The Cultural Frontline: How Disney redefined animation

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 13 October 2023

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It has been 100 years since a young animator sold his first film series, called Alice Comedies, to a distributor. Without knowing, he was starting what became one of the world’s biggest media empires. The company took his family name: Disney. The studio has led and shaped the animation industry for generations, and it’s now in the very heart of global culture. In this episode of The Cultural Frontline, we speak to animators responsible for some of Disney and Pixar’s most successful films. We also explore the creative, technological and cultural challenges Disney and the wider animation industry are facing today. Veteran animator Floyd Norman has worked with Disney since the 1950s, on films like Sleeping Beauty and The Jungle Book. His colleague Tony Bancroft was the co-director of Mulan and the creator of one of the most beloved Disney characters, Pumbaa the warthog, in The Lion King. They talk about the milestones of Disney history. Oscar-winning director Brenda Chapman reflects on the role of women on screen and in production, and talks about the inspiration for Merida, Brave’s anti-princess. Plus, Rebecca Sugar, and Frank Abney discuss how the fight for LGBTQ+ rights and the Black Lives Matter movement are changing the animation industry. Presenter: Brian Sibley Producer: Constanza Hola

Transcript

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0:00.0	LiveSless Ordinary is the podcast from the BBC World Service, bringing you
0:05.3	extraordinary personal stories from around the globe. Search for LiveSless
0:10.2	Ordinary wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
0:18.9	Hello and welcome to the documentary The Cultural Frontline from the BBC World
0:23.6	Service. I'm Brian Sibley and this is the program that explores the world we
0:27.8	live in through the work and the voices of artists. It has been one hundred
0:32.3	years since a young American animator sold his first cartoon series, known as
0:37.0	the Alice Commodities, their success represented the birth of what was to
0:41.0	become one of the world's biggest media empires. The company took his family
0:45.9	name, Disney. The company has been at the forefront of artistic and technical
0:52.0	development, the first cartoons with synchronized sound and in full color, and of
0:56.6	course, the first ever animated feature Snow White.
1:03.8	Today on The Cultural Frontline we are speaking to leading animators responsible
1:08.2	for some of Disney and Pixar's most successful films. We'll also explore the
1:14.1	creative, technological and cultural challenges that Disney and the wider
1:18.6	animation industry are facing today. Coming up from Snow White and the Seven
1:23.5	Dwarves to Brave, Brenda Chapman reflects on the portrayal of women on screen
1:28.0	and their role in production. Ariel loved the human world and was fascinated, was
1:32.7	collecting and trying to do these things. She went and saved her prince, her
1:37.4	prince didn't save her, and beauty in the beast, the same thing. She went to
1:43.1	save her father, but still it was always about ending up with with your man and
1:49.7	for Marida. She was less interested in a prince, she was more interested in what
	...

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