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Can Disney Get the Magic Back?

Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs cast a spell in 1937. The world's first animated film had charming hand-drawn characters, original songs and a fairy-tale ending. It's a formula that Disney followed for decades as the company built an animated-film kingdom.

But for the past 10 years, computer-generated (CG) animation has totally ruled. Artists at Pixar pioneered the use of computers to create three- dimensional animated films. Toy Story, Pixar's first movie, was released in 1995. Since then, CG films have taken over at the box office.

Although CG stormed their castle, many old-school Disney animators would not change their ways. "Walt was well known for being an innovative guy," says Oscar-winning animator Eric Armstrong. "A lot of people thought it was funny that Disney didn't want to try the same experimentation."

Disney makes money from Pixar's success. The studio has a deal to distribute Pixar movies to theaters. But since 1994's The Lion King, Disney's own hand-drawn films have struggled.

On November 4, Disney animators will finally change their 'toons. The studio's bright, sassy first CG film, Chicken Little, arrives. TIME reviewer Richard Corliss got a sneak peek and found the new arrival magical.

A Whole New World
To get Chicken Little and the next three CG films made, animation chief David Stainton had to convince his art-ists that CG could free their creativity. Among those he persuaded is Glen Keane, the animator of Aladdin and Pocahontas. "Everybody wanted me to really fight for hand drawn," Keane told TIME. "Many of the traditional artists thought that I had betrayed them." Keane is directing Rapunzel Unbraided. He found that the computer "forced me to be a better artist. It challenged me to be better at what I do."

Is this belated revolution the start of a new Disney reign? The Mouse has some catching up to do. "It's like a battleship changing course," says Disney's film-studio boss, Richard Cook. "It takes awhile, but we're moving in the right direction."

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