Nov. 20, 2023
By Sena Fidan
Staff Writer
From princesses to superhumans, Disney and the Marvel Cinematic Universe have captured the hearts and minds of viewers of all ages. But what’s really behind the unworldly villains and magic wands? In recent months, both Disney and Marvel Visual Effects artists have unanimously voted to unionize with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s union votes were counted on Sept. 12 with zero votes against unionization. Disney’s 18 eligible VFX artists’ votes resulted in a 13 in favor, zero opposed vote.
Fifteen years ago, the Marvel Cinematic Universe introduced to the world its first movie, “Iron Man” starring Robert Downey Jr. Since then, it has racked up 32 films and 23 shows, with more projects in progress. In the past, tickets have sold out in the first six hours of sales, and fans have flooded movie theaters.
Generations of youths have grown up watching evil stepmothers and young princesses find their princes. WIth their first release in 1937, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” Walt Disney Animation Studios has been leading the animation industry for decades. The movies have set the standard for the fantasy category and are known for constantly outdoing themselves.
Saying they are overworked and underpaid, VFX artists for the MCU and Disney had been voicing their complaints for years.
Sophomore Evangelise Amaya, who was part of the Studio Arts Honors class last year said the artists have grown tired of having their effort overlooked.
“Artists can be perfectionists at times, and having those circumstances just doesn’t help,” Amaya said. “It ruins the thought process, and being pressured into doing art just makes somebody hate art.”
“Artists can be perfectionists at times, and having those circumstances just doesn’t help.”
Other workers have also said Marvel and Disney pay much less than expected, especially considering the size and popularity of the companies.
“Knowing the circumstances of what the artist has had to go through to produce a movie, it’s kind of sad,” Amaya said.
With increased workloads and tight deadlines, VFX artists are allegedly given few or no bathroom or meal breaks. The artists have made complaints stating they constantly have to work overtime, some even working 64 hour weeks because they are given a six-month timeframe to create a two-and-a-half hour project, 97% of which consists of visual effects.
Disney and Marvel’s strong reputations when it comes to natural-looking animations means the companies expect high quality outputs from their artists.
Mr. Petruzziello, who teaches Animation and Motion Graphics as well as graphic design, said when he was growing up, every Disney movie was pivotal for the technical improvements it presented.
“It’s really complex, so they have entire teams that just work on one character’s hair,” Petruzziello said.
When expectations are so high but pay and appreciation is low, burnout for the artists is a major risk. In fact, former employees have stated that Marvel is the reason they left the VFX industry.
“[Consider] a voice actor who voices Simba [from ‘The Lion King’] or voices a main character and how much they get paid versus the hours and hours and hours it takes to draw out that character, animate that character. How much are those animators getting paid when they’re really the ones really bringing the character to life?” Petruzziello said.
Petruzziello said it is important for the VFX community to unionize.
“For so long, artists were taken advantage of. Artists weren’t paid properly,” Petruzziello said.
Senior Melissa Gempp, who has taken Petruzziello’s Animation and Motion Graphic Design class at LHS, said deadlines for graphics and animation are stressful.
“I had to animate a 10-minute project one time, and I worked on it non-stop,” Gempp said.
One of Marvel’s newer projects, the continuing movie trilogy “The Spider-Verse Saga,” has received attention for its outstanding animation in its first movie, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” along with its most recent release, the trilogy’s second movie, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”
“[‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’] definitely had an impact. The animation is unique and beautiful and definitely influences other movies, possibly changing the animation game forever,” Gempp said.
As more information comes out, fans like Gempp have become disappointed in their favorite movie creators.
“I don’t think the movies should be looked at differently. It’s still artists’ amazing work. It, however, makes me feel negatively about the companies, and maybe I’d want to watch the movies in a way that would be less profitable to the companies,” Gempp said.
Disney and the Marvel Cinematic Universe have yet to make a statement as the VFX community waits to see where their newly created unions will lead them.
