The Animation Anomaly – Page 45 – Musings From The One And Only

There’s Little Reason To Freak Out Over Motorcity’s Ratings

Now I will admit that I have yet to see Disney/Titmouse’s latest series, Motorcity, but what I have heard has been mostly positive, so I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt here. Last week, I cam upon this post over on Tumblr (I know, I know, grain of salt etc.) that extols fans to watch and talk about the show. The reason is simple; :”It’s not doing very well”.

This apparent lack of success is measured thus:

According to wikipedia, the show only scraped up half a million views for its premiere episode, and since then each new episode premiere has averaged at around 0.3 million views. That’s only 300,000 people an episode, and reruns are probably getting even fewer views, as the fanbase is tiny and almost every single episode has been leaked onto the internet prior to airtime. The show’s on hiatus right now and could be in serious danger of getting canceled soon.

In a country of 300 million, 300,000 does seem like an appallingly low number. However, things are not as bad as the post’s author makes it out to be.

A cursory glance around the interwebs reveals that Disney XD (the channel on which Motorcity is broadcast) actually doesn’t have an audience much larger than 300,000. In fact, that’s about as high as its ever gotten (Q2 2012 viewer numbers was 390,000). So in fact, Motorcity is performing pretty much in line with the channel’s overall performance.

So if the show is performing as good as the network itself, there is little reason to freak out over the ratings is there? No, there isn’t. Now naturally more viewers is better, but networks always aim for a specific number (that is never known unless the show tanks) and in this instance, I would doubt they were aiming for a million viewers for the simple reason that the network itself doesn’t support that many viewers.

What certainly isn’t known is how viewers are faring on other platforms such as DVR or streaming. Those numbers are likely to be of much more value because as yesterday’s post alluded to, many young ‘uns spend a lot of time watching content online, far away from the Nielson box.

So to conclude, Motorcity’s viewer numbers are not so bad as to get in a tizzy over. If the show was to be cancelled over low ratings, it would have done so already.

UPDATE: So it would appear that the show is now officially cancelled, but don’t forget that this post was written months ago at a time when all the indicators pointed to a successful season. Remember that networks can cancel a show at any time and for practically any reason. By all accounts, Motorcity was performing commendably.

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Is AwesomenessTV THE Prototype?

2 Comments / Animation / Charles Kenny

I read over on Pando Daily last week about AwesomnessTV, a YouTube that’s gunning for the tweens and their eyeballs. It’s an interesting concept that with the serious funding it just announced is clearly aiming for Nickelodeon and Disney territory. That’s no bad thing; the more the merrier and so forth. It got me thinking about whether it will be the prototype for any subsequent network.

Sure Disney and Nick have the young ‘uns sewed up, for now. But what about the kids born today? They will be growing up in a world where network television is a dying (or dead) beast and their may not have the same brand loyalty that today’s kids do.

AwesomenessTV has an advantage in being internet-based. As the Pando Daily article points out, the networks inhabits a space where a lot of teenagers and tweens reside already.

The question I’m interested in is whether or not it can be considered a prototype. While we will undoubtedly see animated content aimed at kids and teenagers for the forseeable future, Mark Mayerson has a post yesterday where he laments the increasingly fractured media landscape and what lower budgets will mean for animation.

I don’t entirely disagree with him, but I do see a difficulty in the medium term as to how funding is obtained. If AwesomenessTV can create a viable funding model and retain an audience, we might have a winner on our hands.

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The Top 10 Most Influential Living People in Animation

5 Comments / Animation, List / Charles Kenny

From time to time, you see lists for the most influential people in animation. However, a lot if not all of them include those of us that have departed this world for the next and in any case, Walt Disney is always on top. So today, I present to you the top 10 most influential living people in animation (in not particular order).

Bill Plympton

Being hip before it was cool, Bill has been an independent since before I was born! To be an independent animator is to be one hard working fellow. Continuously putting out witty and serious works, Bill is an inspiration not only for his films, but also for his master classes, festival and society appearances and the blog he co-writes with Pat Smith. All in all, Bill shall continue to be an influence on animators for a long time to come.

