American Cinematographer - October 1986 - 76

can

only be told with animation," Dis¬

ney said. "The mice characters live in a
miniature world that's fun to deal with

and lends itself

readily to animation. It's
could never go to as a
human using live action."
Originally scheduled for the
summer of 1987, production began in
the fall of '84 following a four-year
period of story development by directors
a

place

you

John Musker, Ron Clements, Dave
Michener and Mattinson. The remark¬

ably short production span - half the
normally required for an animated
feature
was made possible due to ad¬
vanced capabilities of the "new genera¬
tion" of Disney animators, increased
emphasis on story development, and
recent breakthroughs in the production
process (such as video tests and com¬
puter-assisted layouts and graphics).
time

-

The Great Mouse Detective

Above: One of the

has

computer-generated
backgrounds in the

light mood, the characters are
the overall pacing and
to identify with the studio's
popular features of the '40s and '50s.
Disney's animated rebirth is a welcome
return to classically detailed drawings in
an entertaining, easy-to-watch film.
The story floated around the
studio for two years while animators
were busily wrapping up
The Black
Cauldron. The original storyboards
were shown to the new management in
September, 1984, and the official goahead was given four months later.
Even though a script existed, the story
was never put down on paper as gos¬
pel. Continual input from the animators

memorable
tone easier

dock tower
sequence.

Professor

Below:
Ratigan

and his minions
shown in

are

a more

conventional

animation

a

OtfLESS A®LEE

setting.

7

tomorrow*

-

evolved it into what it's become
It wasn't

just competitive ani¬

It

was more a

we

have

do?"

the stories

Steven Spielberg have created a world
of special effects that were once only

feels it does, with the recent summer
release of its 26th animated feature,
The Great Mouse Detective. Based on
characters from Eve Titus' popular chil¬
dren's book, "Basil of Baker Street,"
the change in title resulted from the

possible with animation," said Disney.
"So, we've had to look back at
selves and examine what it is that

our¬
we

do better than anyone else. Over the
last 10 years we've made only three

to

Evidently the studio

now

box office of Young Sherlock

poor

hope to
produce one every 12 to 18 months."
But how is this possible, con¬
sidering The Black Cauldron took four
long years to materialize frame by

Holmes.

frame?

change also may delude potential ticket
buyers into thinking the feature stars
Mickey Mouse.

animated films, and now we

"We sweat

animation

a

lot," confided

producer-director Burny Matalways was possible.

Cinematographer

to¬

younger moviegoers weren't too
hot for Holmes, even though in this
case it is a mouse - not a man - that
is a Holmes-like detective. The title

is

American

The studio deduced that

day's

tinson. "I think it

74

question of: Did

mation that made the studio suffer.
"Filmmakers such as George Lucas and

a

The Great Mouse Detective
wonderful example of a story that

October 1986

During dailies they

on

their
own worst crtics. At one point, the
entire first 20 minutes of the story reel
was rejected and reboarded because
management said the characters were
unsympathetic. Mattinson said that
when the animators got together in the
conference room and threw story ideas
onto the fable, it was like a big think
screen.

were

tank.
"This was truly an anima¬
tor's film," commented supervising ani¬
mator Hendel Butoy, "because the

characters

are

richer and

more

ing. The Black Cauldron

interest¬

consid¬
layout artist's picture,
whereas ours put emphasis on person¬
ality. The animators were turned loose
to explore any number of possibilities.
ered

more

of

was

a

As a result, we were able to have
fun with the characters - doing

more

it to
American Cinematographer - October 1986

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