Video Shows How Classic Disney Movies Recycled Animation

Even if you’ve seen all the classic Disney animated films, chances are you missed how certain scenes in some of these movies are strangely similar to moments in others. But these days, with all these films available at the click of the remote on Disney+, folks are noticing all the similarities. Now, a Twitter user named Fred Schultz has posted a side-by-side video of a moment from 1977’s The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh with one from 1967’s The Jungle Book. And you can see how the movements are basically identical. You can watch the full video comparison, which we discovered via Boing Boing, right here:

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Walt Disney changed animation forever with his early animation; one had ever seen a full-length animated film before Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. However, those movies were extremely costly at the time. Several early Disney films nearly sunk the studio due to their huge price tags. So in later years, Walt Disney Animation began to recycle as a way of cutting costs. Animation sequences from one film would wind up in another years later, but with different characters.

Video Shows How Classic Disney Movies Recycled Animation_1

Fame Focus

This practice was in use at Walt Disney Animation since the early days. But it got really egregious after Walt’s death. During the late ’60s and all the way until the ’80s, almost every major Disney animated film borrowed several shots from previous films. When the so-called “Disney Renaissance” hit in the ’90s, the practice diminished.

But it didn’t totally go away. Blowing leaves from The Lion King popped up in Pocahontas, for example. You can see an in-depth exploration of this process in the video above from the Cartoon Hangover YouTube channel. As the video points out, many animation studios do this; it’s certainly not unique to Disney. But it sure will make one look at all these various childhood favorites in a different light.

Featured Image: Fame Focus

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