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Use of CGI 3D in movies before Toy Story ('95)? Anything from Disney & others?

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W

Why would you do that?

Member
I should preface by saying I am not a movie watcher. I know pretty much nothing about movies, Seriously.

I was watching parts of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and I was impressed that it used 3D CGI. After a bit of searching on the Internet, it turns out Disney was using 3D long before even Toy Story, which I found very interesting.

So I researched other uses of 3D CGI in movies pre-Toy Story. I focused on looking at Disney movies. Here's what I found:


1986 - Great Mouse Detective
EBn7UEs.gif

The movie has a lengthy clock tower scene which is technically not CG, but 3D wireframes that were drawn on top of by hand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tudKZFvCTI4#t=0m20s (go to 0:20)
Apparently, it's Disney's second use of 3D in a movie. I don't know what the first is.

1988 - Oliver and Company
1) Perfect Isn't Easy: 3D at the end of the song. It's pretty ugly. lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M6UYwaYRqw#t=2m30s (go to 2:30)
2) The chase scene: There's a long sequence of 3D including a bridge and a subway, but I can't find a good YouTube video of it. But... someone did put it up on YouTube in reverse!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov-OciaPBP8#t=1m10s (go to 1:10)
3) Various vehicles were also rendered in 3D, but I am not looking for video of them.


At this point, Disney started using their in-house 2D animation software, CAPS, in small doses. It made it much easier to (digitally) draw and animate on top of 3D scenes. Supposedly, 3D scenes from most (all?) movies using CAPS were created with the help of Pixar.


1989 - The Little Mermaid
Ariel, running down stairs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uqCsLQnkRA#t=3m55s (go to 3:55)
It's the only part of the movie that uses CAPS, while the rest of the movie is completely traditional.


Now, for the first completely digital movie, created with CAPS...

1990 - The Rescuers Down Under
flPW0Lx.jpg

This movie used the still emerging 3D technology REALLY poorly compared to the others. Much of it looks ugly and out of place. Few polygons, bad textures, etc. Worst part is that it used 3D a lot more, too:
- Sydney Opera House (go to 0:45. Check out the poor lighting, flat shading, and rendering glitches.)
- New York City (go to 3:50)
- the flower field in the intro (actually decent)
- globe and misc. in relay scene (go to 0:25. Also decent use of 3D)

1991: Beauty and the Beast
T8mjLGu.jpg

The famous dance scene uses 3D. I never really watched BatB, but I hear the dancing scene was awesome for the time. I think it looks dated, though. Not ugly, but very dated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ0ODCMC6xs#t=1m50s (go to 1:50)

1992: Aladdin
Unlike the above movies, I actually grew up with Aladdin. I had no idea the cave escape and the cave's animal head entrance were 3D, but looking at it now, it's very obvious. The 3D quality is much better than it was in past Disney movies. Except for the 3D lava, I think it looks pretty great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHi5kHb_4ns#t=1m30s (go to 1:30)

1994: The Lion King
The herd scenes, e.g. where
Mufasa
is killed, have 3D animals in the herd. Can't find a good video without ads. The 3D animals were actually cel shaded, and because of that, the 3D actually still looks great today.




I think the CGI 3D usage in this era was cool because it was a fledgling technology used in small doses. Nowadays, 3D in movies is not really meaningful IMO.

Do you have any examples of 3D used in movies, Disney related or not, before 1995 and Toy Story? Even if it's a different example from a movie I posted above.
 
G

gerg

Member
I know it might not be much earlier than Toy Story, but some elements of Grandmother Willow in Pocahontas were animated via CG.
 
NekoFever

NekoFever

Member
Are we just talking animated movies? There are tons of movies that used CGI before 1995.

But for Disney, the first movie to use CGI was The Black Cauldron in 1985. A real product of the dark days when Disney couldn't buy a hit but an interesting and often forgotten curiosity. I'm pretty sure every theatrical Disney animation since then has used CGI in some capacity.

Also you should watch Beauty and the Beast if you haven't seen it. It's brilliant.
 
T

ToxicAdam

Member
One of the landmark moments in the 80's was probably the stained glass knight in the television show 'Young Sherlock Holmes'. Even though it didn't look perfect, it made you feel like this was 'the future' and it was going to be very cool.

the scene
 
G

GreekWolf

Member
ToxicAdam said:
One of the landmark moments in the 80's was probably the stained glass knight in the television show 'Young Sherlock Holmes'. Even though it didn't look perfect, it made you feel like this was 'the future' and it was going to be very cool.

the scene
Click to expand...

Came here to post this same scene. Scared the crap out of me as a little kid.

Amazing to think this came out 8 years before Jurassic Park
 
NekoFever

NekoFever

Member
ToxicAdam said:
One of the landmark moments in the 80's was probably the stained glass knight in the television show 'Young Sherlock Holmes'. Even though it didn't look perfect, it made you feel like this was 'the future' and it was going to be very cool.

the scene
Click to expand...

Also notable as ILM's first CGI effect in a movie. And the team that did it, headed by John Lasseter, was sold to Steve Jobs and became Pixar.
 
W

Why would you do that?

Member
Myansie said:
You missed the coolest CG in Aladdin. The lions head entrance to the Cave of Wonders. I'm pretty sure it's CG and it's seamless. I couldn't find a good youtube clip for it sorry.

Edit: Found a half decent one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoNIkHkCMRc
Click to expand...

I mentioned it in the OP, but it is really hard to find scenes from Aladdin specifically for some reason. Thanks for that.

NekoFever said:
Are we just talking animated movies? There are tons of movies that used CGI before 1995.

