tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post1133649660832128895..comments2024-03-26T22:42:06.412-07:00Comments on TAG Blog: The Widening Toon MartSteve Huletthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05537689111433326847noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-72588365744184309152009-06-09T10:05:38.978-07:002009-06-09T10:05:38.978-07:00"Animators have a hard time seeing the virtue..."Animators have a hard time seeing the virtues blah blah blah"<br /><br />No bias on your opinion there.<br /><br />Thanks for painting all of us with the same brush, as well. <br /><br />Although I do agree to a certain degree, that the general public, can only vaguely tell good animation from bad animation. Which is sad. Bad animation has to be "Hoodwinked" bad to be recognized as such.<br /><br />Great animation is the cherry on top. After all, we animators put the "animated" on "Animated Feature".<br /><br />R.rnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-92044810605364812972009-06-09T06:57:02.569-07:002009-06-09T06:57:02.569-07:00People are more than willing to see movies filled ...People are more than willing to see movies filled with bad writing time and time again. Hollywood thrives on bad writing. It coddles, rewards, promotes and perpetuates it. THAT is the Mother of All Lost Battles.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-16073856473033896242009-06-08T19:44:07.999-07:002009-06-08T19:44:07.999-07:00"Had it been animated well, they could have s..."Had it been animated well, they could have seen double or triple that"<br /><br />Yep...but the return on investment was something like what...340%?<br /><br />Executives will take that return any day of the week. Quality animation be damned.<br /><br />I mean, the Weinsteins have crapped out how many features since that one? I think I counted 6 or so on the blockbuster new release shelves last weekend alone.<br /><br />As long as people are willing to pay for crap animation, we are fighting a losing battle with this one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-15508794611684915952009-06-08T18:13:10.525-07:002009-06-08T18:13:10.525-07:00Animation matters:
Hoodwinked
http://www.rottento...Animation matters:<br /><br />Hoodwinked<br />http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1155109-hoodwinked/<br /><br />"Someone give these folks a real budget so they can make a movie that looks as good as it sounds. "<br /><br />"The animation isn't even comparable to the original Toy Story, but the clever wit behind the plot and characters is."<br /><br />"The idea is so great that it's a crying shame that the end product is such a sheep in wolf's clothing."<br /><br />"..the computer animation is adequate at best, but that doesn't get in the way of some genuine cleverness."<br /><br />Rotten Tomatoes score: 48%<br />Box Office: $51 mil<br /><br />Had it been animated well, they could have seen double or triple thatgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-28047092635456606042009-06-07T11:00:31.127-07:002009-06-07T11:00:31.127-07:00I would agree with this article except that I know...I would agree with this article except that I know for a fact what the animators have to go through in order to work at Imagi in Hong Kong.<br /><br />Most are under the age of 25. Most make less than 20K a year. And to me the worst part is that most literally had to bring cots to work to put under their desk during TMNT so that they could work for a while, sleep for a while, and roll back from under their desk to keep working without going home for days. 80-90 hour weeks for months at a time.<br /><br />So, as much as I would love to pull for a studio like that...I can't. Not with those conditions. And not when other studios around the world look at an inkling of success Imagi might have and decide that THIS is how you make movies.<br /><br />No thanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-85122619627706762572009-06-07T10:40:03.162-07:002009-06-07T10:40:03.162-07:00My two cents.
