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Disney Switches To Linux For Animation
EEEthan writes: "It looks like Linux is really the next big thing for movie graphics houses. The New York Times is reporting that Disney has switched over to Linux-based HP workstations for animation. Although Disney has historically been known for their hand-drawn animation, this is a big move to Linux for what might be the world's most famous producer of animated films."
We'll see more Penguins in Disney films?
So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
But Disney is still Evil Right?
"All I can tell the "lesser of two evils" folks is that if they keep voting for evil, they'll keep getting evil."-Lp.org
I've worked at Disney for over 10 years, and have never seen more than 1-2 Macintoshes.
Disney's also a heavy FREEBSD user!
See subject line
is great. I saw it in action when I went to Disney World for my honeymoon in May. I asked several questions about the software and about GNU/Linux and they seemed to be quite enthusiastic about it in general. It makes sense really. They write all of their own software, so why not have an OS that they can completely manipulate, without paying extra for the code!
Next thing we know, MS will switch their website over to Apache....
Got Rhinos?
Tom: The Movie animations were created on Linux
tom the movie
It just seems odd to me that Microsoft hasn't cobbled a Beowulf solution together yet and included it with their server OSes.
Or have they done it and I just didn't hear about it? Most of their clustering seems centered around high availability, not parallel processing.
Jon Acheson
All opinions expressed herein are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled.
Not as long as they pump out the shiny objects, they aren't!
Now that they use the Lunix, they are Double Plus Good!
The MPAA boycott is off again! WOO HOO!
Which software do they use? Obviously Gimp covers my needs way better than some Photoshop, but I doubt that they could use it.
This probably means some new commercial pro package for linux, and I wonder which.
Signature Pro version 1.13.2-3 release 83.5 beta3try7 after-breakfast edition
The Tux is such a cute friendly creature/character, I would really like to see a Disney cartoon series based on that. Maybe something based on the theme "First they ignored us, then they laughed at us, then they fought us, then we won"
"Fighting terrorists with millitary might is like killing a mosquitor on your Dad's forehead with a rifle."
If the operating system *mattered* for animation, this would be a big deal... but it doesn't. They're using Linux because it's cheaper, and because any (half-decent) operating system would function just as well for this sort of task.
Tarsnap: Online backups for the truly paranoid
uh, i think they're switching to linux to render the animation, not actually produce it. big difference
Gosh darnit, why does Slashdot post links to the New York Times if its readers are so concerned about privacy?
But I have to say this. It just proves that Disney isnt controlled by Microsoft. I love it. Microsoft puts so much pressure on alot of companies to stick with their software, or to only develop for Windows etc etc. This just shows that Microsoft has no leverage with Disney. This is well, damn good. It has made my day :).
In college, really poor, need a flatscreen.
Um. I don't have much more to say, really. Disney is the devil incarnate even if they're using Linux now.
-Russ
Me
So, they use OSS, but then they lock Mickey Mouse up through their continued efforts to lengthen copyright law and broaden the definition of trademark infringement. Until they free Mickey, I'm not applauding....
"What we have here, is a failure to communicate." - Cool Hand Luke
The right mouse doesn't really know what the left mouse is doing, does it?
I mean, does Disney's animation department have any idea of the ramifications of the legislation proposed by their government employee (Hollings)?
I guess this is good news... at least there are people within Disney who will (one expects) fight to keep their OWN TOOLS from becoming contraband.
G
This is particularly interesting since the legislation they are pushing may make Linux illegal in the United States.
instead of the proprietary Mickey Mouse solution he was running.
Having known someone who worked at Disney, I can say that using Linux does NOT mean they are moving away from hand-drawn animation. Before Linux, they were using SGI workstations. After the major scenes are hand-drawn, they are scanned into computers and post-processed to provide certain effects, such as twisting, stretching, etc. But the key art is still done by hand.
I think that sgi looses a lot customers as the free linux is really taking over the movie industry, I hope that they also understand the meaning behind open source and the copy restrictions
It looks like aluminium cases is really the next big thing for movie graphics houses. The New York Times is reporting that Disney has switched over to aluminium-based cases for their workstations. Although workstations have historically used steel cases, due to their superior strength, this is a big move to aluminium for what might be one of the world's largest purchasers of workstations.
Of course, they won't be able to watch their own movies on their computers now. Unless they use DeCSS . . .
This is all an evil plot to make me crazy. All these large companies do it (eg Disney, Sony). One division spends its time doing things that disgust me, while another part does good. Though in Disney's case I think helping to propagate linux (by using it) does not forgive them for their sins in trying to destroy linux (that sssca, crap they were behind). Guess my boycott will continue, though this news is still nice to hear.
We've already got Disney characters cavorting with Final Fantasy characters in Square's next big game... now are we going to have Tux doing Stan Lee-style cameos in Disney movies?
I suppose Tux already got cast in Fight Club, so this wouldn't be much of a stretch.
;-)
------------------------------------
Spiral out... keep going.
Disney Shifting to Linux for Film Animation
By STEVE LOHR
he Walt Disney Company, the doyen of animation studios, is joining Hollywood's embrace of a technological upstart -- the GNU Linux operating system.
Disney's animation division is announcing today that it plans to use Hewlett-Packard workstations and data-serving computers running Linux for digital animation work in the future.
The Disney move is the latest commitment by major studios and special-effects houses -- including DreamWorks SKG, Pixar Animation Studios, Industrial Light and Magic and Digital Domain -- to Linux, which is a variant of the Unix operating system that is distributed free and under terms that allow programmers to fine-tune the software.
