It’s no secret that most of geeks here at FG like our animated works. Whether it’s American or Japanese, classic or modern, Warner Bros. or Disney, short or feature-length, animation is a medium and an art form that we enjoy frequently. A good chunk of my personal DVD collection is comprised of animated movies like Beauty & The Beast, Aladdin, Ultimate Avengers, and The Incredibles, and television shows like Batman: The Animated Series, Darkwing Duck, Samurai Jack, and Gargoyles. Animation, when done well, is an incredibly beautiful medium that gives creators free reign to shine and excel.
So what if they take a few shortcuts now and then?
Anybody who grew up watching old Hannah Barbara cartoons like The Flintstones or The Jetsons can attest to the fact that sometimes animators choose to recycle something they’ve already used rather than reinvent the wheel. How many times did you watch Scooby, Shaggy, and the gang get chased by a ghoul on and off screen, in and out of doors, always running in the same formation or past the same backgrounds? How about the Superfriends, and the fact that most of the time the only thing that ever moved was their mouths (sounds a bit like Family Guy these days…)?
Well, in an apparent attempt to shatter some childhood memories, I want to point out that even Disney (that bastion of creativity and the go-to standard for excellence in animation) isn’t immune from a little recycling, either. In a recent viewing of their classic Robin Hood animated feature, I noticed that in several instances the same animation was used to show guards running after Robin and his friends, or a small group of Nottingham kids laughing at something. Apparently, though, Disney was wont to reuse various templates across multiple movies in their heydey.
I can’t blame them — it’s efficient, especially on a tight budget — but it is fascinating. In the video below, we see comparisons of films like The Jungle Book, Robin Hood, Snow White, The Aristocats, Cinderella, The Great Mouse Detective, 101 Dalmations, The Sword and the Stone, and even Beauty & The Beast where Disney has taken images created for one movie and, changing them a little, reused them for a different movie. It’s very fun and very interesting.
Thanks to Dark Roasted Blend for the heads up on this video. More on this topic from The Journal of Cartoon Over-analyzations. Other terrific images and examples here.
I had noticed slight similarities throughout my Disney movie watching, but I had not realized it was that extreme. I guess it’s sorta one of those “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” moments. lol
Wow – who’d have thought?
That was a lot of fun to watch…I’d never thought it’d be that similar!
Very interesting post. I really enjoyed the subject and the animation. The links helped fill in the gaps.
Thanks for the link to that essay on Family Guy. It helps explain why that show gets on my last nerve — especially since its return.