Good animation makes a huge differe...My two cents.<br /><br />Good animation makes a huge difference in the quality and success of an animated film.<br /><br />I think people who state otherwise don't know a great deal about the cartoon industry or the history of animated films. (And yes, you can always point to "exceptions." But if you look at the history of animation -- both features and shorts -- I think the overal rule is inescapable. Quality animation is anintegral part of the quality of the finished product.) <br /><br />Even "Dumbo", which didn't have much of Disney's top-line staff (most were on "Bambi"), enjoyed the talents of Ward Kimball and Fred Moore.Steve Huletthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05537689111433326847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-71840991993118201662009-06-07T10:23:01.371-07:002009-06-07T10:23:01.371-07:00Gee, thanks Joseph Campbell for enlightening the G...Gee, thanks Joseph Campbell for enlightening the Great Unwashed with your Maxim's of Formula for Perfect Film-making. I'll be sure to spin out crap scene after crap scene on your next epic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-18689618395175465312009-06-07T09:03:25.359-07:002009-06-07T09:03:25.359-07:00Animators have a hard time seeing past the vitues ...Animators have a hard time seeing past the vitues of good and bad animation, though I'm surprised Kevin was the one to bite. <br /><br />One of the best examples of a well told story that became a hit with really poor animation and design (verging on really bad at times)is Shrek. There are are other examples, but I think Shrek helps prove the point nicely.<br /><br />Maybe Kevin is right in some ways though...Disney didn't benefit from putting great animation into bad stories (Atlantis, Treasure Planet, Black Cauldron, Rescuers Down Under, etc), but Pixar certainly has. Would Cars, Ratatouille, Bug's Life (not a big hit, but in retrospect seems to have benefited from being part of the canon)and even Nemo (one of the weakest stories they've ever told) have been hits without strong animation? Hell, I doubt they would've been hits if they had been made with good 2D animation...<br /><br />Did Shrek 2 benefit from far superior animation than the first Shrek? It was a bigger hit than Shrek 1, but I don't think the animation quality had anything to do with it.<br /><br />So let's ammend the maxim. The unfortunate truth is that good animation can not ever save a bad story. And bad animation can't ruin a good story. This holds true for all other studios except Pixar...?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-11463386377866180452009-06-06T18:11:22.987-07:002009-06-06T18:11:22.987-07:00The unfortunate truth (unfortunate for animators) ...<i>The unfortunate truth (unfortunate for animators) is that good animation can not ever save a bad story.<br />And bad animation can't ruin a good story</i>.<br /><br />I hear this all the time, yet there are plenty of examples that prove it false. An animated film with bad animation is like a live-action film with bad acting -- it's unwatchable. And a film that is wonderfully acted, even if the story is wacky, still has a chance to be enjoyable, just like a film with great animation.<br /><br />Ideally the story AND the animation are both great, but good animation is an absolutely vital part of good storytelling.Kevin Kochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03106628232118096961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-42566364040347177522009-06-06T17:35:36.442-07:002009-06-06T17:35:36.442-07:00"A good story, supplemented by great characte..."A good story, supplemented by great characters with strong personalities, deep emotions, a touch of psychological understanding, some interesting motivations, clever plot twists, humor, tension, pacing, staging, acting and inspired visuals all contribute to the final package"<br /><br />And great distribution and marketing that supports the film.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-40280222832344326072009-06-06T14:51:06.190-07:002009-06-06T14:51:06.190-07:00The unfortunate truth (unfortunate for animators) ...The unfortunate truth (unfortunate for animators) is that good animation can not ever save a bad story. <br />And bad animation can't ruin a good story.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-1116878807765467332009-06-06T12:53:05.326-07:002009-06-06T12:53:05.326-07:00To suggest that what separates the big boys from t...<b><br />To suggest that what separates the big boys from the pretenders is only "story" is far too much of a simplification of the recipe. That's like saying the most important thing in a chess game is the King. </b><br /><br />"Dumbo", one of Disney's best animated features, was done with (mostly) B-list animators.<br /><br />Animator Frank Thomas dissed the picture ("There's a mistake in every scene), but it's still great.<br /><br />And it's great, IMO, because of characters and story.Steve Huletthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05537689111433326847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-9662489847368631662009-06-06T12:43:27.350-07:002009-06-06T12:43:27.350-07:00"A journey, after all, begins with the first ...<b>"A journey, after all, begins with the first pixel... "<br /><br />You just used several hundred words explaining why story is so important then destroy that notion by implying that a minute particle of a computer image is where it all begins. <br /> </b><br /><br />...<br /><br />Dear Mr. Literalist:<br /><br />It was a play on an old, cliched Chinese proverb. A jokey, word pirouette at the end, as it were.<br /><br />But if you haven't noticed, scripts and storyboards are now created on <b>computers</b>.<br /><br />Therefore <b>pixels</b>.Steve Huletthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05537689111433326847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-70518045655244700952009-06-06T11:16:15.904-07:002009-06-06T11:16:15.904-07:00"No management is going to shovel money at so..."No management is going to shovel money at some artists (who by this premise couldn't raise it on their own) to make a movie and expect to have no input on it. The ideal situation would be management with good movie-making sense who can direct all the conflicting artist ideas (do you really think all those artists are going to agree on everything?) toward a final product."