Ed Catmull

Let’s cut to the chase; CGI animation likely wouldn’t be around in the form it is today if it weren’t for Ed Catmull. A lot of people will give John Lasseter the credit, but it was Ed who saw the potential for computer animation long before anyone else. Today, Pixar sets the bar in terms of animation quality against which all others are measured. If that isn’t influence, I don’t know what is.

Matt Groening

Do you like primetime animation? Good, because while Groening might not be entirely responsible for the idea, he is certainly a large part of the execution. His success with The Simpsons has spawned King of the Hill, Futurama, Family Guy and just about every other attempt at televised mainstream animation that you can think of.That’s not small feat.

Gene Deitch

Just celebrating a birthday last week (as I write this), Deitch has worked on Tom & Jerry as well as Terrytoons although perhaps most notable (and the reason he’s here) is his work for UPA which continues to influence animation to this very day.

Glen Keane

After the 9 Old Men came Glen Keane, who is very much integral to the Disney look over the last 20 years or so. His art has helped shape many a young animator’s portfolios and he has been an essential link between the old Disney and the new. Although he has departed the Mouse House, it’s safe to say that Keane’s influence will continue to be felt around Burbank for decades to come.

Fred Seibert

Although Nicktoons kicked it all off, creator-driven TV shows didn’t get into full swing until Fred helped launch the Cartoon Cartoon series on Cartoon Network while head of Hanna-Barbera. Smash hits like Dexter’s Laboratory, Johnny Bravo and the Powerpuff Girls are still viewed with awe. After those hits, Fred has continued to crank them out through the What A Cartoon and Random! Cartoons which launched even more hits for Nickelodeon (including my personal favourite). Moreso than that, Fred has been an innovator, moving into the online world with the prototypical series The Meth Minute 39.

Hayao Miyazaki

This one kinda goes without saying doesn’t it.

Bruce Timm

Think of a modern superhero cartoon. I bet you thought of one that Bruce Timm has his hand in didn’t you? If not, you can be sure that his influence exists somewhere down the line. Ever since Batman: The Animated Series hit the TV screens, it has been night on impossible to escape the look of Timm’s DC animated universe (DCAU). He’s still going strong so anticipate his influence to continue.

Tomm Moore

A young man in relative terms but The Secret of Kells went above and beyond what everyone expected and introduced a whole generation of people to Moore’s lush visual 2-D style. Although it isn’t seen very much yet, expect to see a lot of Moore’s influence in the years to come.

Ray Harryhausen

Still kicking around and remaining a considerable influence on special FX and stop-motion animation even in the face of blue-screens and CGI. Ray Harryhausen’s long career establishes his place on the list simply by being so long! In addition he worked on pioneering films such as Jason and the Argonauts and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad; films that continue to be studied today.

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How To Petition for An Avatar and Legend of Korra Soundtrack

2 Comments / Animation, Nickelodeon / Charles Kenny

In what seems to be a regular occurrence over on The Last Airbender subreddit (yes, I am a subscriber), someone has released yet another internet petition for an official soundtrack release for Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. Now this one has gained a bit more traction that previous ones in that the actual production house, The Track Team, has linked to it. So it has a bit more pedigree than previous attempts, so why does it still fail to stack up? Well, it once again makes the familiar mistakes of such campaigns.

…

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Which American Kids Network Online Store is the Best?

Animation / Charles Kenny

Funnily enough, it never crosses my mind that they three major kids networks here in the US actually have online stores of their own (the Hub has no store of their own, yet). My default destination for online shopping is Amazon, and not just because they have everything. So I thought it might be interesting to actually visit said stores and have a nosey around in there to see what they sell and how well they’re doing it.

Nickelodeon

Starting with Nickelodeon, the homepage greets us with some featured shows, some specials some top sellers and an advertisement (because we all go to shops to buy stuff. In fairness to Nick, they’ve got merchandise for a good chunk of their shows (no Teenage Robot though) and actually go pretty far back too, Alex Mack anyone?

What they’re actually selling though is up for debate. Setting aside SpongeBob as the exception, Nick is a bit odd when it comes to certain things. For example, men’s apparel; which consists solely of skateboard decks. Yup, that’s a new one for me too. Naturally the kids apparel and toys are well catered too, but adults are going to feel distinctly left out.

