A week ago, the Nikkster posted the speech of Bill Mechanic (late of 20th Century-Fox and the Diz Co.) to Indie Film Makers. And I herewith quote:
Nine years ago, I was a healthy and occasionally happy studio executive. I had taken Fox over a 7 year period from a doormat to the #1 studio and before that had spent 9 years at Disney building a then-dormant minor player into a muscular and, for the first time in its history, a real force in the studio world.
... I had fought with Rupert Murdoch over my desire to create a business for Fox in the world of animation. He felt no one could compete with Disney. Nevertheless I started up Fox Animation. ANASTASIA was a start, it made money. TITAN AE a misstep, and lost. Even though that is the nature of the business, that not everything works, he didn’t want to wait for ICE AGE to finish production. I didn’t have a foot out of the door before Fox tried to sell off the film. Luckily for them, they couldn’t get a deal done ...
Days after Mr. Mechanic's speech, I had occasion to talk to two veterans of Blue Sky who were there when Ice Age Uno was being made. They had an interesting tale that tracks the one told by Bill M.:
Mechanic's right. Fox couldn't get a deal done to sell the picture off. But man, were they trying to.
Fox was working hard to dump Ice Age and Blue Sky Studios. They just didn't want to be in the animated feature business. They tried to sell that first feature to Jeffrey, to Pixar, to anybody who'd take it off their hands . Lots of people came through the New York studio to have a look at it. At the same time, Fox was attempting to unload the whole studio. They wanted out completely.
It never happened because the company could never get anybody to bite.
Now, of course, there's all kinds of people at News Corp. taking credit for the big success of the Ice Age series. But there was nobody taking credit back before the Spring of 2002, when the first one was released ...
It's like William Goldman always says: "In Hollywood, nobody knows anything."
Amazing how executives turn into flaming geniuses when a movie ends up making lots of money. And they're geniuses despite the fact they never wanted to make the movie in the first place, and in fact fought tenaciously to stop it.
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9 comments:
I take issue with Mechanic's claim that he made Disney "for the first time in its history, a real force n the studio world". Uh, I think Walt succeeded in that prior to Mechanic's ascension, no?
Mechanic (seems a nice enough fellow, I don't really know) like many Hollywood types has a short memory, probably only aware of the Disney studio's history as far back as the late 60's at most .
The real Walt Disney era probably seems like ancient history shrouded in the mists of time. He's talking about "Disney" as it existed in the late 60's - to - 70's and most of the 80's -- "Apple Dumpling Gang", "Pete's Dragon" , "Computer Wore Tennis Shoes", "Last Flight of Noah's Ark", "Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo", "Fox & the Hound" Disney.
I suppose he's right in a way ... despite major box-office successes like Mary Poppins and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and the classic animated features I suppose Disney's could be considered a "boutique studio" compared to the volume cranked out by the major studios.
Yup. And ever since, Blue Sky has been the unwanted red-headed stepchild to Fox, but they gotta keep them around because results are results.
Although, there is a 2 page spread in Variety this week thanking Blue Sky for making them 875 million dollars at the box office. I wonder what percentage of that the employees see added to their paychecks?
PS) Get ready for Ice Age 4
All this didn't stop Fox from shelving Mean Margaret & Sheepish from Film Roman though...
"I take issue with Mechanic's claim that he made Disney "for the first time in its history, a real force n the studio world". Uh, I think Walt succeeded in that prior to Mechanic's ascension, no?"
Ah, no. Walt made a few great films, but was more like Sam Goldwyn as an independent producer. The MAJOR studios (Fox, WB, MGM, RKO, Universal, Paramount, Columbia) were churning out dozens of FEATURE films every month, as well as live action shorts, animated shorts, special projects, and news reels. Sure, much of it was crap--but the percentages then to now are remarkably similar (although output is FAR smaller!). Theater owners loved Walt's films, but they were few and far between (especially during the war). The VAST majority of their bread and butter were the Major studios.
After the war, when studios began to divest themselves of overhead (anti-trust, federal taxes, TV, package agencies), the Disney Studio hung on, making still great films--both live and animated. But still a VERY small percentage of the market compared to every other studio. Walt's emphasis turned to TV and the Parks, and then he died. Just about the same time as the hey-day of the primary majors gasped for a new direction. Disney was last to move forward, and Mechanic--while no major Disney mover or shaker--just happened to be employed there.
Let's not forget that Fox Animation also produced 'Bartok the Magnificent", a timeless masterpiece that every executive should clamor to claim credit for.
Really, this is getting ugly.
It's bad enough that the Middle Kingdom will soon own the world, trying to take over Animationland is just a little much.
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