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Walt Disney Logo Variations from 1985 – 2014

The Walt Disney logo evolves over the past three decades

Walt Disney Logo: Ethan Jones has created an amazing compilation video of Walt Disney Pictures‘ various animated logo openings featured in their films over the past three decades. According to Jones, the 1985 animated film The Black Cauldron was the first to showcase a modified version of the intro logo with animated variations of the logo initiated by Toy Story in 1995. Although in 1989 and 1990, Disney began to use digital ink-and-paint animation via CAPS (Computer Animation Production System), the Walt Disney logo (along with Disney-produced animated programs made for TV) still used traditional cel animation, with two computerised variants introduced in 1995 and 2002. Even after 1995, Disney still used production cels painted by hand throughout the late 1990s and into the mid-2000s. They last used the production cels for the Walt Disney logo in a theatrical trailer for the 2005 movie Chicken Little. The hand-painted cels looked pretty outdated and cheap by this time. In 2006, Walt Disney Pictures started using a new intro with a new CGI animation containing a very complex depiction of the Cinderella Castle and its surroundings. It was a clear change from the old blue and white intro with its stylised castle and 2D animation. The new intro was first used on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, which premiered in the United States on July 7, 2006. The first Pixar movie to feature this logo was WALL-E. Starting with the release of The Muppets, the words ‘Walt’ and ‘Pictures’ have been removed from the theatrical logo, which was shortened to ‘Disney’. This was used before 2011 as the on-screen logo for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment starting in 2007. This video concludes a great journey through history with the 2014 film Into the Woods with Disney always seeming to add a little something extra to the Walt Disney logo to fit the film being watched. Walt Disney Pictures, Inc. is a film production company and division of The Walt Disney Studios, owned by The Walt Disney Company. The division is based at the Walt Disney Studios and is the main producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios unit. It took on its current name in 1983. Today, in conjunction with the other units of The Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney Pictures is classified as one of Hollywood’s “Big Six” film studios. Nearly all of Walt Disney Pictures’ releases are distributed theatrically by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, through home media platforms via Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and through television syndication by Disney–ABC Domestic Television. Check out this fantastic video below – it’s long but well worth watching!

Walt Disney & the MultiPlane Camera

Walt Disney was inventing the future of animation

Walt Disney: We have seen different techniques imagined by Walt Disney to help his animators create masterpieces, like the rotoscoping technique or the use of simple mirrors. But to invent the future of animation, Walt Disney was often at the forefront, as shown in this video filmed in 1957 explaining the principle of the MultiPlane Camera which allowed animators to create depth effects never seen before at the time. Walt Disney (1901-1966) was an American business magnate, cartoonist, animator, voice actor, and film producer. As a prominent figure within the American animation industry and throughout the world, he is regarded as a cultural icon, known for his influence and contributions to entertainment during the twentieth century. As a Hollywood business mogul, he and his brother Roy O. Disney co-founded The Walt Disney Company. As an animator and entrepreneur, Walt Disney was particularly noted as a filmmaker and a popular showman, as well as an innovator in animation and theme park design. He and his staff created numerous fictional characters including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy. Walt Disney himself was the original voice for Mickey. During his lifetime, he received four honorary Academy Awards and won 22 Academy Awards from a total of 59 nominations, including a record of four in one year, giving him more awards and nominations than any other individual in history. Walt Disney also won seven Emmy Awards and gave his name to the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort theme parks in the U.S., as well as the international resorts, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland. Walt Disney died on December 15, 1966, from lung cancer in Burbank, California. He left behind a vast legacy, including numerous animated shorts and feature films produced during his lifetime; the company, parks, an animation studio that bear his name; and the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). You can jump directly to 3:23 for the MultiPlane Camera demonstration. Enjoy!