How has Disney handled Marvel Animation?

[The Overlord]

Its been over a decade since Disney took over Marvel Entertainment, how well do you think Disney has done in handling Marvel animation since the buyout?

 

[Frontier]

I guess if I had to sum it up...quantity and brand cohesion over quality?

Because on the one hand we've gotten Spider-Man, Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Hulk cartoons (two for Spider-Man) but the quality of the animation and writing for the shows has been massively inconsistent, and at times it felt like the cartoons were only around as means of promoting or serving as extensions of the movies.

That's not to say we haven't gotten unique and memorable animations like the Rocket/Groot and Ant-Man short series, or Marvel Rising, but those standout more then some of the content in their "main" cartoons in my opinion.

 

[Action!]

I think its bad IMO.

 

[bigdaddy313]

Simple answer Disney handled Marvel animation studios simply by doing nothing and just providing a network for Marvel Entertainment to show their products. Moon girl and Devil Dinosaur will be the first full length series Disney officially touches with the Marvel Logo.

 

[Awest66]

Well all Disney has done is provide a network for Marvel to air their shows but Marvel itself has done a pretty mediocre job in my opinion.

 

[Mostezli]

Wished they got more involved like they were with Power Rangers, but creatively speaking that's on Marvel Animation not picking the right staff to helm these shows. Ultimate Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy seemed to have been prioritized heavily where you can see the money on the screen as the phrase goes. After MoA left, they must have gotten even less money to make Spider-Man and Rising work.

I would love to be more invested on the upcoming streaming slate, but it looks like Sony just took any remaining interest I have for Marvel animation (also wished they had tv rights again).

 

[thisguyisnotcool]

Hard to say how much Disney actually puts into Marvel animation. Marvel animation has been more mediocre than out right bad or excellent. Guess we’ll see with Moon Girl. I say this: the scheduling of Marvel’s Spider-Man has been horrible

 

[SweetShop209]

I say this: the scheduling of Marvel’s Spider-Man has been horrible

To be fair, the scheduling of every Marvel cartoon starting with Avengers Assemble has been very wonky. This also extends to Big Hero 6 The Series even if it's handled solely by Disney Television Animation.

 

[Rick Jones]

It's weird but Disney partnering with Marvel to make animation was something I would daydream about as a kid. I was an intense fanboy for both in the 90s and I'm not sure why I thought they would click but it just seemed right. The first thought I had when I saw the trailer for Tarzan was "If they could do that with Tarzan, what would they do with Spider-Man?" I always thought being connected to THE major animation studio would be what pushed Marvel animation to the next level of greatness. Being with Warner Bros. took DC from Super Friends to Batman - The Animated Series, so how much crazier would it be to see Marvel go from X-Men to something on the level of a Disney animated feature?

The actual reality has been kind of a letdown. When Disney bought Marvel, I don't think I had quite as lofty dreams about it as I did 15 years earlier but I thought that some kind of major animation boost should be a given. I didn't expect Disney Animation to be as hands off as they were after shows like Avengers and Ultimate Spider-Man, which were co-productions with outside studios, had ended . They have been mostly, completely hands off and Marvel themselves have seemed to only care about making the most disposable programs they can, which especially sucks when you consider they were making some of their longest running shows ever. These weren't the days where you would see guys like Craig Kyle with the writers or voice actors being super passionate about what they're making anymore.

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[Freddy]

I'm one of the biggest critics of the current era of Marvel Animation you can find and I have little to nothing good to say about it, but I'm not mad at Disney about it. Like other people have already said, they seem to be completely hands off on Marvel's creative progress (outside of some of the bigger deals like firing James Gunn against Kevin Feige's wishes) for the better or worse. When it comes to the current quality of their animated output, Marvel's fatal mistake was hiring Jeph Loeb to run their tv division and whatever you think of him as a person, he clearly does not take animation seriously and gives kids little to no credit, leading into the general dumbing down of their products and as long as the merchandise sells (and with properties like Spider-Man and Avengers, you could put out anything and they would sell) the higher-ups don't care.

The only thing I can actually blame Disney for is that they probably pushed the stunt casting of their Disney Channel sitcom stars for some of the guest roles, despite their general lack of voice acting experience or how much they suited for their respective roles (Ross Lynch as the Werewolf by Night, seriously?).

 

[Frontier]

The actual reality has been kind of a letdown. When Disney bought Marvel, I don't think I had quite as lofty dreams about it as I did 15 years earlier but I thought that some kind of major animation boost should be a given. I didn't expect Disney Animation to be as hands off as they were after shows like Avengers and Ultimate Spider-Man, which were co-productions with outside studios, had ended . They have been mostly, completely hands off and Marvel themselves have seemed to only care about making the most disposable programs they can, which especially sucks when you consider they were making some of their longest running shows ever. These weren't the days where you would see guys like Craig Kyle with the writers or voice actors being super passionate about what they're making anymore.

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The irony is not lost on me.

Maybe there's something to be said that all good Marvel cartoons die young...unless they're X-Men cartoons (and not named Wolverine and the X-Men).

 

[SweetShop209]

It's interesting how polarizing the Disney-produced era of Marvel animation is given how the Star Wars cartoons don't receive this level of polarizing reception. Though I guess it helps that each show caters to a creator's specific vision (even if all Star Wars cartoons essentially have to follow the movies).

