Why did Disney use a template for so many animated scenes?

[BrandonR]

In reference to this video (which just came to my attention today, sorry if it's old news): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zL6FYxIuJlA

Why would Disney use animation templates in this manner? How much time would it really save? After all, you're still drawing different characters and backgrounds. Is animating that kind of motion really that difficult for an animator in that they would purposely just use old scenes again and again?

[friedo]

It saves you from having to do all the blocking and frame counts. If you've got a complicated dance sequence, you can just copy all the moves from Movie X to Movie Y, replicating them in other characters. You still have to draw everything, but you don't have to do all the grunt work to figure out the timings.

ETA: It's also especially useful if the thing will be set to music. If the music in both pieces is in the same time and tempo, you know the action will match the beat.

[The Hamster King]

It's interesting to note that most of the duplicates in the video come from the animated features made right after Walt's death when the studio was somewhat rudderless. Disney died during production of The Jungle Book and The Aristocats and Robin Hood were the first features made entirely without his influence.

[Jonathan Chance]

I'd have to concur with that. Other than the final but with Sleeping Beauty to Beauty and the Beast the movies referred to as templating (for lack of a better word) come from the period known as 'sucking' for Disney animated movies.

And the SB to BatB always seemed more of a homage than anything else.

[Pullet]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Chance

I'd have to concur with that. Other than the final but with Sleeping Beauty to Beauty and the Beast the movies referred to as templating (for lack of a better word) come from the period known as 'sucking' for Disney animated movies.

Have they stopped that phase then?

[friedo]

Originally Posted by Pullet

Have they stopped that phase then?

It's generally agreed that The Little Mermaid was the turning point for Disney animation and the beginning of their Renaissance.

They no longer do any traditionally animated features, though, having acquired Pixar for the purpose of making CG films.

[MetroGnome]

In some of the clips, the animation is rotoscoped (Snow White for example). I can imagine them reusing the same live-action references for reasons mentioned by friedo. So in some instances, rather than being a direct copy from one film to another, they could have just been using the same reference stock. Of course, it's still copying.

[HorseloverFat]

>How much time would it really save?

Tons. For high-quality animation like Disney produces they would most likely need to hire dancers, choreographers, film crews, etc to get several takes of various dances. These dances would later be used in the rotoscoping process.

Instead of hiring dancers and choreographers they just reused their existing stock of dancing film for rotoscoping or just as a reference. Afterall, these are just kids movies and duplicating dances really doesnt matter. It look, what, 50 or 60 years before anyone really noticed?

[Alan Smithee]

I think I'm almost as impressed with whoever put that video together as I am with the templates he discovered. The images and the music work very well together.