On March 12, it was announced that Disney will close ImageMovers Digital, the performace capture film studio from Robert Zemeckis in January of next year:
I am heartbroken by this news; I know the economy is in a ever-growing sinkhole at this time, but… I don’t know, it’s just sad, really. That simple.
ImageMovers Digital will release it’s sophomore - and last - film, Mars Needs Moms, on March 11, 2011. The company had previously been reported to have a Yellow Submarine remake (which will be part of a new long-term deal of Disney with Zemeckis and his two other partners Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey), a Roger Rabbit sequel, and The Nutcracker in development.
Yes, I believe that this is the second of two special effects studios that have closed down/will close down this year – the other was C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures (the company that did animation for Disney Studios’ The Wild), which either shut down in March of this year or will be shut down shortly (according to Wikipedia).
Although I was never a fan of motion-capture animation, I do feel for the many employees who will be out of work due to this decision. People are having it hard in this day and age, especially animators, and laying off individuals certainly isn’t helping anyone.
Darn it. I had dreams about what else could come out of this studio. I was really exicted for all the movies that they said were going to come out, especially the Yellow Submarine remake. Maybe Robert Zemeckis will relocate. I hope.
As a Roger Rabbit fan I would have loved a sequel, but perhaps it’s one of those landmark films that’s better left alone. I don’t think I was that much into those motion-capture films Zemeckis made, either (probably cause they seemed like such a big departure for him from the films I was used to like Back to the Future).
From my reply to this same topic at my Beatles forum:
I heard about this a few weeks ago. I’m not sure what to think about it, really. I was never that much of a fan of mo-cap and I thought maybe Robert Zemeckis was getting a little too enthused with it, but it was making improvements. I actually like Polar Express. Then again, I was never that optimistic about this whole “let’s remake Yellow Submarine” thing in the first place. Christmas Carol left a lot to be desired, imo.
So disappointing to see an announcement of something else shutting it’s doors again this year. I’m not very big into the motion-capture, but it’s never nice to see stuff like this happen. I’m upset about Roger Rabbit, and even a little gloomy about The Nutcracker. Sad news.
