Here's the thing about union reps visiting studios. The mission is always to cruise through and visit as many employees/members as possible. Mingle with the people who employ you. Show the flag.
Sometimes you're successful, and sometimes ... it's talk intensely to six people for a large amount of time, recognize that you're not going to cover much geography, and call it a day ...
That was my fate for this visit, but I did have a take-away.
Kung Fu Panda has got hand-drawn animation in it, and the DVD is going to have a bunch more of that older animation style that Jeffrey Katzenberg describes as being similar to a "nice, hand-written letter."
I saw, with my own eyes, people animating at animation desks. With animation disks and light boards!
But the black-and-white bear has already been pegged as a winner in various corners of the business world:
... Goldman Sachs analyst Ingrid Chung ... raised her six-month target on DWA shares to $32 from $30 [because] ... Chung and her associates liked the portions of [Kung Fu Panda] they have seen so much that she is proclaiming it the next DWA franchise, predicting a sequel in 2011.
She upped her domestic boxoffice estimate to $220 million, which would make it the ninth-biggest CGI film in history, sandwiched between the Pixar duo of "Cars" and "Ratatouille."
The buzz around the studio has been strongly positive regarding this flick for a long time. Most everyone I've talked to dubs it a winner, which will (hopefully) translate into heavy box office coin.
And Mr. K. is once more beating Disney to the punch. Princess and the Frog isn't going to be the feature that reintroduces "traditional" animation to the big screen. Panda is.
Update: Oh my. It's pointed out below that there has already been two examples of hand-drawn animation in the recent past. One I'd seen but conveniently overlooked, and the other one (Horton) I hadn't laid eyes on.
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16 comments:
"Princess and the Frog isn't going to be the feature that reintroduces "traditional" animation to the big screen. Panda is."
Um, "Enchanted" didn't count ?
:-(
and "Horton Hears a Who" has a hand-drawn animation sequence in it , too .
Horton 2D sequence
Well, Enchanted was mostly live-action, but the point is taken.
And I haven't seen Horton, so I live in ignorance.
Maybe I should do a little more research andthink a little more deeply before blatting things out late at night.
And even IF those sequences in Horton and Enchanted didn't exist, Dreamworks having a 2D animated sequence isn't exactly the same as committing an entire team and production to a traditionally animated film. Let's give credit where credit is due here: Disney is bringing the traditionally animated feature film back, and kudos to them for doing so.
Yeah, but it seems like they're only doing one hand drawn pic and then going back to CG again. What is it, like three or four pics after Frog that are GG? I thought they were going to make hand drawn again, not throw us a bone to shut us up.
I AM JESUS OF NAZARETH!!!!!!!!
BOW BEFORE ME, ANIMATION SCUM!!!!!
ALL YOUR JOBS ARE BELONG TO ME---IN CHINA!!!!!
I AM THE MESSIAH!!!!!
I saw Kung Fu Panda several weeks ago and have been raving about it since. It's excellent in every way, in every department. The hand drawn animation sequence opens the picture in a spectacular way. It's a stylized anime graphic piece. Bravo to all at Dreamworks - every decision made on this picture was correct and it will be huge in theatres this summer.
Wow, Jesus and Jerry Beck in the same comment thread.
Wow, Jesus and Jerry Beck in the same comment thread.
It doesn't get any better than that.
Somehow, I never pictured Jesus being so angry!
Rufus(aka 'The Angel of Death')
So there is a stylized Anime segment in "Horton Hears a Who" and "Kung Fu Panda"? That many scrolling backgrounds might make me dizzy...
regardless of which anime sequence is part of the better, bigger film, there is this from Barron's:
‘PANDA’ LOOKS LIKE DREAMWORKS’ ‘IRON MAN’
”Iron Man” may have ruled at the box office for Marvel Entertainment (MVL) on the opening weekend of the summer box office season. But the metal man faces a formidable new foe in the campaign for box-office supremacy later this summer. Tony Stark, watch out for ”Kung Fu Panda.” That’s right, according to the experts who cover the entertainment business at Goldman Sachs, the animated feature about the exploits of a martial-arts equipped, bamboo-chomping bear could prove to be one of the stalwarts of the summer film slate. And that would do some impressive things for the bottom line at DreamWorks Animation (DWA). In fact, measured from the intraday highs reached Tuesday, the stock has advanced 19% in the span of a week, since its April 29th release of quarterly results, which showed a better-than-expected revenue contribution from sales of its DVD titles. It’ll also be interesting to hear what Walt Disney (DIS), which is slated to report results after the bell Tuesday, has to say about the battle for the hearts and minds of younger theater-goers. Disney’s Pixar has an animated feature, ”Wall*E,” it will release this summer.
Somehow, I never pictured Jesus being so angry!
Ah, but you never pictured Jesus living in 2008, where there is much to be angry about.
From God's marketing dept:
"The 2nd Coming: This Time It's Personal!"
goldman sachs knows good art like it knows mortgage backed securities.
oh, wait. they're the same thing in america.
goldman sachs knows good art like it knows mortgage backed securities.
In point of fact, Goldman Sachs made lots of money out of the subprime debacle -- one of the few investment banks that did. They had little exposure to the stuff.
Which is why their stock price is up.
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