Disney dropping CGI?

Walt Disney recently fired director Chris Sanders (LILO & STITCH) off the upcoming film AMERICAN DOG, which was supposed to be the studio’s big 2008 release. Sanders created many of the film’s characters and wrote the script and was fired along with 150 staffers? Doesn’t sound like a Merry Christmas at The New Disney… But, according to Jim Hill Media, new Disney animation head John Lasseter didn’t ditch Sanders because he didn’t like the film. Apparently, Lasseter’s new plan for Disney is to return the studio to its 2-D, traditional route. That’s right – no more CGI-style CHICKEN LITTLEs from Disney. Sanders, who had designed his film to be a CGI feature all along and wasn’t ready to redesign his film to fit the traditional mold, then left while a new director could be brought in to do said redesign. It’s a tough break for Sanders and AMERICAN DOG but probably a smart move in the long run for Disney. Pixar, under this plan, would produce all the CGI films while Disney would produce only traditional film. That would mean that other projects in the Disney pipeline, like RAPUNZEL and THE FROG PRINCESS, could as well be transitioned into traditional style. A lot, apparently, is riding on next November’s ENCHANTED, live-action/traditional animated film, to see whether traditional animation can still be successful.