Interestingly enough, Nick does have a ‘Nickelodeon U‘ section of the store that contains four pieces of apparently random SpongeBob merchandise. Yes, you can buy SpongeBob golf balls, golf club socks, a hamper and a shower curtain. Surely this wins as the most amusing thing I found on there.

The site itself is horribly difficult to navigate and is clearly not intended to be kid-friendly. It seems to be more of a token effort than something that is given serious attention by Viacom.

Disney

This one is a clear winner. Selling merchandise has been the cornerstone of the Disney empire since its foundation and their current online outlet continues the tradition. You can buy anything and everything there (including some fabulously overpriced fine art) and the company isn’t shy about leveraging the entire organisation either. You can buy Disney Channel, studio and park merchandise all in the one place. In other words, if it’s Disney-related, you can buy it. The store itself is easy to navigate and with tons of products, its possible to find something you want.

What I did find to be the interesting part of the store is the homepage itself. Take a look at it. Who’s it targeting? Kids obviously, but if you scroll just a wee bit further down the page, it becomes clear that the Disney Princess brand is being flogged for all its worth. You’ll also note that girls come before boys in the menu bar. Now that is not to say it’s a bad thing, but like Rebecca Hains, I just tend to take a dim view on how Disney targets girls in particular.

Cartoon Network

Lastly, we come to Cartoon Network, long the dark hose of the three but now enjoying either top or second billing. The network has really improved its online store over the version I visited a couple of years ago. Now instead of nothing, there is a ton of stuff, but not just any old crap.

All three networks have the now-obligatory iPhone cases but only CN puts them on the front page. Behind the facade there is a very well-designed and laid out store that could easily be navigated by anyone.

Besides the clear groupings of shows and types of merchandise at the top of the screen, the stuff itself is perhaps the best of all the networks. It would seem that Turner has gotten its act together as of late with a really good variety of products. I mean, OK, there still is the odd dodgy article and the usual toys, but how about not one, but two choices of Powerpuff Girls canteens? Or the fact that they sell stuff for a good many of the classic shows that have been off the network for maybe 10 years or more?

Of course as good a job as CN does, it could do better. Plenty of the shirts that are available elsewhere aren’t available here. So anything in Hot Topic or WeLoveFine isn’t there. A loss for sure on CN’s part because as good as their stuff is, the most exciting stuff is being done away from corporate control.

Overall

Overall, the winner in terms of range is clearly Disney. However in terms of actually creating a great looking shop that will appeal to their audience, Cartoon Network is on top. The loser in all of this is Nickelodeon, although they sell so much through traditional channels, they are likely not as worried as they should be.

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Milky Way And The Galaxy Girls Animated Spot

Animation / Charles Kenny

I hate to admit it but I kinda forgot this video existed until recently. Lauren Faust was thankfully savvy enough to create an animated spot to act as a pitch of sorts for her series of plush dolls called Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls. I’m sure a lot of bronies are happy she was steered towards doing something else, but all I can say is that if I had my way, this would be a TV show today!

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The 7 Reasons Why DreamWorks MUST Remain Independent

1 Comment / Animation, DreamWorks / Charles Kenny

With the recent announcement that DreamWorks is making a large investment in China (both as a studio and as an entertainment provider), I thought it would be interesting to repost a post from last year on why the company must remain an independent entity. You’ll recall that this was written while the brouhaha broke out surrounding their distribution deal with Paramount ending this year. Anyway, Steve Hullett over at the TAG Blog seems to concur that an independent DreamWorks is the kind that Jeffrey Katzenberg desires. Here’s 7 reasons why that’s a good thing.

Via: Wikipedia

Although DreamWorks Animation is already independent, it does distribute it’s films through Paramount, who in return, collect a fee from the gross receipts. Such an arrangement has worked well until now, just one short year away from the end of the current agreement.

There has been a lot of talk about DreamWorks being either acquired or selling itself to a larger corporation as a way to ensure its survival. Of all the big guns, only Warner Bros. seemed likely as they don’t already have a theatrical animation division but the noises from inside that company suggest they are not interested. The question is: Why would DreamWorks feel the need to be part of one of the larger studios anyway? The answer is money, but instead of analysing that reason, I offer you X reasons why the studio must remain independent.

