Animation Software Review: Disney Presents The Animation Studio

In the 1980s and 1990s, the animation department of The Walt Disney Company worked with video game developers to bring its animated films to the interactive industry. This led to video games with sprites, backgrounds, and cutscenes that impressively mimicked the art style of the big screen versions. When combined with satisfying game play, this brought about well-regarded video games such as the classic Virgin Games platformer, Aladdin, and the woefully forgotten Blue Sky Software puzzle game, Hare Raisin' Havoc.

In 1990, Disney partnered with Silent Software to bring things one step further with the release of The Animation Studio for Amiga and DOS.

This art and animation tool brought the techniques of hand-drawn animation that were employed by The Disney Animation Studio into the hands of consumers on standard home computer systems.

Disney animators worked hand-in-hand with the developers at Silent Software, even going as far as converting animations of classic Disney productions into TAS format, displaying pencil-style outlines of cartoons utilizing such techniques as squash-and-stretch with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum from Alice in Wonderland, a fluid walking animation of Mickey Mouse's faithful pup Pluto, and even an animation of Mickey himself walking towards the camera.

My favorite of the bunch is a super-short cartoon that demonstrates a finished, fully colored animation of Donald Duck. The famous duck looks at a CRT screen of a computer displaying the face of Mickey Mouse, which leads Donald into one of his common temper tantrums.

As for the tools themselves, there is still a lot to like, even thirty-five years later. A black-and-white pencil test is created using frames, with a digital version of semi-transparent "onion paper" providing the means to see the difference between the current frame and the last. After the frames of the pencil test are adequately cleaned up, the frames are colorized using a 1990s art Interface that should be familiar to anyone who has ever used Microsoft Paint.

For computers with sound cards, or for versions of the game bundled with the Disney Sound Source branded version of the Covox Speech Thing, there is a library containing dozens of sound effects straight from the Disney sound archive.

There are many more sophisticated programs available today to create animations, and each one is capable of creating animations well above the 640x480 maximum resolution available in The Animation Studio. There is something to be said about using tools modeled after Disney's own process to create animations that use sound effects from Disney's own sound library. Like watching Disney's hand animated films today, it is like stepping back to a simpler time before three-dimensional presentations using millions of polygons in ultra high definition resolutions. Sometimes, simple can be satisfying.

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

Platform Game Mega Review: DuckTales

DuckTales was a 1989 platform game based on the popular DuckTales animated adventure series that itself was based on the Disney duck universe created by Carl Barks and Don Rosa.

It was created by Capcom, a video game developer that was prolific during the 1980s and 1990s. The developers worked with Walt Disney Computer Software to keep the art style as close to the television series as possible. This is very evident, as the characters are instantly recognizable even in the low-resolution pixel art produced by the Nintendo Entertainment System.

The game starred Scrooge McDuck as he went around the world collecting diamonds, jewels, and lost treasures. It had a fun gameplay mechanic where he would use his cane as a pogo stick. This could be used to jump higher, take out enemies, and cross areas he couldn't cross with his own two webbed feet.

There are five levels to choose from, including African mines, the Amazon, the Himalayas, Transylvania, and the Moon. Each of these had unique enemies and an end boss. Not all of these enemies actually appeared in DuckTales. However, as they all were created in the art style that was an 8-bit approximation of the art style of the beloved 1980s cartoon, they certainly looked like they could have been.

On the subject of characters from the cartoon, some of McDuck's allies appear in cameos. Huey Dewey, Louie, and Webby give Scrooge advice. Launchpad McQuack flies Scrooge back to Duckburg. Mrs. Beakley gives Scrooge life-restoring ice cream cones. Gyro Gearloose drops diamonds for Scrooge to grab. Finally, Gizmoduck opens up access to a new area on the Moon.

Two of Scrooge's biggest nemeses, the sorceress Magica DeSpell and the second richest duck in the world, Flintheart Glomgold, are also here trying to stop Scrooge from getting his treasures.

The music is one of the most memorable things about the game. I still have tunes from the game that come to mind when I think about the game, such as the music from the Amazon level. However, none are as iconic as the music from the Moon level. This tune is so beloved that the creators of the 2017 reboot of DuckTales used it as the music for the lullaby that Della Duck, the mother of Huey, Duey, and Louie, used to sing to her triplets before she found herself stranded on the Moon. That reboot also had an episode where Scrooge was given a pogo stick cane.

The game was remade as DuckTales Remastered in 2013. The game remains the same, except there is an option for easier pogo stick use. Originally, the down button had to be held down when jumping. The new optional control method allows pogo stick jumping with the tap of a button.

At the time the remastered version was released, the cast members of the original 1987 series were still alive, so they reunited to voice the characters in new cutscenes that were created in the art style of the classic cartoon. They had a scene where the inventor Gyro Gearloose gave Scrooge oxygen taffy so that he could breathe on the moon. The creators of the 2017 reboot also used this plot device, as Della was able to breathe on the moon using gum that Gyro invented called Oxy-Chew.

The remastered version faithfully recreated the art from the game in high resolution. It both matched the art in the game as well as matched the art style of the 1987 series. The music in the remake was created in an orchestral arrangement that remained faithful to the chiptune music from Capcom's original game.

DuckTales is a classic video game by Capcom that is still a lot of fun today. The art style remains faithful to the 1987 series, the game is a blast to play, and the music is phenomenal. It doesn't matter if you are playing the original Nintendo Entertainment System version or the 2013 DuckTales Remastered remake, there is a whole lot of fun to be had with this fantastic platform game.

Final Verdict:

5 out of 5

Puzzle Game Review: Hare Raising Havoc

Hare Raising Havoc is a classic puzzle game starring Roger Rabbit, the film version of the novel character that debuted in the 1989 Disney film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

The film opened with a supposed short film with animated characters that was directed by a real human director. Roger was supposed to protect Baby Herman, an adult man in a baby's body who plays the part of a real baby in the short film, until Baby Herman's mother got home.

The game has the same premise. Baby Herman sees a giant milk bottle on top of a bottle factory and leaves the house to get it. Roger has to chase after it by performing cartoony acts to get from one room to another. He goes through the living room, to the kitchen, to the bathroom, to the backyard, to the street, to a construction site, and finally to the bottle factory.

Roger has to move quick as he has to make it all the way through to the bottle factory before time runs out. He can get more time, however, by doing the wrong thing, Roger will get hurt and the time still ticks down during his hurt animation. As the way through each area is not logical in terms of real-life, it is more likely than not that you will have to play each area several times as you learn both the correct way to get out of the area as well as which action gives Roger more time.

If you run out of time, you will be chewed out by the director and given the option to start all over again. If you get through it all, the director will be pleased and the cast, crew, and significant others, will be able to go home.

The selling point of the game, at the time, as well as now, is the Roger's excellent animated sprites that are full of expression. The full screen animation has few frames due to the limitations of the IBM PC compatibles running DOS and Amiga machines on which the game played. However, the animation of Baby Herman, and especially Roger, still looks good today.

The music in the opening screen is the same as that from the film, and the sound effects as well as Roger's voice clips, are suitably cartoonish. The voice actors from the film reprise their roles here, and sound as good as they did in the film.

Hare Raising Havoc is a hard-as-nails puzzle game. However, the game's presentation, animation, music, sound effects, and voices, make up somewhat for the difficulty. If you don't mind the tough difficulty level common in games in the 1990s, or use an Amiga or DOS emulator build with save state support, it's worth checking out.

Final Verdict:
3½ out of 5