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Movie animation is a rarefied niche market for computer technology. The studios have deep pockets, legions of technical experts and plenty of financial incentive to get just the right look and detail in movies like "Shrek" and "Monsters Inc.," since the payoff for a box-office hit can be enormous.
Yet the advance of Linux into Hollywood is a sign that a technology once viewed as part of the counterculture of computing is moving steadily into the mainstream. "Hollywood is at the leading edge of computing, and it shows what Linux can do," said Martin Fink, general manager for Hewlett-Packard's Linux systems division.
At Disney, like other studios, machines running Linux typically take the place of computers running proprietary versions of Unix, like SGI's Irix software. Not only is the Linux software free, but it runs on low-cost personal computer technology, workstations and data-serving computers powered by Intel or Advanced Micro Devices microprocessors. "For us, it's a move to less-expensive commodity technology systems," said John Carey, vice president for Walt Disney Feature Animation.
In animation, Linux made its first inroads a few years ago on the clusters of server computers used in "rendering farms," which require huge amounts of processing to render a finished image of a creature or character as it appears on movie screens.
More recently, Linux has also been used on the workstations used by animators for drawing and modeling their creations, as the leading producers of animation software have tailored their applications to run on Linux. Alias-Wavefront tweaked its Maya program to run on Linux in March 2001, after it had been approached by animation studios and special-effects houses that wanted to use the Linux technology, according to Kevin Turesky, an engineering manager at Alias-Wavefront, a software subsidiary of SGI.
Linux tends to be portrayed as an archenemy of Microsoft and its Windows operating system. In the long run, the rise of an alternative like Linux will limit Microsoft's future growth and market dominance. But in the near term, as the Hollywood experience shows, Linux is gaining at the expense of proprietary versions of Unix.
"Historically, animation has been a Unix environment," said Al Gillen, an analyst at the International Data Corporation. "And what's happening in Hollywood is that another piece of the Unix market is moving into the Linux space."
Indeed, Mr. Carey observed that adopting Linux for part of its animation was part of its migration strategy to move away from its previous "homogeneous technology environment," revolving around SGI's Irix.
The Disney commitment is the second agreement in recent months for Hewlett-Packard systems running Linux in Hollywood. In January, Hewlett-Packard announced a three-year partnership with DreamWorks involving the purchase of Hewlett computers and some joint development of technology.
Hewlett-Packard, to be sure, has a heritage of doing business with Hollywood and Disney. The first product the founders William Hewlett and David Packard sold in 1938 was to Disney, an oscillator used to help produce the rich, textured soundtrack for the animated movie "Fantasia."
What is Jon Katz's opinion of the Disney switch to Linucks.
Thanks in advance.
Enjoying some superb Amerikan grown marijuana,
Woot_spork
is this for a render farm of machines to do toon shading, or are they using them as digital workstations for doing traditional cel painting? I know that many of the cartoon type things are really done on 3d systems these days and then toon shaded - there are usually giveaways when they do very elaborate spin and pullback moves - the tv show Futurama has these types of scenes all the time.
I know many of the FX houses have renderfarms of Linux boxen, so I would presume this might be similar... I suppose I could go and read the darn article
There are some odd things afoot now, in the Villa Straylight.
and i guess for many of you disney is really really good now.
..but yesterday it was EVIL EVIL EVIL.
interesting.
Disney sponsors Hollings bill.
BOYCOTT DISNEY.
Don't buy Disney products. Don't go to DisneyWorld, Don't install Linux distributions.
it's been mentioned before, and i haven't the desire to go and look. furthermore (it's already been said) but do "we" like disney this week?
--fetch daddy's blue fright wig, i must be handsome when i release my rage
I'm sure I am right with the majority of slashdot readers when I say that I was majorly psyched to read this. "Linux takes another company, victory is ours!" But I've since reconsidered, and though I'll probably get modded down for speaking my mind, here she goes.
Disney, as I'm sure you're all aware, has demonstrated time and again that it is against freedom. The very values that we in the Open Source community hold dear are trampled upon by the corporate suits at Disney and their pet politicians.
Disney is a company built on copyright law. Without copyright they would not exist. And one of their recent trademarks? That's right: Lilo. Linux afficionados such as myself don't need to be told that there is a much different Lilo that exists in the computer world.
If Disney decides to enforce their trademark rights here, we Linux users will be in serious trouble. Lilo is essential for booting into Linux, so there would be essentially no way to recover from such a thing.
I urge you all to petition Disney and get them to leave Linux to the hackers who care about its future.
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
Lilo, Stitch, and Tux?
In college, really poor, need a flatscreen.
what is wrong with proprietary software? If you have proprietary software (for bussines needs) along with good non-proprietary (for normal use) it doesn't mean it's bad.
If I want, I can still use Open Source. But if I need some more specialized I buy that one. And I think I'm not the one and only that thinks like this. And yes, I develop OSS too. And no, I'm not bothered i someone would use my solutions commercially, I have some closed proprietary too. It's just give, take and use as you can.
Oh, and yes, you're lame.
Signature Pro version 1.13.2-3 release 83.5 beta3try7 after-breakfast edition
Try to find any self respecting production studio that uses a Windows box for anything more than basic editing.
If they ARE using a desktop machine (instead of a dedicated box or something like an SGI workstation), then it's probably a Mac - simply because the Mac has MUCH better tools than windows.
I haven't heard much about Linux desktops being used in animation/post production before, but it's nice to see it happening. I'm wondering how the tools they're using stack up against Mac and Windows equivalents (both with and without price in the equation).
Dark Nexus
"Sanity is calming, but madness is more interesting."