Katzenberg is not a quitter. He built DW up from nothing and I doubt he would like to sacrifice his independence to be under the boot of a board of directors again. He’s taken the company this far, there are few reasons why he can’t take it further.
When you’re number 2, you try harder: Yes, it’s an old Avis slogan, but it rings true. If you’re number 2 in the market, you will try harder than the leader when it comes to your products. DreamWorks isn’t quite there yet, but last year’s How To Train Your Dragon was infinitely superior to Toy Story 3.
It’s been done before: Back in the late 40s, a relatively small animation studio lost their distribution deal with RKO. They managed to haul a distribution team together and form Buena Vista. A distributor I think you all should be familiar with.
An independent keeps everyone on their toes: As an independent, you have to do your best every time.That means others must compete on at least the same level of quality. If one player ups their game, everyone must. Corporations have a habit of getting comfortable in their shows which can lead to a stagnation of quality.
The money is in the long tail: Walt Disney himself knew it was better to create a good film that would be popular for a long than one that would be a flash in the pan. Good films make money for decades after they’ve been paid for. DreamWorks can rely on this for income provided their films are up to scratch (see point 4)
It’s a tougher road , but the ultimate rewards are better: No-one likes to take the hard road, it’s more work for what appears to be less reward. However, that burden of responsibility will ultimately result in a stronger company as everyone shares in the responsibility for success.
It affords more freedom to experiment: Right now, on the cusp of the digital revolution, DreamWorks has the freedom to go in directions that were never possible before. As an independent, it has the freedom to try and experiment with new distribution and sales models to see if they work. DW can has the chance to become the industry leader in the digital age, an opportunity that should not be passed up.

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Susan Godfrey on Strong Female Characters

2 Comments / Animation / Charles Kenny

A short post today because I have to make a presentation on Social TV this evening, but if you have the time, you should definitely head over to the Go Get ’em Girls blog where The Productive founder Susan Godfrey has written a well-rounded and comprehensive post on strong female characters.

Naturally there’s a healthy dose of animation-related discussion included hence my recommendation that you go read it.

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4 Facts That Banished Fleischer’s Gulliver’s Travels To History

Animation / Charles Kenny

Via: Cartoons of 1939

The other day I finally sat down and watched the Fleischer feature length adaptation of Gulliver’s Travels. It’s very much a film of its time; the 1930s.I found it a not altogether enjoyable film unfortunately. Oh sure, there is some marvelous animation to be had, but it was not terribly hard to see why the film has been largely confined to the history books despite its place in cultural history as the second full-length animated feature film ever made. Here’s what banished Fleischer’s Gulliver’s Travels to history

The Plot

Although based off Jonathon Swift’s satire of contemporary culture, the film only seems to bear superficial resemblance to the famous tome. Instead of Gullvier being central to the story or even being the narrator, he is instead a character. He is neither the focus of the film, nor does he play as big a role as you would imagine. Indeed, he doesn’t start to play an active role in proceedings until almost halfway through; a tad suspicious for a film with his name in the title.

Besides this, the plot meanders and falls foul of typical Fleischer traits such as over-long scenes and a focus on machinery. Compared to a film of today, it comes off as more of a set piece showing off the wonders of animation. This is sadly a genre of animated films that doesn’t excite modern audiences who have been engrossed in animation since birth.

The Feud(s)

The Fleischer Brothers had a rather significant falling out sometime after the film was released but of more imperative concern was the fact that the Fleischer Studio, having moved from New York to Miami was short-staffed. Consequently animators from New York and California were thrown together with art students from Miami. The result was near chaos with rival factions favouring their own work over others. It’s tough for any business to succeed under such circumstances and it’s highly likely that the quality of the film suffered as a result.

The Studio’s Demise

While the Fleischer’s ultimately lost control of the studio to Paramount, such events have played a role in how the film has fared over the decades. The fact that the original creator was no longer responsible for it meant that was somewhat mistreated by its owner Paramount. Ultimately its copyright notice wasn’t renewed and the film entered the public domain.

