Friday, April 10, 2015

Foreigners in an Animated World

These days, everybody is jumping into cartoons. Like for instance this:

French pay TV giant Canal Plus is joining forces with American filmmaker James Gray to foray into “Hard Apple,” an adult-skewing animated series. ...

Inspired by New York-born author Jerome Charyn’s “Isaac Sidel” novels, the series opens in the 1970s and charts the rise of New York City’s premier law enforcer, detective Isaac Sidel, as he covers three decades of crime and political corruption. ...

Or this:

Technicolor is looking to grow its position in the feature animation world with the acquisition of VFX and animation production company Mikros Image. The company has entered into an agreement with Mediacontech, Mikros’ parent company, to acquire Mikros in a deal that's expected to close during this quarter. ...

“The acquisition of Mikros Image aligns with our strategic objective to grow in animation and advertising,” said Technicolor CEO Frederic Rose. “Their proven expertise in feature animation film and advertising will strengthen our offering.” ...

When I got into cartoons back during the Ulysses S. Grant administration, nobody was trying to "grow in animation." It was a dying art form, with Disney doing its one animated movie every four years, and other companies doing cheap tv show or theatrical features.

What a difference forty years make. Now you have to slice your way through anmated properties with a machete, there are so many of them. All it took was a string of animated hits on screens big and little, and everybody and his Aunt Betty started racing to produce animated features and sitcoms. Who would have thought?

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