Is this a cost cutting exercise? Noticed this on the hotel news rag this morning:
0 2-06-18-lilo.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/life/enter/movies/2002/20
I very much doubt if Disney cares about Good or Evil, at least as it applies to platforms. They simply decided it was more cost effective to get their next round of upgrades from HP instead of SGI.
Jeffrey cut Steve off when the animation was being demoed. "This is art. I own animation, and nobody's going to get it. It's as if someone comes to date my daughter. I have a shotgun. If someone tries to take this away, I'll blow his balls off." -The Second Coming of Steve Jobs
Apparently Disney felt seriously threatened that Pixar could make full-length animated movies, which could smash Disney's monopoly. They didn't buy the software, and threatened to crush Pixar, until they hired them for a movie, Toy Story. Funny how it seems so different now.
Linux is just an OS, but what is the new hardware?
Linux and Disney. Wonder what Hollings thinks about this anti DRM OS handling such precious, marketable creations.
That leaves out a M$ "solution", now don't it?
I'm as invested emotionally and financially as anyone here in Linux, but I couldn't care less about vertical market use of Linux. The only battleground that matters in terms of freeing vast numbers of people from the Windows monopoly is the mainstream desktop. Anything else is chump change.
Personally I hope Disney continue to piss their money away buying the most overpriced and useless machine SGI sells. I also hope the movies produced thereby fail horribly at the box office. Finally, I hope Disney then goes out of business.
What is it about slashdot, where disease corporations like Disney and other MPAA members are alternately booed and cheered?
What a great idea!</sarcasm>
Not that we didn't see this coming. The success of Shrek and Ice Age (after Toy Story 1&2 and Bugs Life, Antz, etc) is mostly due to the fact that they have excellent storylines and were highly creative. Final Fantasy shows what happens when you attempt a formula movie in CGI: It flops.
If D**ney did something other then the completely market-research motivated direct-to-video drivel they've been doing lately, they'd get those kinds of numbers out of their in-house films.
--Dan
Linux is a tool. Thats all it is not nessary a force of Good or Evil. All it dose is take requestest and decided to do them or not. It is great for the spread of the wide useage of Linux at disney is using them but. Still linux is just an OS a tool to get the job done. It is like calling a Craftman Hammer a force for good and a Stanly Hamer a force for evil. One may work better then the other but it is still a tool and not a religious Icon. I suport Linux and Hope for its growth It is a nice OS compared to some of the others out there. But still it is a tool and not a political party or a religion that some people make it seem to be.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
At the Disney Front Page, if you look up in the right hand corner you see the "Powered by HP" Ad.
HP is a Disney Technology partner, and as stated in the NYTIMES article"Disney's animation division is announcing today that it plans to use Hewlett-Packard workstations and data-serving computers running Linux for digital animation work in the future"
Historically, animation has been a Unix environment," said Al Gillen, an analyst at the International Data Corporation. "And what's happening in Hollywood is that another piece of the Unix market is moving into the Linux space."
Indeed, Mr. Carey observed that adopting Linux for part of its animation was part of its migration strategy to move away from its previous "homogeneous technology environment," revolving around SGI's Irix.
The Disney commitment is the second agreement in recent months for Hewlett-Packard systems running Linux in Hollywood. In January, Hewlett-Packard announced a three-year partnership with DreamWorks involving the purchase of Hewlett computers and some joint development of technology.
Hewlett-Packard, to be sure, has a heritage of doing business with Hollywood and Disney. The first product the founders William Hewlett and David Packard sold in 1938 was to Disney, an oscillator used to help produce the rich, textured soundtrack for the animated movie "Fantasia."
This is a deal brokered by Martin Fink, general manager for Hewlett-Packard's Linux systems division.
Disney is moving from Unix to Linux. Quite a smooth move, not only does this appease one of their most voiciferous antagonists, they get mucho positive P.R.
If we don't fight for ourselves no one will.
It's a sad day when Disney chooses the wrong OS. They should have gone to the Industrial Strength OS, FreeBSD, rather than perpetrating the copycat OS which has stifled innovation and set back the state of Computer Science by 10 years ignoring what's already freely available in FreeBSD.
It's ok but didn't Disney shift away from hand drawn animation a LONG time ago?
Michael Eisner said that he wanted to see Disney put out one animated feature a year and thanks to computers you can.
Disney had fine quality animation in the past because it was all hand drawn but computers can "tween" (generate cels between key frames) thus allowing Disney to continue to put out their crappy versions of popular stories every year now.
I can see it now...the magician's apprentice packages a distro. Ooops, another distro. Then another! Before you know it, there are millions of little Linux distros! Who can save us? Could it be the master magician wearing his magic Red Hat? bwahahaha!
...can you run Linux on a 41-C? Wow!
Disney animators are to be chained together, fed baked beans and share a single toilet in their new "animation cells". There is no word as to whether they will be given toilet paper at the time of this printing.
Damn Think Geek ad is making my Mozilla text cursor blink like crazy - damn those geeks!
But in the near term, as the Hollywood experience shows, Linux is gaining at the expense of proprietary versions of Unix.
In my opinion, while the adoption of Linux by large corporations (like Disney) affirms the validity of Linux for professional uses, Bill Gates is clearly not losing any sleep over this one, as the article notes. As much as I'd like to see a decrease in dominance by MS led by Linux, I'm not so sure I'd like to see less choices in *nix OS's in the process.
Linux at home
I wouldn't be too sure. Disney depends on copyright to survive, and they have many politicians in their pocket (notice how every time Mickey Mouse is about to become public domain, the law mysteriously changes to prevent it?).