To add insult to injury, the failure of the Fleicher’s follow-up film, Mr. Bug Goes to Town meant that there wasn’t any features to continue the legacy. With the Fleischer name ripped from the studio’s projects, any brand recognition was lost on the general public.

The Competition

Needless to say, the competition from Burbank had already set the bar sky high with Snow White and Seven Dwarfs and was about to raise it again with Pinocchio. Besides the superior quality, Walt was constantly and relentlessly cranking out hit content in shorts and was marketing his products for all they were worth. The end result was that the dominance of the Disney brand combined with its longevity has meant that the name ‘Fleischer’ barely registers in the mind of Joe Public.

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A Comparison of Merida and Rapunzel

5 Comments / Animation, Disney, Pixar / Charles Kenny

Merida v Rapunzel — Guess which one scares me more?

It struck me there just last week that we’ve seen two major princess movies from the Disney umbrella in the last few years, although despite claims that we’ll see no more, one is already well under way. So I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at the two already released to see just how different, or similar they are. The two in question are of course Merida from Pixar’s Brave and Rapunzel from Walt Disney’s Tangled.

For starters, they’re both teenagers. Yes, every adults favourite people to hate and for good reason. Teenagers tend to be obnoxious, whiny, annoying, conniving, rude, clumsy and above all, rebellious. Both Rapunzel and Merida imbue all these qualities ans more in their respective films. Merida directly disobeys her mother as does Rapunzel.

Both seem to have issues with issues with the life that is set out for them. Merida as a wife to an eejit and Rapunzel as an everlasting source of life for Mother Goethal. Neither is satisfied and both disobey the requisite adult. However, that is where the similarity ends, as Merida dashes off into the woods, her mother is fully aware that she has left. Rapunzel, in contrast, sneakily knows that her mother is gone and is more than willing to head off without her knowledge. Rapunzel is clearly the fuller character in this case.

Both characters coincidentally have wild hair, but whereas Rapunzel’s is a plot device, Merida’s is more of a set piece that is played up multiple times throughout the film. It’s fair to say that while Rapunzel’s hair adds to her character, Merida’s can’t help but distract the viewer, as was the case when it was highlighted in just about every single review of the film.

Both princesses are strong female characters 9the kind we all know and love) but Merida is undoubtedly the lesser of the two. The reasons here are complicated, but the long and winding gestation and execution of Brave are probably the root cause. In Tangled, Rapunzel’s character evolves throughout the film. She has to learn to trust Flynn Rider Eugene Fitzherbet (a good ol’ Irish surname there) and only by going through her experiences does she learn the truth about her past.

Merida on the other hand is very much presented as is. Yes, she does learn a lesson in the course of the film, but that doesn’t change her character. She’s still fundamentally the same person at the beginning as she is at the end. We learn (comparatively) little about her. A rather disappointing state of affairs given the wonderful setup we’re given (ancient Scotland and all that).

The princesses approach to love is also drastically different. Rapunzel is more than happy to comply with the established Disney norms; Merida, not so much. It should be noted that neither approach is right or wrong but in Tangled, love is clearly meant to imply marriage whereas in Brave, marriage does not necessarily imply love; an important distinction but one that tends to go against the formula for princess movies.

Overall, both are likeable character that despite their teenage label have mass appeal beyond the kids. It’s curious how different the two characters are despite Pixar’s attempt to make Brave a different kind of film. In the end though, we should be grateful that both films give the characters enough room for them to come into their own.

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The Vegtoons Kickstarter Project Looks Appetising!

2 Comments / Animation, Ireland / Charles Kenny

The Vegtoons Kickstarter project is one that aims to create an animated show around the idea of vegetarianism, not necessarily to convert carnivores. Described thus:

The show explores a variety of issues, concerns and assumptions surrounding the vegetarian lifestyle — ranging from the foods that vegetarians eat, to health and ethics, to relationships with family and loved ones. Each episode has a specific theme and therefore can be enjoyed on its own; however, the larger trajectory of the story unfolds over the entire series.

It’s a project that certainly looks promising from a number of angles, not least of which is the fact that it’s not aimed at kids but rather people in general. This is one to keep an eye on. Check out the teaser below or head on over to the Kickstarter page to watch the full pitch video.

http://vimeo.com/14597210

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