The rest of this year is gonna be a killer; in a good way after October too! A varied number of week links for you today thanks to some great articles that popped up on my radar.
How to Write A “Simpsons” Episode, According to Original Show Writer Al Jean
Some great pointers in this. Too bad the show actively ignores the ones that matter. For those that are curious or who want to learn from the best, it’s a great place to start though.
Cartoon Network: Netflix Is Hurting Our TV Ratings
This article is worth reading, but should come with some caveats. Namely that it’s an external analyst that says their ratings are dropping thanks to Netflix and nowhere is the quality of the programming discussed. Wouldn’t that seem relevant? If all you broadcast is reruns of Johnny Test, then of course ratings will suffer. And speaking of Johnny Test….
TV Helmer Sues For ‘Johnny Test’ Credit
I was on the verge of giving this revelation its own post but to be honest, it’s not worth it until it concludes. Long story short, it took the guy seven years to find out something he created was allegedly stolen. Call me a sceptic but it always makes sense to sue only after something has become a success. It’s a waste of lawyers’ fees otherwise, right?
The Simpsons, deconstructed
Artist JK Keller took an episode of the Simpsons, ran the entire thing through some audio and video filters, and somehow it retains the full character of the show while also seeming like, as Keller puts it, “a frenetic mess of sight and sound”.
http://vimeo.com/37127916
Disney’s Non-Strategy Strategy to Combat Unauthorized Disneyland Horror Movie
Disney actually deserve props for not using the nuclear legal bomb on this film and are actually probably right that not getting involved will allow it to all blow over naturally. Still though, they’re quite alone in that regard as Hollywood studios are normally notorious for suing anyone into oblivion when copyright is involved.
The Future of Cinemas
The theatrical experience is changing. It always has, but now more so than ever, the cinema is losing the final card it had to play as far as content goes; namely that it was the only place you could see [mainstream] features first. That’s changed and thanks to intense competition from cable TV and the web. simply having the latest Hollywood blockbuster first isn’t the draw that it used to be.
Paul Sawyers at The Next Web takes a holistic look at the cinema and what they really mean to us going forward. Since feature animation is, at the time of writing, so dependent on the box office in order to become profitable, any changes to the system should be studied closely by anyone in the industry.
Tweets of the Week
https://twitter.com/DanOnAnimation/status/380017765953699840
https://twitter.com/kevanshorey/status/380377913838686208
https://twitter.com/le_bibo/status/380676089606987777
Jenny Lerew speaks the truth. Fans often come up with theories that an animated cartoon that has a large online following gets canceled on television so the network can produce things that they don’t like.
It’s partly because studios control the flow of information coming out of them. The truth never hurts in the long run and sometimes a network really should just be brutally honest and say why a show really got canned.
What’s worse though is when the truth only comes out long after the fact. Like with Sym-Bionic Titan; it didn’t sell enough merchandise but this was never communicated to anyone until it was far too late to do anything about it. Perhaps if CN had been more upfront with their expectations, fans could have responded and supported the show in greater numbers.