Hello Master Malstrom. I’m very happy to be reading your twelve days of celebration about Miyamoto’s retirement, but as you’ve been talking about his anti-content obsession with 3D gaming and gimmick “puzzles”, I’ve realised that another pioneering entertainer went through something very similar; Walt Disney.
After two hit animated films, Snow White and Pinocchio, Walt Disney’s third film was Fantasia, a film in which the animation was set to music. The artists were allowed to “get creative” with the animation and basically put down whatever they came to mind with the music. Although the film is a hit now with art and animation enthusiasts, it sold badly at the box office. This is not surprising because Fantasia had much less content than its predecessors, which had large worlds and great stories. This is a great parallel to the sudden drop in sales between 2D Mario and 3D Mario.
Then the Second World War began and Disney lost the European market. To keep the business going, Disney made two more story films (Bambi and Dumbo) followed by two films to strengthen relations with Mexico (Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros). This was a period when Disney’s content was determined by the needs of the consumers. I liken this to Nintendo bringing back 2D Mario when their business was down.
But as soon as the war ended and the international markets opened up again, Disney created three more films that had animation set to music; Make Mine Music, Fun & Fancy Free and Melody Time. In spite of the failure of Fantasia, Walt Disney kept repeatedly pushing his “music movies” dream. Interestingly, these new films were set more to contemporary pop music rather than the classical music of Fantasia (although there was some classical music within) and there was also a greater degree of storytelling in the animation. This looks very similar to Miyamoto introducing 2D Mario elements to 3D Mario in order to encourage 2D Mario fans to play 3D Mario. But of course, nobody remembers Disney’s music movies anymore except the animation enthusiasts. They represent a big gap in the Disney movie collection.
It’s interesting that both Walt Disney and Shigeru Miyamoto originally became famous for pioneering a new form of entertainment. I wonder if this particular aspect of their success is responsible for their “Creator God” beliefs. If you created a new medium for entertainment, you might be tempted to think that you could define the direction that it would take in the future. Of course, Disney learned his lesson after four films and abandoned music movies altogether. Miyamoto has made five 3D Mario games and he still doesn’t seem to have learned his lesson.
Insightful email!
