Are they out there? Will the world produce another like these 2? Has it already?
Surely John Lasseter qualifies. A lot of folks would argue that Spielberg might already have the title.
I would put Brad Bird half a step below Lasseter, but not for any artistic “failures”.
BTW: Netflix has a doco: “I Am Big Bird–the Caroll Spinney Story.” Put down what you’re doing right now and go watch it.
Shigeru Miyamoto. I’d think Mario, Zelda, et al have at least as much of the publics mindshare as Kermit and Big Bird.
How about Pendleton Ward?
The thing about Disney or Henson is that the mere mention of their name conjures up a vast beloved multimedia entertainment empire. They’re known not just for the work they personally did but for the work they inspired.
Of the names mentioned so far in this thread, Spielberg is the only one who might have that kind of name recognition, but I think George Lucas comes closer to having the same kind of cultural status.
Apologies, the Big Bird doco is on Amazon Prime. What are you waiting for?
Maybe Hayao Miyazaki then?
What about Nick Park of Aardman Animations?
Hayao Miyazaki
Dean DeBlois
Chris Columbus
I think John Lasseter is an excellent successor to Walt Disney. The way he manages Disney’s and Pixar’s Animation Studios is most certainly in the same spirit, a huge improvement over people like Eisner, Katzenberg, or Iger, who were/are money guys, or Thomas Schumacher, who was a Theatre guy (he fit in well with the very theatre musical-ish Disney features of the 90s).
But as for Jim Henson, there’s nobody who has had the same impact he did. Most of the uniquely creative types haven’t reached the same heights. Tim Burton remains weird and marginal. George Lucas never really knew what he was doing. Spielberg had a different angle. I guess the closest I can think of who has gone from a small start to a big influence is Seth McFarlane, but his output is too adult and, in my opinion at least, too unpleasant to compare with Jim Henson’s whimsical genius.
I think entertainment is too fragmented these days for a single voice to be heard in the same way, and it will be unlikely we’ll ever have someone who will have the same cultural impact as Jim Henson anytime soon.
I really think this is the best answer. John Lasseter is a good answer for “next Disney,” in the sense of “really, really big name in animation,” but he’s never going to be as big as Walt Disney simply because Walt Disney was there first. The artform is never going to be out from under his shadow. In video games, it’s Miyamoto who is casting that shadow.
I love Nick Park’s stuff, but I’m still annoyed that Will Vinton didn’t get enough recognition for doing the same thing with Plasticine much earlier. I think The Adventures of Mark Twain is superb, and I love his other stuff. But outside of The California Raisins and The Domino Noid, I don’t think most people even knew about his stuff (Even though he did the effects for Disney’s Return to Oz and Captain EO).
Actually, I’m annoyed that Aardman Animation isn’t getting enough recognition. Their stuff is coming out at rare intervals and not making as big a splash as you’d think. Sean the Sheep and The Pirates came and went without making much of a ripple, excellent though they were. They’re getting more recognition that Vinton, but nowhere near the league of a Disney.
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink]
The thing about Disney or Henson is that the mere mention of their name conjures up a vast beloved multimedia entertainment empire. They’re known not just for the work they personally did but for the work they inspired.
[/QUOTE]
Stan Lee?
I’m not sure I precisely understand even why Disney and Henson are mentioned together in the OP. I have enormous respect for Jim Henson and I love, love, love his work, but the Muppets franchise and his work on Sesame Street isn’t one zillionth as important as Disney. The “toy Story” trilogy made several times more money than all the Muppet movies combined (there have been eight.)
As the Muppets aren’t a (primarily) animated thing I’m not even sure what the OP is looking for. As has been said, logically George Lucas can by some measures already be considered far more important than Henson if the category is a broad “people who started popular, largely family-friendly entertainment brands.”
I thought of him. I decided against suggesting him on the grounds that he’s too old to be the “next Disney or Henson.”
Me. I’ve been training some of Skald’s old attack bees. Soon I will change my name to Brisby and open my own theme park!
No one.
The thing that Disney and Henson did (and why they’re mentioned in the same OP) is create something wholly unique, became the best at it, and now there’s no real new ground to break anymore in those fields.
Disney didn’t make the first animated movie ever (probably) but he was the first one to create an empire behind it, and he didn’t make the first amusement park ever (probably) but he created the blueprint for how one is to be made/managed…and married it with the empire he already created. Disney isn’t just animation or theme parks, but he created the base to make it all happen.
Henson didn’t create puppets (probably), but he was the first to take puppets to a non-creepy mainstream and create the blueprint for which all future puppets are compared to.
I don’t know what else in entertainment there is to tackle that can grow so large, and be so ubiquitous that someone can invent/perfect it, lead the way with it, become an empire with it, and then have it live looooong after they’re gone.
I think Miyamoto is the closest, but he isn’t “next”, he’s already here.
Given that Sesame Street is being produced in a few dozen different countries, and is subsequently [del]brainwashing[/del] teaching hundreds of millions of children about life and being a good person, on a daily basis, I think it’s fair to say that Henson’s reach is pretty far.
Agreed.