Walt Disney Animation Studios - Paris, Tokyo, Florida, California

[Neal]

This isn't another 'Dinosaur should be/shouldn't be canon debate' - it's an honest question.

People say "Dinosaur" isn't canon because it "wasn't animated in the Burbank studio!"

Except, so weren't several other Disney features.

From my understanding, the original "Walt Disney Feature Animation" (now Walt Disney Animation Studios) had several branches.

The headquarters was Burbank, at the original studio.

But, there was also a prominent division in Florida.

And a studio in Paris.

And unless I'm not mistaken, one in Tokyo.

(there may even be more, that I'm forgetting)

While the vast majority of the animated classics were done in California, "Mulan", "Lilo & Stitch", and "Brother Bear" were done in Florida.

And I heard large portions of "Tarzan" were done in Paris.

And wasn't some of "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" done in Tokyo?

Well, if that's the case, why is it that the "Secret Lab" is not canonizable, while studios in Paris, Florida, and Tokyo are?

Correct me if any of my facts are wrong - but I believe that those were the four major studios that worked on the classics, and Secret Lab was meant as a division of the Florida studio, so why is it the only one rejected?

Again, no debate intended, this is asked out of confusion and interest.

[DarthGonzo]

I believe Tokyo only worked on TV shows and direct to video features. Disney also had an animation team in Australia which mostly worked on TV shows and DTVs as well. They did do a few theatrical releases such as The Tigger Movie, A Goofy Movie (which was mostly animated in France) and Return to Neverland but Disney doesn't consider them canon.

IMHO the list of canon Disney theatrical features makes perfect sense to me, with the exception of Dinosaur. But aside from that everything that's not canon were either animated by the divisions that were originally set up for TV work or were based on TV shows. There's a fine line between canon and non-canon as far as Disney's features go.

[Neal]

I know all about DisneyToon Studios

They had many divisions:

A French division that did "A Goofy Movie"
American division did Tinker Bell" and "Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers"
Canadian division worked on "The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea"
... and a Tokyo division.

The Australian division was the headquarters and did the vast majority of the DTV films.

But I'm not talking about DisneyToon Studios. I'm talking about Walt Disney Animation Studios. It had several divisions besides the Burbank location, and because of that, I don't understand the argument "Dinosaur wasn't made in Burbank, so it's not canon" when neither was Mulan, Brother Bear, etc.

[Ishtar]

Originally Posted by Neal

But I'm not talking about DisneyToon Studios. I'm talking about Walt Disney Animation Studios. It had several divisions besides the Burbank location, and because of that, I don't understand the argument "Dinosaur wasn't made in Burbank, so it's not canon" when neither was Mulan, Brother Bear, etc.

One thing I find odd is that Rescuers Down Under is actually listed as canon, but Return to Neverland and Jungle Book 2 are not. I think it's only because Rescuers Down Under was actually produced by the official Walt Disney Feature Animation Studios and was always intended for a theatrical release. That also explains why it is arguably the best Disney sequel, since it used the effort of the official Disney Studios team. Return to Neverland and Jungle Book 2 were originally intended as DTV sequels. I heard that apparently Lion King 2: Simba's Pride was originally intended as a theatrical release, but ended up as DTV. Besides Rescuers Down Under, Fantasia 2000 is the only Disney animated sequel to be on the official Disney Animated Features canon list.

[Neal]

Actually, "The Three Caballeros" was a sequel to "Saludos Amigos".

And they're preparing an official, canon sequel to "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" for next year.

[CartoonCrazy]

Well, this movie isn't canon (considering it was released under Touchstone), but the animation in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" was animated in the UK.

[Dudley]

You forgot to mention the Australian studio. It's their most notable for its fluid animation and that is was the last studio they had overseas before it closed.
The studio in Japan, France, and Australian studiso were used for outsourcing, movies that were developed and animated inhouse, like in Burbank and Florida, are considered "canon".
Even if a few characters were animated at the other studios.

Also the overseas studios were referred to as divisions of the Television Animation Studio, with main headquarters in California. For the direct-to video sequels, the studio was called DisneyToon Studios. They handle the production of the TinkerBell movies.

[Neal]

Okay, that's some good info. but were there two studios in Japan/France?

Could the same studio doing DTVs in France like "A Goofy Movie" really have also done "Tarzan"?

[Cartoonzrule]

Wasn't some of Hercules animated in Australia? And I read that the animators on the Titans worked at the Paris studio....

[Dudley]

Originally Posted by Neal

Okay, that's some good info. but were there two studios in Japan/France?

Could the same studio doing DTVs in France like "A Goofy Movie" really have also done "Tarzan"?

I think there was only one in each country. So that's a yes to the other question.

Also, according to the DVD commentary, Lieutenant Helga from Atlantis: The Lost Empire was animated in France.

Usually when it comes to animation for the canon films, they only animated one or two characters.
As far as I know, Jane from Tarzan was the only one animated in France.

[Neal]

I thought some of the vine/branch riding/surfing scenes were done in France, as well.

And now I've seen that "A Goofy Movie" was done in France by the same studio who worked on "Hunchback" and "Tarzan" and some have made it an honorary 'canon Disney film' because of that fact.

[HG Revolution]

The official reason Dinosaur isn't canon: it uses live-action backgrounds, thus not being a fully "animated" film. Same reason why James and the Giant Peach isn't canon.

[DarthGonzo]

Originally Posted by Neal

And now I've seen that "A Goofy Movie" was done in France by the same studio who worked on "Hunchback" and "Tarzan" and some have made it an honorary 'canon Disney film' because of that fact.

That's all well and good.

But it's not. It was never intended to be anything near the class of the animated films Disney considers canon. If we're going to do that we might as well consider Ducktales the Movie honorary canon too.

[Neal]

HG Revolution - And what about the live-action in "Saludos Amigos" or "The Three Caballeros"?

DarthGonzo - I didn't say I considered it canon. I find everyone has their own version of what's acceptable and what's not.

[Hiya Animation]

Wasn't some of Hercules animated in Australia? And I read that the animators on the Titans worked at the Paris studio....

As far as I know, none of it was animated in Australia. Australia handled most of the DTV work. Their work was always high quality... too bad most of the time the DTV stories were major suckage.

Some of Hercules was animated in Paris though but the majority was done in Burbank.

[Neal]

I would agree that the animation on some of the DTV features was not bad:

Mulan II, The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, Brother Bear 2 - all stand-outs with very good animation.

[Ishtar]

Originally Posted by Neal

I would agree that the animation on some of the DTV features was not bad:

Mulan II, The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, Brother Bear 2 - all stand-outs with very good animation.

I would also include The Lion King II and even Cinderella III. Among the worst animated sequels, I'd say Hunchback II and Pocahontas II . The animation in those films are cringe worthy, especially Hunchback II.

[Neal]

And Cinderella II, except that was made-for-TV.

My worst offender: Belle's Magical World

[Ishtar]

Originally Posted by Neal

And Cinderella II, except that was made-for-TV.

My worst offender: Belle's Magical World

Sometimes I forget Belle's Magical World even exists, and for good reason...