Lasseter kills Disney sequels

(Source: jimhillmedia.com)

There are many reasons why I like John Lasseter. First off, he's the #1 director in Pixar's talent pool; the guy who directed Toy Story 1 and 2, A Bug's Life, and Cars. He executive-produced such stellar fare as Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and Monsters Inc. It gets better: Lasseter also convinced Disney to distribute Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle in North America. When it comes to CGI animation in the U.S., John's the Man.

Now here's one more reason why I think John's the Man: he's been killing the unncessary sequels at Disney. You know, the direct-to-DVD dreck that the Mouse House has been peddling to make just a little more cash out of their classic franchises. Sure, a title like Aladdin: The Return of Jafar made a ton of money on the home-video market, but the fact that Robin Williams no longer voiced the Genie (thanks to some colossal greed-fueled-stupidity by Jeffrey Katzenberg) left a bad taste in people's mouths. Same with the other releases: they sold well but the hokey stories and sub-par animation tarnished the Disney brand.

As John told Fortune magazine earlier this year, about when Disney was trying to crank out a Toy Story 3 without Pixar or Lasseter, "These were the people that put out Cinderella II. We believe that the only reason to do a sequel is if you have a great story, period. It's not 'Let's just keep cranking it out.'"

And so, when Disney bought Pixar, and put Pixar management in charge of their animation department, John the Man dumped The Aristocats sequel along with a bunch of other direct-to-DVD proposals. When The Fox and the Hound 2 hits shelves in December, that'll be the last of them. For now.

Now this decision doesn't sit well with some people. Those direct-to-DVD sequels made the accountants very happy: Brother Bear 2 was one of the top-selling titles in September. But Lasseter is on a mission to bring quality storytelling back to Disney Animation, and I applaud him for it.

But how long can John the Man keep his principles as company policy? Unfortunately, it depends on how well the next round of Disney/Pixar movies (such as Ratatouille) do at the box office. Cars was one of the highlights of the 2006 summer season but it made $240 million when everyone expected it to cross the $300 million mark. And frankly, its Doc Hollywood-on-wheels storyline wasn't a patch on previous Pixar efforts like The Incredibles or Finding Nemo (two films that were stronger both artistically and financially). It's also worth noting that one of the first things Lasseter did after taking over was to start working on a revised Toy Story 3 script. If he didn't have a "great story" for that particular franchise before, I'm sure he's under pressure to come up with one now.

There are also a bunch of direct-to-DVD sequels that got greenlighted before Lasseter took over: titles like Cinderella III: A Twist in Time, and The Little Mermaid III. Both of these titles support the Disney Princesses line, which rakes in $3 billion a year. And there's the new Disney Fairies line, which gets kicked off when Tinker Bell comes out next year. Even the Platinum Edition DVD of Peter Pan is being deliberately postponed until March 6, 2007 so that the Mouse House can slap in a trailer for Tinker Bell and the Ring of Belief. Yep, artistic principles are wonderful things, but $3 billion is a serious chunk of change.

So let's stand up and applaud John the Man for trying to get some quality product into Disney's Animation department, but I suggest you also vote with your wallets. Because the only way he can keep those laudable principles in place at the Mouse House is if they make the Disney bean counters happy.

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