Ash Ketchum

http://variety.com/2013/digital/news...ul-1200566445/

He laments the sameness of animated features these days, something I agree with him on. And they all seem to be aimed at the same audience. It would be as if, when I was growing up, a Disney animated feature came out every week and we never got to see westerns, war movies, adventures, sci-fi, comedies, etc. We were lucky if we got one good animated feature a year back then (and it was usually a Disney re-release). I can run off the top of my head every animated feature I saw in theaters in the 1960s: THE SNOW QUEEN, PETER PAN, SWORD IN THE STONE, THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET, FANTASIA, SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS and THE JUNGLE BOOK. 7 films, only two non-Disney, two new Disney, and three Disney re-releases. I saw the same number of James Bond films in the '60s.

And I wish there were more 2-D animated features in the mix among today's releases. The last Hollywood 2-D animated feature I remember liking (a lot!) was SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON (2002), an animated western (which, sadly, did about as well as the recent LONE RANGER). Japan still makes a lot of 2-D features. It bothers me that Selick didn't even mention anime. The two best animated features I saw this year were 2-D films from Japan, WOLF CHILDREN and FROM UP ON POPPY HILL, pictured here:

Why So Blu?

I agree with him.

Quatermass

I just read this article on Slate that talks about a specific formula down to the page level for screenplays that make all movies seem the same. I'm sure it's a similar situation with animated films. I don't think the book they mentioned invented the formula, just documented it.

Hokeyboy

Remember when Pixar pushed the envelope three years in a row, with Ratatouille, WALL-E, and Up? I thought all three were not only superlative, but really stepped outside of their comfort zone to provide something fresh and unique to audiences.

Since then? Toy Story 3, Cars 2, Brave, and Monsters University 2. While I loved the first and liked the last two (let's not talk about Cars 2), they really had to dial their innovation back to please shareholders with PRODUCT!! Thankfully, it looks like they're turning that ship around with their next batch of releases (save for Finding Dory).

I really thought Dreamworks was heading for a big quality turnaround with the exceptional How To Tame Your Dragon, but then ratcheted it back to mediocre, snarky, star-driven mediocrity with the likes of Megamind, Shrek 4, Madagascar 3, The Croods, etc.

Honestly, I think Disney Animation has made huge strides with the likes of Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph. I hope Frozen can keep that quality streak going.

But somewhere out there, there's gotta be another Iron Giant. Small, lower budget, under the radar, but brilliant. Could that even be made now? And why for? Groin

Why So Blu?

Iron Giant is over 10 years old now, I think. Fuck.

resinrats

Isn't it more audiences fault that there isn't more 2D movies. They release them and hardly anyone goes to see them. Disney tried with that Frog Princess & it wasn't a huge hit. People turn up for 3d CGI films so that's what studios make.

Hokeyboy

14, actually. Summer of 1999.

Why So Blu?

Fuck, I'm getting old.

Artman

Wouldn't say he slammed it. For the most part I agree with the points... the rising tide of Animation mega-hits hasn't lifted all the boats. I'd like to see more small/moderate budgeted films that are more unique, but wide theatrical releases for those are going to be nearly impossible going forward. Also, due to the rising prices - I usually only go see the big "event" films in theaters.

It's creatively frustrating, but at the same time - you can't blame investors for not backing films that have a much smaller audience/potential to break out.

mattysemo247

Iron Giant REALLY needs to come out on blu ray soon.

Sondheim

Well, ParaNorman was one of my favorite films (animated or otherwise) in a long time. I loved its visual style, its slightly quirky worldview, its intelligence, its emotional resonance, and the fact that it didn't condescend to its audience. So I haven't completely given up on Hollywood animation.

With that said... The problems Selick outlines seem to be true of Hollywood in general right now. Producers are convinced (and usually right?) that only mega-spectacles will sell, so production budgets are ballooning to extraordinary levels. When you've committed that much money to a project, you don't want to risk alienating audiences with idiosyncratic stories or "unusual" artistic choices - so you make sure the resulting product is as generic and accessible to as many people as possible. That does cause things to seem a bit homogenous.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not naive. Profit always has been and always will be an important consideration in the film industry. I'm not arguing that Hollywood studios should sacrifice themselves for the sake of allowing a few directors to fulfill their "artistic vision."

