Original version

BBC World Service News Internet

The Cultural Frontline

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

The Cultural Frontline: where arts and news collide.

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

The Cultural Frontline: Disney 100: How a studio redefined animation

Factual

Walt Disney

14/10/2023 GMT

Disney 100: How a studio redefined animation

BBC World Service - The Cultural Frontline, Disney 100: How a studio redefined animation

Celebrating 100 years of Disney, one of the world’s biggest media empires

Celebrating 100 years of Disney, one of the world’s biggest media empires.

It has been 100 years since a young animator sold his first film series called Alice comedies to a distributor. Without knowing, he was starting what became one of the world’s biggest media empires, the company took his family name, Disney. 

The studio has led and shaped the animation industry for generations and it’s now in the very heart of global culture. In this episode of The Cultural Frontline we speak to leading animators responsible for some of Disney and Pixar’s most successful films, who have been in the room when the magic was being conjured up.

We also explore the creative, technological and cultural challenges Disney, and the wider animation industry are facing today.

Veteran animator Floyd Norman has worked with Disney since the 1950s, on films like Sleeping Beauty, and The Jungle Book. His colleague Tony Bancroft was the co-director of Mulan and the creator of one of the most beloved Disney characters; Pumbaa, the warthog in The Lion King. They come together to talk about the milestones of Disney history.

From Snow White to Brave, Oscar winning director Brenda Chapman reflects on the role of women on screen and in production and tells what was the inspiration for Merida, the iconic Brave’s anti-princess.

Plus, the creator of the first programme for children that has openly shown LGBTQ+ characters and stories, Rebecca Sugar and Frank Abney, who has worked on Disney and Pixar titles such Coco and Soul, discuss how the fight for LGBTQ+ rights and the Black Lives Matter movement are changing the animation industry.

Presenter: Brian Sibley
Producer: Constanza Hola

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Cultural Frontline

Disney 100: How a studio redefined animation

Genres

Brand

BBC World Service News Internet

About BBC World Service