Sunday, September 7, 2014

Lion King and Beauty and the Beast Animators Veterans Team Up for 2D Animation Steampunk Movie Project "Hullabaloo"



As we know Disney Animation Studios don't do anymore 2D animated films, the last one if i'm right was Princess and the Frog - which i loved - and also eventually Paperman as short animated.  Traditional animation is such a beautiful art form that i never understood why Disney decided to stop 2D animation, specially considering that Princess and the Frog was so good. 

Anyway, there's a team of Disney veteran animators who have joined forces to create a 2D animated steampunk adventure called Hullabaloo. It will be a hand drawn animated short that they hope will turn into a web or TV series or, even better, a feature length animated movie, which would be amazing! 

Here's the synopsis of the story that revolves around two incredibly smart female inventors:

"Hullabaloo is the story of Veronica Daring, a brilliant young scientist who returns home from an elite finishing school to find her father–the eccentric inventor Jonathan Daring–missing without a trace! The only clue left behind points Veronica toward Daring Adventures, an abandoned amusement park used by her father to test his fantastical steam-powered inventions. There she discovers a strange girl named Jules, a fellow inventor who agrees to help Veronica in locating her missing father and discovering the secrets of his work.

James Lopez (The Lion King, Pocahontas, Paperman) and Rick Farmiloe (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin) are part of the animators team bringing this project to life. The project already has raised $108,000 dollars which is above their initial goal of $80,000 on Indiegogo, so hopefully we'll see this short 2D animated comes to life. Have a look at the video below presenting the project and showing clips of Hullabaloo.




Picture and video: copyright James Lopez Animation

6 comments:

Jones said...

Technically, the last one (so far) was Pooh, but that one was a very small movie, of course. Don´t know how I should feel about that Steampunk-projekt -- I love handdrawn animation (the only CG feature worth mentioning is, imo, Rapunzel, and that was essentially a 2D movie in disguise...) but I hate anything steampunk, and I think its commercial potential is very limited. (Put the flame throwers away, guys, it´s just my own personal taste!)

Jones said...

Oh, what the heck, who cares if I love or hate steampunk - I´m going to contribute...

mr.Lime said...

Disney produced one more 2D full length animated feature after The Princess and the Frog: Winnie the Pooh.

Really a shame this was their last one since both Princess and Winnie had a certain kind of classic charm which is completely missing from digital features like Rapunzel and Frozen.

Tom said...

That looks very good, it looks a bit like Atlantis! Great :)

2D "Disney" animation is the best!!!

(and oh: the last 2D Disney movie was Winnie the Pooh)

Timos H said...

It's such a shame that Disney shut down the hand-drawn animation department... Is there any hope it might be revived one day? 3D animation is spectacular and limitless as well, but 2D is what established Disney as what it is today and its boundaries are yet to be explored!

Jones said...

@mrLime: Rapunzel is really not a good example for missing charme, since it is the only CG movie that actually *has* a lot of that charm... it is, as i have said, in a way a 2D movie in disguise - the character animation, the layout, the backgrounds, the pacing - all have a very classic feel. plus Rapunzel has that certain sth that is so hard to define - appeal. Hard to describe, but you kow it´s there when everything a character does is interesting, when you just want to watch the character even if she is just standing there and thinking. And that is completely rooted in the 2D tradition.