I wouldn't be surprised to see them try the same thing with Linux. I propose that we agree as a community to accept no patches or code from Disney or its employees. This could even be written into the GPL.
While this might indeed be good for P2P, it will also be very dangerous for Linux and Free Software as a whole. Don't believe me? Ask Richard Stollman.
The friend of my friend is not necessarily my friend. I think what we have here is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Be very wary.
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
The real Webmaven is user ID 27463. I don't rate an imposter, because my ID is such a lame-ass high number.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
For better or worse, the trend is clear. There may ultimately be a showdown between Microsoft & GNU/Linux, but long before that, all the independent UNIXs will die. SCO, is comatose, IRIX is badly wounded, HPUX and AIX will be put out of their misery by their masters. The only healthy corporate UNIX is Solaris. It'll be the last to die, and it'll be bloody. So yes, Linux & *BSD may finally challenge Microsoft, but not before paving the battlefield with all other possible competitors. Personally, I liked IRIX, especially the way it handled multimedia. Too bad...
...if submitters begins to post MP3s here using UUEncode, will they fight to death to try to close slashdot.org too???
Just a thought I got on this very moment... 8-)
Dude, that sucks because linux sucks. Jon Barrett will have to stop seeing disney movies now because they fail to use FreeBSD.
I find it rather ironic that a company that tries to squeeze every last cent out of people for the IP it creates is using an OS created by people who have freely donated their IP.
Is this the same Disney that bought Senator Hollings to fight for the SSCA law to make Linux (and other open-source software) illegal?
It is probably inappropriate to support Disney in any way. That includes recommending anything from which the company may derive either money or favorable PR.
Remember that Disney is the real backer of the bill formerly known as the SSSCA.
it would be if they only used one to render everything. Sure it would take production a long time, but the irony would be great.
And besides, it'd be Beowolf. No one is pounding down doors clamoring for Beowolf, it could take a little time.
probably anyway... time to purchase some RDHT
anime+manga together at last.. in real time.
What did Disney used to use? Windows 2000? Solaris? HP-UX?
What happens when you mix Disney's promotion of the CBDTPA with their use of Linux? Is Disney going to implode and disappear, like when mixing matter and anti-matter?
Outdoor digital photography, mostly in New Engl
This is wonderful. Now all they need to do is legitimize DeCSS, stop lobbying for copyright extension, stop lobbying for mandatory DRM, and stop squashing the anime the distribution rights to which they own, and then they will no longer be evil.
Have I forgotten anything?
Dreamworks are also using HP hardware and Linux for their animation - HP released this a few days ago.. Info on it Here
YOU OPEN SOURCE hippes stop spreading false rumors about my client, Disney (DIS) adopting an open sores platform. We deny to have any involvement in this and ask this story be removed.
As for the rest of you, we are having gay week at Disney World next week - we ask that you come during this week and this week alone.
We feel we have been more than forthcoming on these matters.
One has to wonder. With Apple's string of aquisitions, and invetiable future string of aquisitions of 3D and other content creation tools.
Will shops starting switching to Mac OS X. I imagine several all ready have Mac OS X in their environments for Photoshop.
So far Apple has kept the Linux versions on most of the applications and dumped NT. What happens if they dump Linux?
I've got to wonder, though: Linux hackers work on a movie with a major character named "Lilo"
Stupid job ads, weird spam, occasional insight at
heh. If RMS were dead, he'd be spinning in his grave right now. Do you suppose they'll write their own compilers/tools/etc., or will they have some Sonny Bono-esque government ho declare the GPL unconstitutional?
The same Di$ney that wants to restrict our computers? I find it very funny that the same company who would have banned Linux is using Linux. Of course they would make it so that they could be exempt from what ever law they pass, since they can be trusted unlike us pirating pices of shit consumers.
I guess they need to save up their money to buy more congress whores, so they swiched to Linux. Wait a minute, if they are using this pirate OS then they must be pirates themselfs!
or
Free the Disneyland 1!
or
Let the Mouse out of the Big House!
Damn the cafeteria for only having decaffeinated coffee!
--
E_NOSIG
LOL. Finaly a troll that is actully funny. If only Microsoft had thought of this they can kill Linux. Oh wait, they are trying to kill lilo by making winbios, so nevermind.
Disney == Evil
Disney use Linux to control animation == Good, I think...
VA enhances Animation Factory == Hmm... a connection?
Forbes carries Slashdot for that cutting edge, on the pulse of high tech and low fashion of all geeks, nerds and CowboyNeal.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
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Preemptive First STFU, Katz! Post!
Just this morning I was reading about how Disney is starting to loose money on their animated films. The story is on the front page of todays WSJ and it lays out what the price/performace ratios of the last few movies were.
From the article:
The Lion King 1994
Production Budget: $50 million
U.S. Box Office Take: $312 million
Hercules 1997
Production Budget: $100 million
U.S. Box Office Take: $99 million
Tarzan 1999
Production Budget: $150 million
U.S. Box Office Take: $171 million
The Emperor's New Groove 2001
Production Budget: $100 million
U.S. Box Office Take: $89.2 million
Lilo & Stitch
Production Budget: $80+ million
U.S. Box Office Take: Unknown
Of course it could be because of the declining quality of these movies, the only one I've seen is Lion King, which was a pretty good flick IMHO. I wonder if the lower TCO argument of Linux is starting to kick in a little bit. This will be interesting to see.
(B) + (D) + (B) + (D) = (K) + (&)
What if we added a clause to the GPL and all other OSI licences that said "by accepting possession of this software, you agree to grant technological protection measure access rights that otherwise would be reserved under the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA to any software developer who releases the resulting software under this licence (or any other OSI approved licence) in a way that does not otherwise infringe the copyright"?
