Tuesday, May 1st, 2012. Week in Animation Review: Disney and Titmouse, Sitting in a Tree!

I've watched episode 1, the Premiere Ep of Motorcity 3 times so far. It's the future of American animation! Powerful, intense, loud, heavy, and Black As Hell. Just as good as Invader Zim and Megas XLR, and Avatar, and Boondocks, maybe even a lot better. Who knew American animation could be so visually powerful in terms of stylized design. The only shows that can really rival Motorcity, visually, are Tron: Uprising ("Coming Soon"), Spawn, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Japan not included in this equation. When the characters of Motorcity are driving their cars, there is a certain kind of extreme digital foreshortening used that I've never seen used before. The crew of Motorcity, in particular, Creator, Writer, and Executive Producer Chris Prynoski, who I spoke to on Twitter today (lucky me, it was an honor), is inventing entirely new techniques, types of digital and Flash animation that can be used for television, and is inventing an entirely new type of production process for cinematic AND TV animation for television that I've never seen before. Motorcity, is Disney returning to its roots as an innovative leader in animation production worldwide with shows like Motorcity and Tron: Uprising. It's clearly doing things with animation that are returning the company to a player in the innovation game of animation, something it's always done in Feature films, but hasn't done in the medium of Television, much, if ever. Clearly (as I can sense) Disney Television Animation, with sister shows Tron: Uprising and Motorcity, is doing something with animation it's probably secretly wanted to do for a long time, which is: "Bring back the quality to their animation". Well, that and do a science-fantasy and science-fiction genre series with a lot of Blade Runner style architecture, traffic line design, and spotted blacks. You'll notice Disney hasn't done much science-fiction until just now. Not of Blade Runner Warner Brothers caliber yet anyway. But I can definitely see that as the one form of genre Disney's always wanted to do well, but never got around to, maybe because no other potential SF films look this good. I'm a fan of Walt Disney the person, and I'm no channeler of thoughts from the deceased, and I don't know what a guy like John Lasseter's opinion is on this, but I suspect even he might agree, if Walt Disney the Person was alive today, even though he primarily made animation paying tribute to C.S. Lewis (out of other candidates like Tolkien and Philip K Dick, which is more historically Japanese and TV territory in animation history) and if Disney were to be alive past the 60s and watch the films of Star Wars and Blade Runner, I'm sure he'd personally approve of shows like Motorcity and Tron: Uprising. He'd also approve of stuff like The Nightmare Before Christmas,  Pulp Fiction, and The Sixth Sense (all produced by Disney related subsidiaries, I might add. Seeing a pattern emerge here). All as Black and Noirish or Expressionist or horror based as the midnight sky, all masterpieces of exactly what Walt Disney stood for in his lifetime: Art. Just cuz it's a black backdrop doesn't mean Disney the Filmmaker wouldn't approve, especially in the last 3 decades. They partially have Titmouse (who's also worked with Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, and Nickelodeon) to thank for this one on Motorcity at least.  But since Disney's the producer, I suppose I could do them the favor of giving Disney the benefit of the doubt and including them in the Titmouse equation. Disney liked art, and Gothic and Dystopian and SF Epics like Akira are exactly what Disney WOULD do if he were still making films and TV, NOT rainbow striped pre-school shows. But still, what's going on with Disney Television Animation and the two aforementioned shows are exactly what Disney should be. You're welcome, John Lasseter. In the 1960s, if you look at Batman's first TV Series with Adam West, clearly if Disney was alive at that time he got the wrong impression of Batman (Codename Batman). He didn't have the pleasure of surviving long enough to see Bruce Timm, Frank Miller's, Greg Capullo, Jim Lee's, Todd McFarlane's, and Tim Burton's gothic-noir-expressionist visions of  Batman, which are beautiful and progressive. He would have definitely approved. But when Batman debuted on TV, it was WAY too Disney. Now Disney is way "too" Batman. But you can NEVER be TOO Batman. Batman is Japanese level cool to American viewers and readers. Ask any American who's cool and you'll see. In the 60s, Batman was too Disney. In the New Millenium, Disney is pure Batman. See how things suddenly reversed. But the latter works. The former ("Batman Doing Disney") doesn't. Disney films weren't gritty, but that's because Bruce Timm and Erik Radomski weren't born or old enough yet to show Disney that animation SHOULD be gritty. He makes quite the persuasive argument.