I always believed that the reason Lasseter disliked Sanders was due to different beliefs in story telling. If you look at the works of Pixar they really follow their motto of "Story is King". Everything is in service to the overall story, which could be seen as why a few of the films are highly emotionally manipulative. Lasseter was more or less the daddy of the company, and it can be assumed that he came up with the motto or at least pushed this approach. I can't say there's anything particularly wrong with this, but it is worth noting. Strong example!es of this are The Incredibles (which is heavily benefited by this, due to allowing for the reveal of Syndrome and the marital drama) and, Up which is why Married Life is so strong. It could also be said that the reason The Good Dinosaur and Brave fell a bit flat is that they were telling heavily character stories with the emphasis on the story, leading to nothing being that strong.
If you look at the works of Sanders, he makes character oriented pictures. They're not so much about what happens, but the people it happens to and the time spent with them. Lilo and Stitch for example has a lot of stuff that could be considered filler from a story perspective, but in the context of the movie really brings it to life. This is epitomised in The Croods, which has the most stock point a-point b travel plot, but the family relationships really make it worth watching.
It wouldn't surprise me from here if Lasseter thought Sanders' work was dog shit and was appalled that Lilo did so unfathomably well. It could also be extrapolated that Lasseter wasn't a fan of older Disney movies due to Walt's insistence on adding more of the "good stuff" which were gags, character moments, and songs. Reports I've read indicate he couldn't care less about the story as it was only to service the good stuff. Probably a stretch but PatF and Pooh could have been sabotaged to end an archaic era of Disney.
You could even speculate that Meet the Robinsons was sabotaged in a similar way as in interviews with people who worked on the film, they say the were glad it turned out horribly as they didn't like any of the changes they were forced to make by Lasseter.
This is all soeculation, but I'm sure it all goes together somehow
Really? Wow, though it does make a lot of sense.
I always say the reason why Disney nowadays has lost its Disney touch is due to repeating the Pixar formula a little too much for anyone's liking, if you're not sure what I'm saying...
Despite the different themes, the Pixar all pretty much have the same story? It's always two characters who don't get along must go on a wacky roadtrip to mend their relationship and discover the best of themselves. Pixar is clever enough to disguise it with different well thought worlds, messages and character, but with Disney it's much more transparent. With Disney is like:
-Character A is a serious, adorkable hardworking girl with a dream. A certified badass ready to make her dreams occur even if society doubts her. Only flaws may be that she's a little naive and sheltered, but everything will work out for her in the end. (Tiana, Rapunzel, Anna, Judy, Moana)
-Character B is a cynical asshole, smug and arrogant who thinks himself being better than he is. He doesn't like the girl at first, but after some wacky adventures he bonds and falls in love with her, opening to her his tragic backstory at some point in the middle of the story. Or just become a friend, since Disney thinks romances are sexist nowadays and don't want to make any more romantic fairy tales. (Naveen, Flynn, Kristoff, Nick, Maui)
Add in some wacky adventures, Tumblr politics, a generic "be yourself" message, and a plot twist villain, because why not.
I know people complain about the Renaissance/90s films being "the same", but I feel the sameness is found easier nowadays than before. Or maybe I'm just nostalgic, but I'm just not feeling the new Disney movies. I thought the politics in Zootopia were dumb; I watch Disney movies for the magic and escapism, not social justice bullshit. If I want some preppy rabbit girl telling me n-word privileges I'd just go to Tumblr. I like romances and I don't feel they're so horrible and sexist that they need to be cut down. And CGI just looks the same to me, you can't vary in designs the way 2D does.
