*POOF* There goes another animation studio

[daber]

SYDNEY (AP)--Walt Disney Co. (DIS) said Tuesday it will close its Sydney animation production studio next year, with the loss of about 250 jobs.

"It is with regret that DisneyToon Studios has decided to close their animation production facility in Sydney in mid-2006," the company said in a statement.

"This closure is a business decision due in large part to the changing creative climate and economic environment in which DisneyToon Studios requires more flexibility to choose the most appropriate and efficient animation process, " the company added.

Staff were told of the decision Monday when all employees were briefed by General Manager Philip Oakes.

DisneyToon Studios Australia started life in 1988 working mostly on television cartoons, such as "Winnie the Pooh," "Darkwing Duck," and "Duck Daze" but later graduated to work on animated movies such as "Return to Neverland," the 2002 sequel to the 1953 Disney classic "Peter Pan".

 

[tjkraz]

Guess someone at Disney was reading the "No more sequels" thread...

 

[Above_the_Rim]

The disney Toon Studio in Australia is closing, I dont know if anyone already was aware of this but it's happening. But traditional animation and sequels most likely will still be done at Disney, just now they'll be produced at countries which probably dont even speak english. Because you see George Bush decided to make it legal for large companies to open Sweat Shops in other countries, or if you want to be a bit nicer he allowed out sourcing. So now Disney will be able to produce cheap animation for basically no cost, and traditional animators won't only be lost in the USA but now also in Australia. (Oddly it seems like a democratic office could save Disney.) Animation at Disney used to be something so much more sacred, now it's just a product beaten to death and not cared about....

 

[Above_the_Rim]

lol, I accidently made a post on the same thing without seeing this one already here, sorry about that... but yeah, in my post I siad that they'll just outsource the sequel animation and all to other countries. But that's just what Jim Hill said, I heard another source say that this means pretty much they're done with hand drawn animation and cheapquels (and besides, they dont have any other stuidos opened.) The reason why they closed was becuase the Walt Disney Co. wasn't going to need them as much in the future, so maybe Robert Iger is actually trying to bring some dignity back to the company and made a decision to stop the sequels and low budget animation. Or maybe Roy Disney actually was able to make some impact from his Consultant position. But only time will tell for sure, and either way it is sad that 250 people lost their jobs...

 

[tjkraz]

...so maybe Robert Iger is actually trying to bring some dignity back to the company and made a decision to stop the sequels and low budget animation. Or maybe Roy Disney actually was able to make some impact from his Consultant position. But only time will tell for sure, and either way it is sad that 250 people lost their jobs...

Well, I don't really believe that to be true. In the minds of some it may tarnish the "Disney" name, but I've still got a 2 year old that only wants to watch her "Princess" DVDs before bed every night. She could care less about the quality.

Realistically, if you can do a job for "X" cost or 1/2 of "X" with equal quality, you choose 1/2 of "X". Jim Hill's column indicated that these studios in Taipei and Manilla have already done work for Disney. And I can honestly say that I couldn't differentiate the quality between Bambi 2 (Austrailia) vs. Tarzan 2 (elsewhere.)

The fact that 250-300 animators in Austrailia are losing their jobs is sad. But it also means job growth elsewhere--albeit at a lower wage scale. Jobs go to the lowest bidder all the time. It's the way of the world...

BTW, regarding your other post, I think you're a bit misinformed with regard to the tax breaks for moving jobs overseas. Those laws have been on the books for decades...through both Republican and Democratic administrations.

Source: http://www.factcheck.org/article225.html

 

[TheDogbots]

Way to bring politics into something that has nothing to do with them at all. out sourcing has been going on for a LONG time... and through both democratic and republican eras.... this is just silly. Sad that people lose their jobs, but you can't blame it on national politics in the US. Blame it on disney wanting to make more money. which by the way, they are entitled to....

 

[pouncingpluto]

So, what studios are left, and are any of them doing more traditional animation? (By which I mean animation that looks like Lion King rather than Chicken Little.)

 

[Sarangel]

I'm going to combine this with the other thread on the studio closure.

Sarangel

 

[Amor4Pooh]

on the news sometime ago ( and I posted on it as soon as I saw it.) that Disney had sealed a deal with India. If I remember correctly, it was for, guess what, an ANIMATION STUDIO. (and theme park so I hear in the future). If anyone else has the specifics on this- let us know. It stands to reason that if they inked that deal a while ago, it would be about time to start shutting down the "more costly" animation studios elsewhere, wiht their current cost cutting moves to shut down their studios in more "expensive" countries. Maybe next they'll be making them in Korea just like like many of the other animation companies.
Amor4Pooh

 

[Above_the_Rim]

on the news sometime ago ( and I posted on it as soon as I saw it.) that Disney had sealed a deal with India. If I remember correctly, it was for, guess what, an ANIMATION STUDIO. (and theme park so I hear in the future). If anyone else has the specifics on this- let us know. It stands to reason that if they inked that deal a while ago, it would be about time to start shutting down the "more costly" animation studios elsewhere, wiht their current cost cutting moves to shut down their studios in more "expensive" countries. Maybe next they'll be making them in Korea just like like many of the other animation companies.
Amor4Pooh

I looked on Google News Gathering and couldn't find any articles like that... But I did find out that Disney didn't close their Calling Center to outsource it to India, but just to move it to the web... But anyways, as of right now Disney doesn't have any more cheapquels planned beyond Brother Bear 2 and then Cinderella 3. But we'll see