Fat Lady Sings for Disney Hand-Animators

CBC News reports that the Walt Disney Company has announced the closing of DisneyToon Studios Australia (in Sydney) in mid-2006. After this closure, and another 250 lost jobs, there will be exactly zero Disney artists producing hand-drawn animation. Why should we care? Well, certainly we're not obligated to care. This has been written on the wall since 1989, when "The Little Mermaid" became Disney's last animated feature-length film to use traditional cels. I suppose it's a smart business move on the part of the Walt Disney Company, even if I think it stinks. Would there even be a global Disney empire without decades of handwork by its talented artists? (Yes, I am one of those misguided idiots who believe that "corporate loyalty" should be a two-way street.) Looks as if the last person who knows how to use a drafting board in the "magic kingdom" gets to shut off the lights and form the Australian chapter of the support group for displaced Disney animation artists.