After a series of releases that didn’t quite manage to capture people’s hearts like they once did, Hoppers seems to have brought the company’s feel back. At least in the critical area. To celebrate the film’s success, director Daniel Chong showed early animation test footage from six years ago.
This short clip, from animator Lorenzo Fresta, shows Mabel following King George and “totally immerse yourself in the natural world, where sky and river are almost the same thing.” It’s a brief moment, but the art style was so captivating that it left some fans wondering why Disney is so insistent on abandoning 2D animation for good.
“If the whole movie was 2D animation, a friend could have gotten me to see it,” says a comment under Chong’s post. “I say this with all sincerity. This film looks great, but it would have looked absolutely fantastic in 2D. We need large format 2D animation back in cinemas,” said another commenter.
After the poor box office results of films like Treasure Planet and The Princess and the Frog, Disney gave up on 2D animated films. However, Pixar has always been a 3D studio, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Hoppers is embracing its 3D style. However, if the studio ever wants to make a 2D film, it seems there may be a significant audience waiting for it.