Such a clause would immunize open source software developers from DMCA claims by corporations that use *any* open source software. That sounds like a fair trade to me: we work for free to build software for them in return for the right to not be sued under the DMCA.
YODA!
Run Linux here we do. Beowolf render cluster have we!
... yesterday when I went there and those pirate smokers made me watch an add before re-directing me to the story. Plenty of other news sites without the B.S.
Why is this good for society? Video may well be the "killer ap" for broadband. If the Sonny Bono Copyright Extention Act is invalidated by the courts or congress, many old videos would become public domain.
And each year, a years worth of old video would be available. There could be dozens of companies providing this content. A whole industry that should exist, doesn't.
Of course Disney calls this theft, but I think it's the public domain that's been robbed.
'SBEMAIL!' is better than a goat!!
If they use GPLed software to draw mickey, then would Mickey then be covered by the GPL?
No. A cluster running the Linux kernel was used to render Titanic starring Leonardo DiCrappio, but it didn't put Titanic under GPL. See the GPL FAQ entry: Can I use GPL-covered editors to develop non-free programs? Can I use GPL-covered tools to compile them?
Will I retire or break 10K?
Now all they need is some decent story writers. Hark!! Who Flames there?? j/k I like most disney movies, but WTF is up with the new silent movie about a horse?
"On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero."
The RIAA wouldn't shut down Slashdot because it is only one of many sites containing a talkback board. Instead, they are faced with a bigger problem. How to stop people from posting MP3's to text bulletin boards? Easy, pay a senator to introduce a bill making uuencode illegal.
can we force them to GPL their movies since they were created using glibc? ;)
There's a frontpage article in today's Wall Street Journal about how Disney's recent animated movies have been a flop.
So if Disney supports the SSSCA (or whatever they're calling it this week), which outlaws OS's that don't interface nicely with DRM-enabled hardware, what happens when their new render farm is suddenly illegal? ;)
PrisonerCX
I've got to wonder, though: Linux hackers work on a movie with a major character named "Lilo"
The name "Lilo" for a female motion picture character was around long before Disney's Lilo & Stitch, at least in the variation "Leeloo". (See also MOOL-TEE-PAHSS!! ) Therefore, it's not distinctive enough to qualify as a trademark.
It's not like there's going to be a sequel called "Grub and Stitch" or anything.
Will I retire or break 10K?
A few parts in each summer animated movie since Aladdin have been CGI. Dinosaur was the first full CGI film. The magic carpet and cave scene were cgi. The ballroom dance scene in Beauty and Beast was CGI. The wildebest stampede in Lion King was CGI. The street crowds in Hunchback were CGI. The Olympic clouds in Hercules were CGI. The soldier armies in Mulan were CGI. Disney talked about these at the national and L.A. SIGGRAPH meetings.
I used to work at Disney (in the studio, not in the parks) and trust me - the policy makers do not reflect the IT people (or at least the IT people whom I worked with) They were very *nix biased and HATED anything Microsoft. In fact, they officially banned us from using ASP and told us that we could only code in perl and some of their propritary languages (go publish anyone?). We had win2k servers but they banned us from ASP on principal. So trust me - if there is any movement in Disney, it is coming from the ground up. The suits only see the savings whereas the underlings see the light.
Moderation Totals: Funny=1, Total=1
There is your answer!!
but then [Michael Eisner and the Walt Disney Company] lock Mickey Mouse up through their continued efforts to lengthen copyright law
Even in the presence of a potential Bono Act every 20 years, the early Mickey Mouse films have fallen into the public domain because Walt Disney screwed up a copyright notice. Summary of the argument: Back in the 1920s (under the Copyright Act of 1909), a copyright notice was required on the first publication of a work, and "© 1929" wasn't sufficient; it had to be "© 1929 Walt Disney".
Free the Mouse
Will I retire or break 10K?
On the one hand they support Linux, on the other they support the laws that would effectively kill it. The biggest irony is that Disney now uses the "evil hacker operating system" it worked so hard to condemn. What's even more ironic, is that the only way to watch Disney DVDs on Linux is by using DeCSS -- the "evil hacker digital crowbar" that Disney tried to outlaw. Somebody at Disney needs to get a clue.
___
If you think big enough, you'll never have to do it.
Disney is using Linux? The little sh*ts! About the only good that Disney has done is the work on Squeak that they (probably) funded. The Disney attitude towards copyright extension s*cks dead wookie. Personally, I would like the GNU copyleft to DISCLUDE Disney specifically. Make them pay for OSs. At least until Mickey Mouse is public domain.
Ah well, its not going to happen. Just remember: the enemy of your enemy is NOT your friend.
Jeez - Disney, ultimate closed IP purveyor, supporter of the most draconian IP laws ever, and they get to benefit from Free Software. There just ain't no justice.
Ratboy.
PS. I haven't actually read the other comments yet, and this is probably a popular sentiment. Feel free to ding me if you must...
Just another "Cubible(sic) Joe" 2 17 3061
This event really gives me the impression that Disney is merely playing 'Catch up with Katzenberg.'
Consider: Someone else has pointed out that Dreamworks already made the switch to HP and Linux. Look at the visuals from their latest flick, 'Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.' Pretty impressive stuff, and good storytelling on top of it.
IMO, Disney hasn't released a single movie that has looked anywhere near as impressive, in visuals or in writing, since "Monsters, Inc." Don't get me started about their (upcoming? Already out?) "Lilo and Stitch" (which looks more like a blatant rip-off of the 'Pokemon' craze than anything else). On the other wing, I've not been disappointed with ANYthing that Dreamworks has released in that same period.
