Disney has long been the leader of the feature animation field, but until the late 1980s its productions were not huge moneymakers. That was when its production system was updated by Pixar, who began integrating computer production techniques with traditional animation. This allowed relatively quick production, on the order of one to two years instead of four or five. The system did this by letting computers do more and more of the routine work and letting animators focus on the creative side of films.
The creative side included not only imagery but more importantly story values. This included characters and plots which were enormously appealing, not only to children who were their primary viewers but also to adults. It also included using world-class composers and musicians for films incorporating music, which was smoothly integrated into the stories rather than being seemingly arbitrarily injected into them.
The first two very successful films produced this way were The Little Mermaid then Beauty and the Beast, released in 1989 and in 1991.
Today there are two animated films which recently became available fairly inexpensively for you to enjoy. They are Moana and the short film, Piper, which won the Academy Award this year for short animation.
