In an interview with Daily Variety, John Lasseter, chief creative officer at Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Feature Animation, has said that the studio is dedicated to creating more original short films, but would also like to release classic Disney cartoons as preludes to animated features shown in theaters. Lasseter hasn’t said which titles he’d like to see back up on the big screen, but the sentiment is in keeping with his reported desire to bring Disney back to it roots and thrust 2D back into the spotlight.

Disney has kept the hand-drawn fires burning to some degree with animated shorts. The most recent of these is Roger Allers’ The Little MatchGirl. Adapted from a Hans Christian Andersen tale, the film is one of five nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short this year. Also up for the award is Pixar’s Lifted, director Gary Rydstrom’s 3D look at how an alien learns the art of abducting a human.

Lasseter told Daily Variety that while there’s no real market for animated shorts, the medium serves as a great training ground for new talent and gives audiences more bang for their buck. “With every Pixar film, we want a short in front of it,” he says. “We want to overdeliver.”

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