Perhaps Eisner is thinking that new hardware/software is all it'll take for Disney Studios to turn out similar winners in the theater. If so, he's sadly mistaken. The most advanced animation rendering farm in the world is useless without a well-written story for the characters thus created to work with.
Bruce Lane, KC7GR,
Blue Feather Technologies
Disney is Evil. Laugh my friend. Laugh! Mwahahaha!
I have to admit I'm rather wonked by the fact that the one place where linux is making the most inroads is animation houses. years ago when I first started using linux the last place I though linux would become a power was animation studios. funny how things just find their place.
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Disney Switches To Linux For Animation of Slashdot discussions.
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As a matter of fact, I am a lawyer. But I play an actor on TV.
CLIT == gayer than a trillion Jon Katzes.
Cool.
Using Linux for their own reasons doesn't make them good. "Lobbying" Senators (it isn't bribery, because it isn't illegal) does make them evil.
And what they "lobby" the senator to do makes them *quite* evil. Not the worst. Quite. But quite evil.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
aarrrrrrgggGGGHHHH!
Outlaw computers and then only Outlaws will have computers!
"A microprocessor... is a terrible thing to waste." --
GeneralEmergency
I *used* to like Disney movies.
These days I will not see one. I will not pay for someone else to see one. I will not recommend one. I will denounce them.
To my mind, no person who believes in liberty should be willing to pay as much as a single penny into the coffers of Disney, whether directly or indirectly. You may feel differently, but I cannot conceive of a plausible justification. Except that liberty isn't important to you.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
I tried watching this movie on my Linux box, but the opening credits never got past "LI".
Disney gets crap because their films are too watered down. Disney gets crap because their films are too violent. Disney gets crap because their films are too PC. Disney gets crap because their films are about revenge. Disney gets crap because Simba's mane makes him look like the equivalent of a long-haired hippie (I am not making that up).
I live ze unknown. I love ze unknown. I am ze unknown.
Trolls shall now be refferd to as dwarfs...LOL...IMOTM.
But on a serious note, I really hope that they have the vision to GPL (or LGPL) any new tools they develop.
Insert sig here (slashdot) Insert cig here (Lewinsky)
HP leant me one of these machines so that I could write a review of it for Linux Journal. You can read it here.
:)
The gist of the article is that these can be great animatior workstations, with the maturity of Linux and high-end animation applications.
Now how do I get my commissioin
thad
I love Mondays. On a Monday, anything is possible.
There was an article on the front page of the WSJ this morning about how Disney is cutting costs in their animation department. Gone are the days when money was no object in putting together a great film. They had gradually been spending more and more on their films and revenue was continually shrinking. I believe it said that they spent $50 mil. to produce The Lion King, which raked in over $1 bil worldwide, but by the time they got to Tarzan, they spent $100 mil on it just to see it break even. As a result, in their latest film, Lilo & Stitch, they wouldn't even do things like giving Lilo's teenage sister a fancy wardrobe or put a flower in Lilo's hair because of the extra time involved animating more complex objects. Fascinating article about the work flows and budgetary concerns of a major animation studio.
Anyway, not to get off track here... I believe the switch to Linux has a lot to do with slashing costs.
Disney is NOT losing money on its movies!
Just because the box office receipts for a given film are lower than the production costs, that doesn't mean the film is taking a bath. There are many, many more avenues to revenue than just domestic box office ticket sales.
I would wager a good amount that Disney makes far, far more money overall from video rentals and sales than they do from ticket sales anyway. Hell, plenty of their movies never even make it to the theater. Add to that the fast food tie-ins, the toys and clothing, blankets, sheets and other merchandise, the international sales both in the theaters and on video, etc.
Disney makes plenty of money off their films. If they didn't, they would be a hell of a lot more careful putting them out, and there wouldn't be a shelf full of stuff at your local video store with titles you've never heard of.
It's interesting... My wife just mentioned a day or two ago that Disney was laying off hundreds of animators. Reason given? They had too many people drawing animations by hand, and didn't need all of them anymore.
Looks like the switch to more computer-generated animation is primarily cost-motivated. (We can crank out movies much more quickly if we computerize as much of it as possible.)
That Disney & Senator Hollings wanted to virtually outlaw Free Software with their CBTBDBTPABEA (whatever the hell it was) ruling.. and now its ok to use it?
I guess if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!
"Hey! Unless this is a nude love-in, get the hell off my property!!"
Right now, the fragmentation of the Unix market makes it far too difficult to hire people.
Say company A uses all HPUX, and company B uses AIX. You have lots of Linux experience, but try getting anything other than an "entry level" job at either company A or B. You're not likely to get hired. This seems rather silly - because someone with Unix talent should be able to make good use of it on any Unix platform.
Nonetheless, companies screen based on keywords, and if the H.R. people don't see HPUX or AIX on that resume someplace - it's probably getting passed over.
Surely, there are advantages to some of these Unix variants. (Take the claim that IRIX is superior at handling multimedia, mentioned above.) Still - to compete with a giant like Microsoft, you really need to consolidate your resources. If everyone develops for Linux instead of developing for 10 different commercial flavors of Unix that are slowly dying, Unix will come out much stronger in the end.
Maybe they can invest the savings in a couple of writers? Please?
http://tux.kzo.net
hehe we're not far off..
keizo
Just from the small list you gave of cost vs. box-office performance, you can start to see a trend.
The movies costing more to make than their theater revenue are all relatively "modern" sounding - with no recognizable Disney characters featured in the titles.
