Andrew O'Hehir of Salon thinks adult animation is upon us.
... [A]s the kidult, media-saturated generations raised since the '70s have grown in consumption power and produced their own offspring, the polarity of animated films has gradually but decisively shifted. ... Pixar has understood for years that its principal demographic is adult viewers, and not necessarily just parents. The studio itself has grown up alongside two or three generations of viewers who have no animus against animation, and who are happy to engage with "cartoons" both as a nostalgic exercise and a valid storytelling medium. ...
In-between praising the animation staff of Emeryville, labeling DreamWorks Animation's output as "purposefully idiotic" and "kid-oriented," and observing that ILM's spanking new animated Rango is filled with references to classic Westerns, O'Hehir notes:
[My six-year-old son] correctly observed afterward, ["Toy Story 3's"] story has a great deal in common with "The Brave Little Toaster," ... (Indeed, the striking similarities might provoke a lawsuit -- if both movies weren't Disney properties.) ...
Of course, John Lasseter was involved with Toaster when it was in development at Disney Feature Animation in the early 1980s, so plot points might have been percolating in his head. Who knows?
I bring it up to highlight the reality that good, newer features often share plots, story-points and dialogue with older movies. As How to Train Your Dragon has similarities to E.T. and other "Boy and his X" motion pictures all the way back to The Yearling, so does the latest Toy Story resemble a hand-drawn feature from a quarter century ago. That happened to have lots of input from Mr. Lasseter and the late Pixar story wizard Joe Ranft.
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8 comments:
Anyone thinking rango is going to break any molds is going to be sadly disappointed. It's as ridiculous a cartoon as they come, and is only slightly uglier than mars needs moms and shrek.
Ahhhh--The Yearling. What a wonderful film, and yet another film featuring a deer produced by Sidney Franklin. The other being, of course, Bambi--which looks terrific on Blu-Ray.
Wow. No one I know ( and isn't a Pixie) think that Pixar's demographic is adult. Sure, they can entertain adults, but that's not really who their films are being aimed at (except for the Incredibles) whereas DW is aiming for an older demographic sometimes to their regret forget to try and entertain children.
I'm not arguing one is better than the other. Just being realistic. Obviously Pixar has found the right combination and is finding their audience more often than DW does.
The O'Hehir piece is one of those articles that was effectively written before the writer even started to do any actual research. It is chock full of foolish misstatements. Why actually look at the Warner Bros. shorts and the Pixar/DreamWorks films, and at their demographics, when you can repeat misinformation that you're sure is true? I mean, who's going to care, a bunch of stupid animators?
When this guy starts off with the premise that Looney Tunes were made for kids but included adult references, his credibility is shot.
To the first poster: Rango has an 82% approval (72 on Metacritic) on Rotten Tomatoes, a fierce marketing campaign, and also a four star review from Ebert (not that it will nessesarily have a huge impact but he is the most famous critic in moviedom). It may not break new ground, but it is already on the way to be the best reviewed picture thus far this year. We have like a day and a half to finding out whether that corresponds to box office sales.
Not for nothing, but Pixar does have a fairly large periphery demographic. It's movies don't do gangbusters just on the backs of kids, like the first two Shreks they appeal to teenagers and adults too. None of their movies are 'kiddy' and, at least the Toy Story 3 and The Incredibles are probably more entertaining to adults than children.
I am currently writing my dissertation, about how we are hopefully reaching the age of adult animation being common place. I hope so at least im only young and i don't particularly want to spend my life entertaining kids, animation is a medium not a genre and there for can tell any ruddy story at all! Also could anyone put me on to some good articles about adult animation?
cheers leaf
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