1991: Beauty and the Beast opens to massive critical praise and a huge box office. Making $150 million domestically and a $480 million worldwide through a strong marketing campaign and great word of mouth, it becomes the highest grossing animated film at that time and one of the top grossers of that year. The good times for Disney don't stop there, as the film, suprising even the company themselves, is nominated for 4 Oscars:
- Best Original Song: Beauty and the Beast
- Best Soundtrack
- Best Sound Design
and, most surprising, Best Picture. The film wins all but Best Sound Design, to the studios delight. This honor, never bestowed on an animated film before, leads to the studio greenlighting more 'serious' projects. Some greenlite ideas were:
-Pocahotas: a charming tale of a youg girl attempting to teach the newcomers on her land the ways of the land and, in the process, making a friend in the leader of the settlers. The concept for this film was to be a breather film, a fun little romp between one or two darker films for the studio.
- Hunchback of Notre Dame: a new concept for the studio, this was meant to be a dark, spiritually minded film. With no fun sidekicks in the original story treatment, it was designed to be a unique look at human morality and the darkness that can consume all people. Early concept art was very dark, with strong, dark colours and striking, sharply realistic designs.
- Fantasia 2: early concepts for a second Fantasia were shipped around this time, with ideas like the Twelve Dancing Princesses, the Emperor and the Nightingale and a segment of dancing fish being considered.
- Treasure Island in space: Ron Musker and John Clements, while working on thier fun comedy Aladdin (set to be the next release), presented thier 'dream project'. An adaptation of Treasure Planet with an intergalatic setting, this was considered a risky but interesting idea for the studio.
- Where The Wild Things Are: reworked from the original pitch in the late 80's, the plan was a deeply visual film interpreting the original story with little to no dialogue and a uniquely painterly style that the studio had not attempted before.
Other, less focused on pitches were Aida, Swan Lake and the Odessey.
# Ok, so there is my first part! This should be interesting, as the films could change so rapidly from what happened OTL. But I'm actually looking for some ideas for the events coming up. I want to go in the directin of darker, more intense filmss to bring at least Disney out of the animation ghetto and also, at some point, reconcile Don Bluth with Disney. Any ideas? Maybe Aladdin doesn't do well, or maybe Lion King doesn't? Or maybe the opposite, and one of them gets another Oscar for Best Picture? Maybe Warner Brothers doesnt distribute Don Bluth's Films and they get distributed by Disney, similar to Pixar. Also, what about Pixar? Please give me advise, this is my first timeine and I need support/advise!
- Best Original Song: Beauty and the Beast
- Best Soundtrack
- Best Sound Design
and, most surprising, Best Picture. The film wins all but Best Sound Design, to the studios delight. This honor, never bestowed on an animated film before, leads to the studio greenlighting more 'serious' projects. Some greenlite ideas were:
-Pocahotas: a charming tale of a youg girl attempting to teach the newcomers on her land the ways of the land and, in the process, making a friend in the leader of the settlers. The concept for this film was to be a breather film, a fun little romp between one or two darker films for the studio.
- Hunchback of Notre Dame: a new concept for the studio, this was meant to be a dark, spiritually minded film. With no fun sidekicks in the original story treatment, it was designed to be a unique look at human morality and the darkness that can consume all people. Early concept art was very dark, with strong, dark colours and striking, sharply realistic designs.
- Fantasia 2: early concepts for a second Fantasia were shipped around this time, with ideas like the Twelve Dancing Princesses, the Emperor and the Nightingale and a segment of dancing fish being considered.
- Treasure Island in space: Ron Musker and John Clements, while working on thier fun comedy Aladdin (set to be the next release), presented thier 'dream project'. An adaptation of Treasure Planet with an intergalatic setting, this was considered a risky but interesting idea for the studio.
- Where The Wild Things Are: reworked from the original pitch in the late 80's, the plan was a deeply visual film interpreting the original story with little to no dialogue and a uniquely painterly style that the studio had not attempted before.
Other, less focused on pitches were Aida, Swan Lake and the Odessey.
# Ok, so there is my first part! This should be interesting, as the films could change so rapidly from what happened OTL. But I'm actually looking for some ideas for the events coming up. I want to go in the directin of darker, more intense filmss to bring at least Disney out of the animation ghetto and also, at some point, reconcile Don Bluth with Disney. Any ideas? Maybe Aladdin doesn't do well, or maybe Lion King doesn't? Or maybe the opposite, and one of them gets another Oscar for Best Picture? Maybe Warner Brothers doesnt distribute Don Bluth's Films and they get distributed by Disney, similar to Pixar. Also, what about Pixar? Please give me advise, this is my first timeine and I need support/advise!