But for Disney, the first movie to use CGI was The Black Cauldron in 1985. A real product of the dark days when Disney couldn't buy a hit but an interesting and often forgotten curiosity. I'm pretty sure every theatrical Disney animation since then has used CGI in some capacity.

Also you should watch Beauty and the Beast if you haven't seen it. It's brilliant.
Click to expand...

No, I don't mean only animated movies. Post anything that you find interesting.

I looked for 3D scenes in The Black Cauldron but didn't find any. :( I would have mentioned it in the OP otherwise. I knew it was Disney's first PG animated movie, but I missed that it came out in 1985... Now I'm really curious about it.

DeaconKnowledge said:
:jnc you spoilered Mufasa's Death? It happened 20 years ago bro. Statute of limitations has long passed.
Click to expand...

I know, haha. I just spoilered it so I wouldn't hear from that one guy who hasn't seen it. Just to cover my bases. :p
 
G

Gloam

Member
Akira had that spinning, glowing energy thingy. That was supposedly quite expensive to produce, looks like a visualizer off of a DVD player.
 
T

TheYanger

Member
Man the knight in Young Sherlock Holmes scared me absolutely shitless as a kid. That scene felt so real and disturbing for some reason, I still have trouble watching it even though I'm a horror junkie to this day.
 
NekoFever

NekoFever

Member
The Abyss (1989) is an important landmark.

using-advanced-cgi-th2gsrm.jpg
Click to expand...

It took six months to make 75 seconds of footage, with new techniques invented for scanning in the likeness of real actors, but it worked and the tech was used as a proof of concept for James Cameron's next film in 1991...

600px-t2robfire23sp5.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Great Poster

Great Poster

Member
From Wikipedia:
Released at the dawn of 3D animation technology, Flight of the Navigator was the world's first 35 mm feature film to use environment mapping, creating the illusion of a chrome object occupying a live-action frame, considered by many[who?] to hold up to today's standards. The computer graphics shots were produced by Omnibus Graphics, one of the first computer animation companies, responsible for most of the classic advertising 3D animation of the 1980s.[citation needed]
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_of_the_Navigator
 
W

Why would you do that?

Member
Wow, I'm really happy with the responses in this thread so far.

Another one I found out was Jurassic Park. I didn't know it was in 3D. I thought it was stop motion for some reason.

ToxicAdam said:
This is cool. Here is an 8 minute demo (from 1982) of the work from the company that did all the Tron CG (Triple I).

Triple I Demo


Feels like an early 80's fever dream.
Click to expand...

That's really cool. I shudder to think how long that took to render in '82, while nowadays, that would be way more than a piece of cake.
 
A

aerts1js

Member
What I got from the OP: You haven't seen Beauty and the Beast.

On blu ray the scene actually holds up extremely well.
 
L

Log4Girlz

Member
What I didn't understand about 2D movies using early CG was why they didn't rotoscope it by hand to make it look amazing. Instead we're stuck with ugly, dated CG.
 
C

Chojin

Member
If I recall the Stained Glass Knight in Gilliam's Fisher King had it in 1991. Though I can't seem to find anything to back me up on the interwebs :\ heck I think Pixar worked on it or was it Silicon Graphics? Edit: Oh wait i was thinking of the Knight in Young Sherlock Holmes, DOI

OH and Golgo 13: The Professional Made use of it in 1983
 
S

Shin Johnpv

Member
Why would you do that? said:
I looked for 3D scenes in The Black Cauldron but didn't find any. :( I would have mentioned it in the OP otherwise. I knew it was Disney's first PG animated movie, but I missed that it came out in 1985... Now I'm really curious about it.
Click to expand...

Any scene with the Black Cauldron itself and magic coming out of it. If I remember right the Black Cauldron itself was created in 3D.
 
F

Fudgepuppy

Banned
Fun tidbit, is that the intro Escape from New York when he's flying over a vectorised version of New York, they used cardboard-boxes and luminescent tape because CGI was too expensive.
 
NekoFever

NekoFever

Member
Why would you do that? said:
Another one I found out was Jurassic Park. I didn't know it was in 3D. I thought it was stop motion for some reason.
Click to expand...

It was originally going to be stop motion if the CG didn't work out, and there are plenty of videos of the test footage that was shot.

I'm surprised that you didn't know it was CGI. Although it wasn't the first movie to have major CGI characters, the hype for Jurassic Park was ridiculous and it pretty much entirely revolved around the revolutionary effects. It was used as the benchmark for judging computer graphics for years; Nintendo made a big deal about how Silicon Graphics, whose hardware rendered the effects, created the N64's graphics chip.

TheWiicast said:
No love for Wrath of Kahn?

:(
Click to expand...

Another one from the team that would become Pixar. In 1982!
 
B

Blake'sGrave

Member
Why would you do that? said:
1990 - The Rescuers Down Under
flPW0Lx.jpg

This movie used the still emerging 3D technology REALLY poorly compared to the others. Much of it looks ugly and out of place. Few polygons, bad textures, etc. Worst part is that it used 3D a lot more, too:
- Sydney Opera House (go to 0:45. Check out the poor lighting, flat shading, and rendering glitches.)
- New York City (go to 3:50)
- the flower field in the intro (actually decent)
- globe and misc. in relay scene (go to 0:25. Also decent use of 3D)
Click to expand...

don't talk shit about the rescuers bro, i will end you
 
S

shuri

Banned
The radar display that Luke eventually switches off during the attack on the first Death Star and the 3D hologram animation during the briefing scene with all the pilots were all done on a computer, but MANUALLY. The sfx guys had to manually input the coordinate of each animation frame, hand by hand; and it took them like a month to do and was pure hell.
 
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