After a string of releases that didn't quite manage to capture people's hearts in the way that Pixar films used to, it seems that Hoppers has brought the feeling of the company back. At least in the critical space, that is. Celebrating the film's success, director Daniel Chong showcased an early bit of animation test footage from six years ago.
Coming from animator Lorenzo Fresta, this short clip shows Mabel following King George and "becoming completely immersed in the natural world, where the sky and the river almost become the same thing." It's a brief moment, but the art style proved so captivating that some fans have wondered why Disney is so adamant about abandoning 2D animation for good.
"If the whole movie was 2D animation, a friend could have tricked me into seeing it," reads one comment under Chong's post. "I say this with all sincerity. This movie already looks great, but it would have looked absolutely amazing in 2D. We need large scale 2D animations back in cinemas," said another commenter.
After the bad box office performances of films like Treasure Planet and The Princess and the Frog, Disney gave up on 2D animated films. Pixar has always been a 3D studio, though, so it shouldn't surprise anyone to see Hoppers taking on its 3D style. However, if the studio did ever want to make a 2D film, it seems there could be a significant audience there waiting to see it.
