Treasure Planet, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, The Princess and the Frog. These films might not have won over the box office, but they did show off Disney's impressive 2D animation capabilities. Sadly, since 2011's Winnie the Pooh, the company has instead focused all its efforts on 3D animation.
However, this could change in the future. Disney's next movie, Wish, might be 3D but it clearly takes an influence from the classic 2D style. Speaking with The Direct, Wish co-director Chris Buck spoke about the chance to return to the 2D animation style.
"I think, absolutely [we could return to 2D]. This film was inspired, obviously, by the legacy and the 2D animation. And the look has a somewhat 2D look with the lines on the characters. We did early tests with Star as 2D. But yeah, I think we keep exploring."
This doesn't guarantee 2D animation will return and even though we may love the hand-drawn style, unless it's going to make money, it's unlikely Disney will consider pushing the 2D style in the long run.
Should Disney return to 2D animation?