Disney Animation has been a part of many people’s early lives for over 75 years. Very few people believed that Walt Disney would succeed with his first feature length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but he did, and his company created a new way of thinking about animated movies. For decades after, the animation department at The Walt Disney Company kept big hit after big hit coming, with a decline in success in the mid-70s. But starting with The Little Mermaid in 1989, the Disney Renaissance brought us some of the greatest animated movies (and arguably best movies in general) ever. And now, with successes like Tangled, Frozen, and Big Hero 6, Disney animation has arguably entered a second Renaissance, creating movies that can please old and new Disney fans alike.
But in the late 90s, a new animation studio started to challenge Disney’s reign as the undisputed king of animated films: DreamWorks. It took a little while, but now some people will argue that DreamWorks has reached the same caliber as Disney animated films. Movies like Antz, Shrek (and its sequels), the How to Train Your Dragon films, the Madagascar movies, and others, are receiving much of the same praise as Disney animated films.
This, of course, begs an obvious question. Which studio is better: DreamWorks Animation or Disney Animation?
Continue reading “Disney and DreamWorks: The Constant Struggle”