But with blockbusters now usually costing hundreds of millions (and more!) to make, I do wonder if there might be other, more sustainable models. I do like the idea of there being a greater focus on making more smaller-budgeted films aimed at more specific audiences, rather than relying on a few huge films to make all their profits. But maybe that wouldn't work, I don't know.

PhantomStranger

The Japanese are still producing animated movies of much higher quality than Hollywood these days. Each animated film from Hollywood is so entirely predictable, that they might as well come from a standard mold. The only animated film I've really liked out of Hollywood in recent years was MegaMind.

Sondheim

Of course, it probably didn't help that, gorgeous animation aside, The Princess and the Frog was a terrible movie.This isn't really on-topic, but... Are there any other recent Japanese animated films people here would recommend?

From the past two or three years, I've seen (and enjoyed) From Up on Poppy Hill and Children Who Chase Lost Voices. I also just added Wolf Children to my watchlist. But I don't think I know of any other really recent films other than those.

Ash Ketchum

Not as recent, but have you seen SUMMER WARS (2009)? It's excellent and it's from the director of WOLF CHILDREN and THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME.
WELCOME TO THE SPACE SHOW and OBLIVION ISLAND are both pretty interesting ones that have come out here that originally ran at the New York International Children's Film Festival. An even better one is MAI MAI MIRACLE, but it hasn't been officially released here yet.

Terrell

I agree with you. Right now Disney animated films are starting to get better than Pixar, and I thought it would be a while before I said that. Pixar has gotten sequel-itis.

RichC2

Animation is used to sell family comedies now, it's almost a lock. There is no real attempt to make it a piece of timeless storytelling.

imo, the last good Pixar movie was Ratatouille. Up starts off phenomenally but quickly goes downhill. I also feel like they've told the same generic story at least 10 times now.

I blame a majority of this on Shrek, I probably shouldn't, but I do.

Supermallet

I agree about Up. It was the first Pixar movie I didn't love on the first viewing. I think it's better now than I first gave it credit for, but I'd say it's a solid B, which coming off of the Pixar filmography up to that point, is still a disappointment.

Hokeyboy

I'd like Pixar to tackle the kind of movies Disney attempted in the late 70s/80s (and often failed at). Something ambitious and a little askew, but fascinating. When Disney was trying stuff like The Black Hole, Tron, Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Watcher in The Woods, etc. Darker material that can still reach family audiences (albeit older than G-rating crowd).

Something like Monster House, which I thought was excellent.

Michael Corvin

Yeah I mentioned that in another thread but they've really reversed roles. 4 year time frame of Walt Disney vs Pixar:

Disney:
Bolt
The Princess And The Frog
Tangled
Frankenweenie
Wreck It Wraph

Pixar:
Toy Story 3
Cars 2
Brave
Monsters 2
Nemo 2

Outside of Brave and obviously Finding Dory, I'd rather watch any of the 5 Disney flicks over the Pixar sequels. It's really sad to see Pixar falter, but good to see Disney trying new stuff.

Artman

Finding Dory isn't until Nov '15. Next three summers are originals, with the Dinosaur one next.

Outside of Cars 2 I really don't have any issues with Pixar - still the best imo. Though I am a little nervous about the announced schedule of two movies every other year.

Disney's still uneven for me - loved PATF and Tangled... but couldn't finish Wreck-it-Ralph. (don't think I'd include Frankenweenie, tho it was also a miss for me) I'm hoping Frozen is a Tangled clone... best case scenario imo.

And Dreamworks is just doing too many movies... which will keep giving them more ROTG's and Turbo's if they keep it up. I hate to say it, but they should downsize if having too much staff is the issue.

Supermallet

Frankenweenie was not good, but it's Tim Burton, so that was expected. I also wish Disney would stop including a montage in all of their animated films (Frankenweenie aside) that is set to a shitty pop song by their latest kid singer du jour.

bluetoast

Corvin you're leaving out Winnie the Pooh and the fact that Disney is doing Planes.

Supermallet

Winnie the Pooh was delightful.

bluetoast

Haven't gotten a chance to see it yet. To clarify, not saying it was bad just noting the omission.

Michael Corvin

Forgot about Pooh. As for Planes, it falls outside my 4 year window... which is clearly fucked up since I thought Dory was up next.

Oh well.

Ouch. I'm not a Burton fan but I liked it.