Dream On Silly Dreamer
by Robert S. Jersak

Recently, I had the good fortune of attending a free screening of Dan Lund's Dream on Silly Dreamer, a live-action documentary with animated sequences, in which the demise of the Disney dream is chronicled by some of its most important, yet inconspicuous, players: the artists themselves. The project began on March 25, 2002, when then head of animation Thomas Schumacher announced that hand-drawn feature animation was finished. Lund started his camera and turned it on his co-workers. The end result is, on the surface, a simple little 40-minute independent short film--I wonder if the Disney executives who were in town for their annual meeting even gave it more than a passing glance. However, just below the surface, this film is something more. It's an intimate chapter in the continuing story of U.S. animation, a story that outlines the heart of U.S. industry, labor, art and popular culture.

Last spring Disney CEO Michael Eisner announced at the Sanford Bernstein & Co. investor's conference that, "the 2D [cel animation] business is coming to an end, just like black and white came to an end.” To many in the industry, including enthusiasts, this was a perplexing statement. At that time (and to date) Disney had released only one feature-length computer-generated film from their own production house, and that was, at its best, a break-even endeavor with a shelf life of approximately six months. How could a studio that built its billion-dollar foundation on illustration, artistry and storytelling suddenly place its future in the hands of a single medium? To put it simply, which will you be showing to your grandchildren: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or Dinosaur?

But Eisner's quote is indicative of the ignorance of animation history, even the history and art of film itself. Is the new wunderkind in town--computer-generated imagery--a genre of its own, or just another tool for expression? To Eisner, and to many in Hollywood , the question is moot. CGI is the way of the future, as though the classics are negated by the changes in technology, and the medium is the master of the artists, not the other way around.

In this world of perplexing logic and competing values is where Dream on Silly Dreamer finds itself. Artists and animators take a few moments out of their desk-clearing heartache to detail the 1980s post-Walt era: pushed out of the studio lot and off company grounds, working in trailers as the house of mouse expanded its holdings in theme parks, television networks and home video sales. When the films that this team had nurtured (Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King) began to blossom in theaters, the studio started taking notice again. A new state-of-the-art facility was built, and the artists were treated to salaries and bonuses the likes of which they had only previously imagined (not too great, though; one of the animators, during his arbitration, asked merely to earn in one year what Michael Eisner receives in one hour. Disney balked -- they couldn't afford that much).

But the attention may also have been the animators' undoing. Realizing that feature film animation had some life (dollars) left in it, the executives pounced, and soon every department was micromanaged to ensure that maximum shareholder value was squeezed out of every project. People unfamiliar with the history of Walt Disney and the art of animation were brought aboard, the vaults were raided and, well, you know the rest...Bambi 2, anyone?

Linking these interviews, and keeping the narrative in place, is a brilliant series of animated vignettes. The animator's sketchbook opens, and as the pages flip past we see the progression of destruction, from the industrious ideals of a hard-scribbling child artist, to the conveyor-belt exodus of personnel who are apparently no longer important to the company's strategic plans. Proof that the film represents more than just the tantrums of 21st century victims of outsourcing? There is incredible wit, color, style and emotion in these short animations--much more than there has been in any handful of mainstream animated films in the last ten years. The power of 2D cel animation still works just fine, thank you very much; the audience was visibly moved.

What will become of Disney in the next few years is anybody's guess. Pixar looks to cut its ties and distribute its own films in the future. Disney's second CGI feature Valiant is due in theaters in mid-April, yet the studio has yet to release a theatrical trailer in the U.S. . One wonders how Disney expects to create top-notch animation without top-notch animators, just as many middle-class families are beginning to learn that Mickey Mouse home videos are a luxury that a jobless or “transitioning” home can scarcely afford.

Dream on Silly Dreamer is a wonderful film. It's not likely to be included as a bonus feature on an upcoming direct-to-video sequel, so I urge you to see it if it makes its way to a local film festival near you. If I could have made one wish upon a star, it would have been for Lund to include a short epilogue, discussing the few ex-Disney artists who have struck out on their own to fulfill their passions through new independent studios. If these individuals can find the resources, I believe that they'll truly revolutionize the art of the medium again, and keep the magic of animation alive and in the forefront of our collective imagination. Exactly where it's been for many years … exactly where, in my humble opinion, it deserves to be.

©2005 Robert S. Jersak
CineScene