Disney shuts down its animation division in the 80s

I know Disney was thinking of shutting down its animation division in the 1980s, which was probably the low point of Disney cartoons. I don't know how seriously this plan was being considered, but let's say it happened.

Obviously there's no Lion King, no Aladdin, etc. The what-ifs in regard to US animation interest me. What happens to all these veteran animators? Is Pixar created early?

Of even more interest is the intellectual property angle. Would Disney bother having the copyright term extended when it no longer cares about ever making new Mickey Mouse cartoons? By 2016, could Deviantart be awash in legal Mickey porn?

What say you, folks?
 
I can't imagine them going through with shutting down all animation. Maybe feature animation. TV and direct-to-video probably still exists, cheaper to produce in South Korea and the like.

So, no major new properties, but loads of sequels. Robin Hood 2, The Aristocats 2, etc. Maybe a series or two.

The best and the brightest either go to Pixar (which was still not quite there), or, more likely, go off to WB, or whomever else was producing feature animation.

And they'd still fight for MM - he's not even primarily about animation these days, he's still about merchandise. That's worth fighting for.
 
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