Daniel C. Hein

Disney definitely tried to appeal to a young adult audience with these movies, and the science fiction/steampunk combination and heavy use of CGI reflect this. Obviously it failed commercially at the time, but judging from the cult following that Atlantis and Treasure Planet received afterwards, there is an undeniable appeal for some people.

Having just recently finished watching the entirety of Futurama, I definitely think that ending the series when they did was the right move. For sure, the show still had some blood left in it, unlike Simpsons and Family Guy which have both run their course and then some. But if the show hadn’t ended, it’s likely it would have fallen into the same trap those other shows have — uninspired storylines, out-of-character moments, etc. There were signs of this during the Comedy Central era, but I’d argue there was never a horrible episode of the show. Mediocre ones? Sure. But nothing offensive.

That said, I wouldn’t be averse to more direct-to-DVD movies if the crew came up with a decent-enough storyline. I don’t think the series should be full-on revived, but an occasional movie might not be a bad way to continue the show.

Ito’s style is so unique and visually striking that the first time you see his work, you’re instantly curious (not to mention terrified) to know more about what you’re looking at. What fascinates me most is how Ito uses the sharp contrast of black and white to create richly detailed, visceral artwork. The rugged look to everything just screams “horror.”