018 multidimensional superhero masterpiece a reversal of feature animation trends that have been brewing since the dawn of computer animated features? Is it, in fact, a reversal of what's been going on with the features end of the medium since the end of animation's first Golden Age? I think it's a …