You can see the influences of creators in Marvel cartoons in either non-Marvel cartoons, or those produced by Disney Television Animation. I mean, Ben Juwono (storyboard artist for Ultimate Spiderman) is the supervising director for Big Hero 6 The Series and is also said to be working on the Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur. Kevin Burke & Chris Doc Wyatt (who have worked in Marvel animation for over a decade now) are co-creators of Stretch Armstrong And The Flex Fighters, which many think of as a better version of Marvel's Spiderman.

I guess the lesson here is about letting creators do what they want without trying to adhere to a specific continuity.

 

[Frontier]

It's interesting how polarizing the Disney-produced era of Marvel animation is given how the Star Wars cartoons don't receive this level of polarizing reception. Though I guess it helps that each show caters to a creator's specific vision (even if all Star Wars cartoons essentially have to follow the movies).

I feel like there are similarities if we compare fans reactions to Clone Wars/Rebels to, say, Resistance.

 

[Rick Jones]

Watching the new season of Clone Wars has me so eager for a current Marvel/Disney+ series on that level. I really hope What If? delivers after this wait. Give me some premium Marvel content.

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[Pattern_Maker]

Is Disney even credited in the Marvel Cartoons? I don't remember seeing their name or logo in any of the end credits. I think I've said this before and I see that others have mentioned it in this thread, but all I've seen Disney handle from the current cartoons are merchandise and airing the shows on Disney XD and on occasion Disney Channel.

That being said, I still enjoy some of the shows Marvel Animation has made in the past years be it the ideas they expressed and the characters that I got introduced too.

When Disney first bought Marvel I didn't really care about it since I wasn't... I guess passionate about stuff like I am now. Now I would say that I hope in the future that Disney does invest more into animated Marvel projects similar to what Warner Bros. does with their DC comics animation. I know Marvel Studios is doing WHAT IF, but it would be nice to see shorts on Disney Plus similar to DC Showcase.

 

[Mostezli]

When it comes to the current quality of their animated output, Marvel's fatal mistake was hiring Jeph Loeb to run their tv division and whatever you think of him as a person, he clearly does not take animation seriously and gives kids little to no credit, leading into the general dumbing down of their products and as long as the merchandise sells (and with properties like Spider-Man and Avengers, you could put out anything and they would sell) the higher-ups don't care.

I was hesitant on bringing his name up because Stephen Wacker was not substantially better even considering just how much tighter the budgets had to be. Peter Parker and the rest of his cast developed a different brand of annoying after the high expectations raised from those origin shorts.

It's interesting how polarizing the Disney-produced era of Marvel animation is given how the Star Wars cartoons don't receive this level of polarizing reception. Though I guess it helps that each show caters to a creator's specific vision (even if all Star Wars cartoons essentially have to follow the movies).

The content is genuinely that off from what was made prior to,
but imho not that far off from the Fox Kids era of Marvel animation.

As for going from The Clone Wars to Rebels, people hopped off the wagon after seeing the cheaper look, conservative premise, new characters, and new setting. The fact that Dave Feloni was still a co-creator and that familiar TCW characters and plot-lines converged into this show, meant that strong following would be retained if not regained. Resistance, on the other hand, made Clone Wars getting another revival but for Disney's exclusive streaming service that much more valuable.

You can see the influences of creators in Marvel cartoons in either non-Marvel cartoons, or those produced by Disney Television Animation. I mean, Ben Juwono (storyboard artist for Ultimate Spiderman) is the supervising director for Big Hero 6 The Series and is also said to be working on the Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur. Kevin Burke & Chris Doc Wyatt (who have worked in Marvel animation for over a decade now) are co-creators of Stretch Armstrong And The Flex Fighters, which many think of as a better version of Marvel's Spiderman.

Both Big Hero 6 and Stretch Armstrong are also done by fan-favorite creators. Having Burke & Wyatt develop alongside THE Victor Cook was a lightning strike in a bottle as much as those two are excellent writers.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

With the exceptions of EMH and Big Hero 6, they haven't handled them well.

 

[The Overlord]

Ironically I think Marvel's animation output right before and right after the Disney buy out is better than the stuff Marvel made since Disney solidified its take over of Marvel:

There were the Liongates direct to video movies from 2006 to 2011 (maybe hit or miss, but at least they were trying), Specultar Spider-Man, Wolverine and the X-Men, Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes, which were all pretty good.

Nowadays Marvel cartoon series (Avengers Assemble, Guardians of the Galaxy, the 2 recent Spider-Man cartoons) are mediocre to bad, only Big Hero Six (the movie and the TV show) are really good.

 

[Frontier]

Ironically I think Marvel's animation output right before and right after the Disney buy out is better than the stuff Marvel made since Disney solidified its take over of Marvel:

There were the Liongates direct to video movies from 2006 to 2011 (maybe hit or miss, but at least they were trying), Specultar Spider-Man, Wolverine and the X-Men, Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes, which were all pretty good.

Nowadays Marvel cartoon series (Avengers Assemble, Guardians of the Galaxy, the 2 recent Spider-Man cartoons) are mediocre to bad, only Big Hero Six (the movie and the TV show) are really good.

I think over time the shows have become more decent and solid, but never quite reaching the highs of older shows.

 

[Dsneybuf]

Does Disney or Marvel deserve the blame for none of the 2010s Marvel cartoons coming to Blu-ray in the US (and all the stumbles The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes experienced finishing its run on DVD)?