Disney originally got rich from animating public domain stories, like Cinderella and Snow White. These were the popular stories of the day that people grew up with. Now after nearly a century of Disney, who has bought Star Wars and Marvel, Disney owns all the stories people grow up with. They built up their IP moat using public domain stories, and have used IP law to maintain their incumbency.
To me, the solution is to let the cycle repeat. Let the next animation company start making stories about Spidier-Man or Luke Skywalker. Sure, keep the trademarks so you can't say "Marvels™ Spidier-Man", but John Smith should be able to take a crack at his version of Spider-Man just like Walt got his version of Cinderella.
> So Disney can steal the work of amateur animators and not pay them a dime. Great.
I'm pretty sure they'd have to hire their own animators in order to produce a product to sell. Theft is still a crime, we would be removing Disney's ability to use the police to shut down the work of amateur animators.