In fact, isn't it "Lilo & Stitch" that has an AC/DC song in its soundtrack now? It seemed to me that ever since Aladdin came out, Disney was trying to change their animations to become more "hip" and "modern" - and I'm not sure it's paying off for them.
Lots of grandparents are the ones buying those tickets to the Disney movies, and many of them don't want to pay to see some title with characters they've never hesrd of before from movies or books, with hard rock music blaring in the background. Tarzan, they can relate to. They know the original story and characters and know basically what to expect. (And look, it's one of the recent Disney releases that turned a profit at the box office.) Hercules almost broke-even, and I'd say that makes sense. People have heard of Hercules, but don't necessarily visualize a "classic tale" for the little ones when they think of him. Hercules certainly has none of the "cute appeal" of 101 Dalmations....
The above table doesn't take into account the often HUGE overseas sales of the same movie.
Disney has NO worries.
If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.
Hey, let's pass a bunch of laws to corral that horrible interweb thing, and we'll bring all those damn pirates under control, and we'll get back control over what people watch, and the CBDTPA will be our saviour, and ...
...HEY! Why don't our animation workstations work anymore, and why can't we get new software for them? What do you mean we have to pay more for less? We're Disney!
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Well, when you can do a 15 minute short film for only $500 - don't laugh, one of the finalists for best short at the Seattle International Film Fest did his own private film for that much - then even the big guys have to start counting the nickels.
Cost slashing, and the drop in hardware cost of total system cost, is the ally of Open Source and a direct threat to Closed Source.
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--- Will in Seattle - What are you doing to fight the War?
Perhaps Disney is following Industrial Light and Magic's lead in using Linux. I believe there was an article here a few days (or weeks?) ago.
With such serious companies as ILM, PTC and Disney using Linux and/or making software for it, and with companies worldwide developing it in all sorts of directions, it's no wonder that Microsoft's execs are shitting their pants. I wouldn't be surprised if five years from now, Microsoft will end up chucking Windows and joining the party. (Or putting things into Linux that previously only Windows could do. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing...)
Even though Disney and their buddies are "the bad guys," I hope they succeed with Linux, because as more huge companies advertise their success with it, the more software and support Linux will have. SGI supports it. IBM supports it. Wouldn't it be a surprise if Linus' toy turns into the de facto operating system, replacing the various incompatible versions of UNIX and other OSes out there?
but if this means that Tux will be the star of the next animated movie...then ........*jumps up dancing..* Go Tux, Go Tux
I thought Bill Gates already had that position...
Login: assword
Password: password
I have seen so many bullshit comments like "hollywoord is using linux while they are trying to cripple/kill it!" and refuted them everytime because the connection of a VFX studio being 'Hollywood' is absurd. Now that the one company who does represent 'Hollywood' and is directly related with all the shitty shit concerning the purchasing of Senators and DMCA is using Linux I don't see any of those comments. Yah for Linux and all that (Linux is hitting big in 3D and doesn't really need Disney but it doesn't hurt) but I hate Disney more now. Flame away on this one, the hand (animation department) doesn't know what the ass (management) is doing.
This Wiki Feeds You TV and Anime - vidwiki.org
Hey, c'mon--it's a LILO joke!
While this seems like a great idea, in practice it would kill off open source software that is licensed under it. Any company thinking of using the software under this license would drop that idea immediately.
Nathan's blog
Linux is a conglomeration of ugly hacks: it is the Frankenstein's monster of UNIX workalikes. Its design is crap and its tied to GNU tools, none of which follow any standards which have been attempted for UNIX. You want EVERYONE to move to this?
AC/DC is hip??
Aside from a few test stations, Windows isn't used at Feature Animation, and only a few people are lobbying for it.
We've seen this before... Linux rarely pushes out Windows, and often pushes out other Unices. I do believe we will soon see Linux squeezing all the profit out of proprietary Unix implementations.
You may see this as a good thing, or not. But once the other Unices die, we'll really see if GPL hobbyists can compete with Microsoft.
This promises to be interesting.
now we'll have to take our kids to see 'GNU/Snow White', and when they ask we'll have to explain who RMS is.
way to go Disney.
It really doesn't bother me if they keep Mickey Mouse, or how they go about making their next derivative movie. I just want them to release Nausicaa, Castle in the Sky, Porco Rosso, and the other films from Studio Ghibli.
I mean, they are one of those companies in favor of the CBDTPA, copy control mechanism, and just plain crazy about IP. Why then do they want to reap the benefit of OS products and technology that opposes all the other stuff they stand for? Is like they want to use the same technology to earn a living which is at risk of dying by their own actions on another lever. Basically, one hand is feeding OS while the other is try to kill it. Or i could just be blowing this whole thing out of proportion. :) .v
How bout we all just _support_ the CBDTPA now. Linux will be outlawed, DeCSS will be outlawed even more, and Disney will sh!t itself.
So Disney can use Linux to create the movies, but if we use deCSS to watch a DVD on Linux computer we are comitting a crime...
somehow that doesn't seem right.
* * Always question "the National Interest" - 9 times out of 10 it is a cover for evil
What a great company!
Lets not forget non-USA distribution in these movies... after all, people across the world might not be into an American action film, but I think that people everywhere went to see The Lion King with their child worldwide. After all, it wasn't really about all things American that might turn other people off.
I am risking my Karma by saying this, but I think that Disney has some of the strongest, cleanest writing in the entertainment business... and as people like Charles Dickens amd Tolstoy understood a long time ago... a good story sells like hotcakes. I am an adult, and I read a lot, and they definitely have it, and I see Disney movies.
