Monday, January 19, 2009

So ... This Means Animation Has Arrived?

Hey everybody! The animated motion picture is now on the A-list:

For the first time in its 25-year history, Sundance began with an animated feature. And it's by an Australian. The claymation animated feature Mary and Max by Adam Elliot (Academy Award-winning short “Harvie Krumpet”) is receiving plenty of positive buzz ...

Actually, the entertainment congloms have noticed, I think, that animation can generate huge amounts of cash, and huge amounts of ancillary profits (toys, video games, bubble gum cards, etc.).

They have also noticed that the domestically-built animated feature creates the biggest profits of all. Which is why they still make many in the U.S. of A. (Might not always be the case, but it's the case now.)

Regardless, I wish all the best for the Aussie feature. The folks down under struck gold with Happy Feet. Maybe they'll hit pay dirt again.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sundance has been passe' for nearly 12 years. The only people who still go are old farts looking to find a movie without having to do any work. I hadn't been for a number of years, but went last year and was surprised and how many very scary show-business hangers on were there. As a matter of fact, they comprised the majority of the crowds at the festival.

Anonymous said...

Hey, Too-Cool-For-School,

Can you try that again without the hipster talk? If Sundance is out, what's in? What "hangers on" are you referring to? Fans? Agents? Distributors? Who used to go to Sundance when it was hip? And what does all that have to do with quality of the movie? Is lameness contagious? Is "passe" a synonym for "animation?" Are you saying that no hip, relevant festival would be caught dead leading with an animated feature? What?

My son is a film maker. Please tell me which festival is the hippest so I can save his career before he gets a chance to ruin it with some irrelevant, embarrassing acknowledgment from Sundance.

LarryAnimation.com said...

The opening night film for Sundance 2007 was "Chicago 10", an animated documentary feature. The journalist who wrote that article has no idea what he's talking about.

If you need a first, I suppose "Mary and Max" is the first claymation feature to open Sundance.

Get your facts straight.

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