Does ‘Disney Animation’ Still Mean Anything?

Facing a creative lull, mission drift, and tough competition (so many Minions), the studio needs to figure out how to draw itself a clearer future.

No one’s in the mood to revisit Wish, the 2023 Walt Disney Animation Studios release that attempted to honor Disney’s 100th anniversary by packing in fun historical winks and instead ended up feeling like a cry for help. But in the aftermath of that flop, and with the two films on the upcoming Disney Animation slate being sequels (Moana 2 later this year and Zootopia 2 in 2025), the current moment prompted host Bilge Ebiri to ask, early in the third episode of Land of the Giants: The Disney Dilemma, “What even is a Disney movie today?”

It’s a complicated question, one that requires scrutinizing Disney as a competitive creative operation, as a brand, and as a business that contains multiple studios and IP portfolios, including more than one animation shop. Which is exactly what that new episode, “Disney Is an Animation Company,” does. Featuring interviews with Disney legends Glen Keane and Don Hahn, and former VP of Disney Animation Peter Schneider, among others, it diagnoses where things went wrong, and how — or if — they can be fixed.

You can listen to Land of the Giants: The Disney Dilemma episode three, “Disney Is an Animation Company,” below or here. For more, check out the Disney Dilemma series hub to access all the episodes plus an array of companion coverage and Disney-related features from the Vulture archive.