By the way, the new space alien one is going to be a huuuge hit. Think E.T. Think cool comedy E.T. Biiiig buuuucks.
So what about all of these terrible losses?
Well, "the movie people" also said that Forrest Gump lost money. Riiiiight. Everyone, AND I MEAN EVERYONE, saw that movie.
They do it for tax purposes. Hell, even George Lucas would say that they didn't turn a dime on any Star Wars property if it would save them on taxes... that and if the IRS wouldn't scream "AUDIT!" the moment a hilarious statement like that hit the press.
Once again, poor Disney is taking a bath on these movies, but they still seem to scrape enough money together to purchase a little television network like ABC. And Senator Hollings. He's a US Congressman, he's got to come cheap.
Gawd, I hope the poor little beggers don't go broke... what with these horrible losses and all.
They used it for www.wehavethewayout.com
/. too...
I even verified it on netcraft myself, and I couldn't believe it! But they switched from BSD back to Win2K after it went public... prolly on
I believe that Disney has been using something called Computer Aided Production System (CAPS) for their animated features since the late 1980's.
From what I've read, CAPS allows you to digitally composite multiple types of animation together and do the final animation coloring/shading. I believe that The Little Mermaid used an early form of CAPS for some of the animated sequences, but CAPS was not used heavily until The Rescuers Down Under (1990).
I personally believe that Lilo & Stitch used CAPS to composite the foreground animation with the watercolor-painted backgrounds. It's unlike Atlantis: The Lost Empire, where CAPS was used to composite hand-drawn animation and computer-drawn animation.
This list shows a nice (and generally correct) trend, but it's not complete-- most films that likely break the trend are absent.
Something more correct would look something like this (not counting Pixar/Disney joint releases). Additions are in bold:
The Lion King 1994
Production Budget: $50 million
U.S. Box Office Take: $312 million
Hercules 1997
Production Budget: $100 million
U.S. Box Office Take: $99 million
The Little Mermaid (reissue) 1997
Production Budget: virtually nil for rerelease
U.S. Box office Take: $28.73 million
Mulan 1998
Production Budget: ????
U.S. Box office Take: 138.62 million
Tarzan 1999
Production Budget: $150 million
U.S. Box Office Take: $171 million
Doug's First Movie 2000
Production Budget: ???
U.S. Box Office Take: $20.69 million
Fantasia 2000
Production Budget: ???
U.S. Box Office Take: $58.33 million
The Tigger Movie 2000
Production Budget: ???
U.S. Box Office Take: $45.54 million
The Emperor's New Groove 2001
Production Budget: $100 million
U.S. Box Office Take: $89.2 million
Peter Pan II 2001
Production Budget: ???
U.S. Box Office Take: $89.2 million
Atlantis: The Lost Empire 2001
Production Budget: ???
U.S. Box Office Take: $84.4 million
Lilo & Stitch
Production Budget: $80+ million
U.S. Box Office Take: Unknown
I think there was just a rerelease of Beauty and the Beast that did pretty well and had extra footage too. This says nothing of international BO + ancillary profits from branded toys, etc. Not to mention the straight-to-video sequels (Cinderella 2, etc.)
Source: Box Office Prophets, except for Peter Pan II, which I didn't see listed.
Mickey Mouse was created by Ub Iwerks. His original name was Mortimer Mouse. Ub used to be partnered with Walt Disney. It's all explained in Bill Peet's auto-biography.
using namespace slashdot;
troll::post();
- You go on a honeymoon, take your bride to Disney World (OK, so far), and then you talk about software ?????? -
That must have been a turn-on for her...
Sig (appended to the end of comments I post, 54 chars)
I wouldn't be surprised if five years from now, Microsoft will end up chucking Windows and joining the party. (Or putting things into Linux that previously only Windows could do. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing...)
/.whenever I did.
Aaaahh, finaly...
Somebody else sees this the same way. I've been saying that for more than a year now and have been thorowly ignored on
I most certain that you are right on. M$ is only milking the last bit they can take out of their classical inhouse-software-only strategy. As soon as the marketing dept. gives down word that it's over, and time to switch to a mutple OS and service strategy - they're gonna do it. And their Linux distro and subscription service is gonna kick RH, SuSE and Mandrake up and down the street - and all people are gonna think M$ invented Linux.
Go on, mod me down again...
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Anarchism in Spain worked pretty good, or so I'm told.
is when they release Dis*nix.
Stan Lipmann mentioned that they use a lot of Perl in his talk at the ACCU Conference in the UK. He was up on the podium with Herb Sutter, being grilled over the flames of "why have you defected to Microsoft?"
Of course, Scar doesn't die from the fall off the cliff. His Hyaena minions turn on him. Circle of life sort of thing.
Apart from a few details (and reduced bodycount), the underlying theme is just Shakespeare's Hamlet, which your kids will get exposed to in school anyway.
-- What do you need?
-- Gnus. Lots of Gnus.
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Just import the Japanese region2 discs.
They have english subtitles, and a few have english dub tracks.
Thanks for the link. That was one of the only on-topic comments in this whole story.
Were you using one or two monitors? Also I was surprised to see that you didn't go ahead and try some gigabit ethernet action since you were saturating your 100Mb link.
Do you see yourselves staying exclusively with the personal workstation model? What about driving these beasts using X over the network? You could buy a smaller farm of monster workstations and let your artists share them. Even in your high performance environment, "think time" has still got to have those systems idle more than half the time, not counting batch jobs of course. Not to mention, the slower simulation and filtering tasks could in principle be written to distribute themselves over a number of CPUs.
SGI's Visual Area Networking is their effort to use this kind of thinking.