In which seems to be a cost-saving move, The Walt Disney Co. is closing ImageMovers Digital (its own joint venture with director Robert Zemeckis) by January 2011. What’s exactly ImageMovers Digital or IMD? Maybe some movies will refresh your mind: The Polar Express, Beowulf and Disney’s A Christmas Carol. Yup: they did all of them, using Performance Capture, better known as MoCap.
Los Angeles Times goes even deeper in that matter:
Los Angeles Times – Disney to shut ImageMovers Digital Studio
What does this means to us Roger Rabbit fans? Well, let’s see… Apparently, the upcoming Robert Zemeckis projects won’t be done through that studio, and even they’re seriously endangered. So maybe we couldn’t get that controversial “Yellow Submarine” remake… Or the much-awaited-yet-so-delayed-and-so-much-promoted Roger Rabbit sequel.
Speculators say that maybe Avatar opened Disney’s execs eyes and realized that Zemeckis’ technology was already outdated (although I personally think they were getting close to it on “A Christmas Carol”), so they decided to discard IMD and focus all their efforts --and money in another Disney ventures (likely Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios). They just needed a good excuse, and James Cameron helped them to get it.
Let’s wait to get some more news. But, again, I feel like being in the same old sinking boat. Won’t somebody think on Roger?