Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Here Today ...

... and a memory tomorrow.

Disney Interactive Studios has closed its Vancouver, Canada-based game development studio Propaganda Games ... The Canadian studio had been hit with a round of layoffs last October, after Disney cancelled Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned ... Disney has sold only 190,755 copies [of "Tron: Legacy."] ...

And so it goes.

In the 1990s, the Mouse opened two television animation studios in Canada -- one in Vancouver and another in Toronto. They employed talented, hard-working artists, they did good work. And they didn't last. Canadian-based Disney studios spring up and disappear like mushrooms.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

How is Pixar Canada doing?

The only news I've heard is that they are not making friends with their neighbours:
http://pixarblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/exclusive-pixar-expanding-vancouver.html

Anonymous said...

Disney thought they could get away with their mantra "We're Disney" and didn't want to pay the artists at the same level they were getting at other studios around town so no one wanted to work for them. And the "We're Disney" mantra grew tiresome. If you look at much of their Disney Channel outlook, even Disney didn't believe it any longer...

Anonymous said...

Pixar Vancouver will probably last as long as the extravagant Canadian subsidies hold out. As soon as the Canadian citizens tire of subsidizing American companies, we'll see a mass exodus.

Anonymous said...

And with the cdn dollar being at par ($1 =$1) there is no "weaker" currency advantage ,

Anonymous said...

Tron may be a flop VG, but Epic Mickey's sold over 1.4 million copies. Talk about the mouse that roared...

Sheriff Woody said...

Yeah, Disney should buy a company like Valve or Naughty Dog. These are companies with a proven track record of making compelling and interesting titles. Propaganda? Eh, decent programers, but they weren't setting the world on fire.

If Iger wants to play with the big boys, he'd better hire a few of them. Right now, most of their bench are middling at best.

Anonymous said...

epic mickey is an incredibly ugly, juvenile, and badly designed game. But little kids are buying it in droves.

Anonymous said...

I love Epic Mickey, and I'm no kid. It is not "incredibly ugly", it's visually amazing, plus has a great story. Disney should make a film out of it.

Anonymous said...

I loved Epic Mickey but I'll admit the graphics aren't always awesome, though it's by no means ugly. You're right about kids buying it in droves but dead wrong about it being remotely juvenile, 9:35 anonymous person man. If you read the reviews on Amazon or TRU the game is terrifying small children (and doing so intentionally). It's also a descendant of the much beloved Super Mario 64/Banjo Kazooie school of game design.

If they addressed the main problems in a sequel (more levels, better camera, voice acting, allowance for backtracking)it would be amazing, even if running off the same engine. My only serious grip with the game is you only have one shot to pull off 50% of the quests and I would have liked the levels to be bigger to make it feel more like Disneyland.

I hope its sales spur Oswald to officially re-enter the Mickey family via the Clubhouse show, or at least start showing up as a plushy at Disney Stores. Little guy deserves it.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry but it's not 1995.Crappy camera issues in a game is not acceptable.

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