<br /><br /><br />By your analogy, management couldn't make a film happen either, because if they did, they wouldn't need to hire artists.<br /><br />Management should manage the production. That's different from running it into the ground. That's different from ASSuming that they can make as good or better artistic decisions as the artists management has hired to do artistic jobs.<br /><br />Artists have to let management do their job...management should let artists do <i>their</i> jobs. In my dreamland, this would happen with a touch of respect on each side for the other, since usually both sides can't do both jobs.Aniranterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08611669982399792683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-21212935550530248432009-06-06T10:12:05.738-07:002009-06-06T10:12:05.738-07:00"You've got to draw their eyes crossed! A..."You've got to draw their eyes crossed! And have their tongues sticking out! And make sure every dialogue scene looks like the character is chewing a great big wad of bubble gum!"<br /><br />- Don BluthAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-44282211981313891162009-06-06T09:07:57.462-07:002009-06-06T09:07:57.462-07:00""You've got to make the audience ca...""You've got to make the audience care about your characters! You've got to make those characters live! You've got to involve them in the story you're telling!""<br /><br />don bluth couldn't tell a story that anyone but patients at bellvue could care about.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-20278033612536530332009-06-06T09:06:38.639-07:002009-06-06T09:06:38.639-07:00"Recipes for becoming the next Pixar:
1. Get ..."Recipes for becoming the next Pixar:<br />1. Get a sugar daddy like Steve Jobs to foot the bill while the creatives "create" for 3 plus years.<br />2. Be sure to stock the staff with Cal Arts pals who love smelling each other's farts.<br />3. Make everyone read Robert McKee's "Story", or at least a Cliff Note's version before writng a script.<br />4. Find an established movie to basically adapt and disguise it as paying homage.<br />5. Get Disney to spend a shitload of moola to promote it.<br />6. And give everyone Segway Scooters.'<br /><br />Somebody wasn't talented enough to get a job at Pixar.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-89827728491891545022009-06-06T09:02:13.848-07:002009-06-06T09:02:13.848-07:00Thanks to the piss poor management and lack of fil...Thanks to the piss poor management and lack of film making skills of Fred Dachau, Frank Gladstone, and Max Howard, quest for camelot isn't only "flat and derivatie," but just plain CRAP! And it flopped big time.. If you want folks who can run a business into the ground, hire them!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-73251631001245450172009-06-06T05:20:07.475-07:002009-06-06T05:20:07.475-07:00Astroboy looks cool. I saw a trailer for it while ...Astroboy looks cool. I saw a trailer for it while attending an UP screening, and audience response was pretty positive. The trailer could have been a bit more informative, however; a mention of Osamu Tezuka, the creator of Astroboy and the God of Manga, would have been nice. But I'll have to admit that while I, as a Tezuka fan, am looking forward to the film, I'm not at all sure how today's kids will react to it. Hopefully it'll be a hit. I'd love to see more of Tezuka's creations get the bigscreen treatment.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-86342204932016878632009-06-05T22:09:21.266-07:002009-06-05T22:09:21.266-07:00"A management that is brave enough, and savvy..."A management that is brave enough, and savvy enough to leave their creators alone."<br /><br />If that's what management should, then what is management?<br /><br />No management is going to shovel money at some artists (who by this premise couldn't raise it on their own) to make a movie and expect to have no input on it. The ideal situation would be management with good movie-making sense who can direct all the conflicting artist ideas (do you really think all those artists are going to agree on everything?) toward a final product.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-25982024571579174012009-06-05T21:49:51.955-07:002009-06-05T21:49:51.955-07:00Recipes for becoming the next Pixar:
1. Get a sug...Recipes for becoming the next Pixar:<br />1. Get a sugar daddy like Steve Jobs to foot the bill while the creatives "create" for 3 plus years.<br />2. Be sure to stock the staff with Cal Arts pals who love smelling each other's farts.<br />3. Make everyone read Robert McKee's "Story", or at least a Cliff Note's version before writng a script.<br />4. Find an established movie to basically adapt and disguise it as paying homage.<br />5. Get Disney to spend a shitload of moola to promote it.<br />6. And give everyone Segway Scooters.<br /><br />And Presto you have your next Pixar!<br /><br />:)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-19640966653899913282009-06-05T21:33:36.137-07:002009-06-05T21:33:36.137-07:00a shite childhood, heavy drinking, large debt and ...a shite childhood, heavy drinking, large debt and a shotgun nearby to end it all also helps quite a bit.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-30196121589807110242009-06-05T20:25:24.456-07:002009-06-05T20:25:24.456-07:00Have the Disney Brand associated with your movie a...Have the Disney Brand associated with your movie and 50+ million $ in marketing also help to make a hitAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-44126418391541399552009-06-05T20:19:24.570-07:002009-06-05T20:19:24.570-07:00I think this is true... The evidence suggests that...I think this is true... <b>The evidence suggests that it is easier to list the elements that make a good story than to actually implement them.</b>.<br /><br />...because studios dont do this...<br /><br /><b>A management that is brave enough, and savvy enough to leave their creators alone.</b>gnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-91943733993507960212009-06-05T19:44:33.948-07:002009-06-05T19:44:33.948-07:00The evidence suggests that it is easier to list th...The evidence suggests that it is easier to list the elements that make a good story than to actually implement them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com