Comparing Brad Bird and Andrew Stanton’s Risk Tolerance

Animation, Opinion /

Mark Mayerson recently posted (with apologies for the delay, I’ve been without my RSS reader for the past fortnight) about the contrast between he efforts of two first-time live-action Pixarian directors. While the post does not go into much detail, the comments which follow raise a number of points in regards to risk and the nature of it.

As Mark points out, Brad Bird went with a familiar face and an existing franchise in stark contrast to Stanton who went for an unfilmed, 100 year-old book. Were either one of them right, or wrong?

No. Both took on a level of risk that they were comfortable with. Bird clearly wanted to have more certainty whereas Stanton was clearly comfortable loading all his reputation eggs in one basket.

That risk was of course shared by the studios. FOX (or whoever it was) that did Mission Impossible were clearly risk-averse. I mean, why else would they greenlight the fourth film in a series that has had the same star for dangerously close to 20 years. Disney on the other hand thought they had the man with the golden touch in Stanton, previous director of cash cows Wall-E and Finding Nemo. Both studios’ decisions are evidence of their relative tolerance of risk.

Animated films are just as susceptible to such risk, perhaps even more so, given their long lead times and inability to simply “do another take”.  Both Bird and Stanton have proven themselves with multiple successful animated films. A switch to live-action was obviously going to contain a certain amount of risk for both of them. It’s probably safe to say that one had a better idea than the other about what they were getting into; I don’t have to tell you who that is.

The only problem with all of this is that the public and critics constantly complain about repetition in Hollywood movies but at the same time clamour to strike down an effort to do something else. Is John Carter a terrible movie? I don’t know as I haven’t seen it. But for his efforts I would give Stanton the benefit of the doubt, for now.

Brand Bird on the other hand, received a gimme in Mission Impossible. Now that he has proven himself to Hollywood and the public/critics, he will hopefully advance to more innovative live-action features, or return to animation. Either way, he is the one to keep and eye on.

Comparing Brad Bird and Andrew Stanton’s Risk Tolerance Read More »

Derivative Animated TV Shows

3 Comments / Animation, Announcements /

You may have read the LA Times article from the other day that talks about a shift that’s currently underway at the Disney Channel. The interesting thing is that it included (all the way at the end) this quote from Jerry Beck:

“Before Eric got there, [Disney Channel] had a couple of mild hits, like ‘Kim Possible.’ They were doing derivative things. They were following trends,” Beck said. “Now, they’re leading trends.”

Now I don’t necessarily agree that Kim Possible was derivative, perhaps as a kind of show it was, but there’s been nothing like it since, and it still remains a rare, female-protagonist, show.

That notwithstanding, Jerry hits the bullseye with his point that creating derivative shows will not get you very far. We’ve seen it time and time again when a show get big and a whole host of imitators follow. It happened with The Simpsons and the only shows to last more than a season or two were FOX’s own.

So when it comes to animated TV, do networks tend to follow trends rather than make them? The answer is emphatically, yes. That is by far the less risk option. However, as SpongeBob SquarePants proves, creating a trend can lead to a very long (and insanely profitable) property.

Derivative Animated TV Shows Read More »

Animation: Knowledge or Trade?

2 Comments / Animation /

In lieu of the usual Monday list post, I thought it would be interesting to debate whether or not animation is a knowledge or trade-based form of education.

What I mean is, in life you generally have two forms of education: knowledge-based and the more vocational trade-based. The difference between the two is that one is taught primarily in a classroom and based on theory whereas the other one favours a more hands-on approach and acquiring knowledge through practice.

  • Does animation fall primarily into one or the other?
  • Do different types of animation fall into either one?
  • Is there an emphasis on one to the detriment of the other?
  • Would animation education improve if things were changed?

I’m curious to hear your thoughts, so please leave a comment below! 🙂

 

Animation: Knowledge or Trade? Read More »

Character Sundays: Pepper Ann

Animation, Character Sundays /

Via: Brad Goodchild’s Postfolio Site

Today’s character is Pepper Ann, star of her eponymous TV show that aired on Disney/ABC from 1997 to 2001.

Pepper Ann is a 12 year-old who has a bit of a runaway imagination. Akin to a bit of a dreamer, she imagines scenarios developing in seemingly bizarre and fantastical ways. Despite this, the series is very much grounded in reality, with Pepper’s friends Milo and Nicky acting as her rock throughout the series.

Strong characters were the hallmark of a series that was the first to bring in some of the more complex aspects of life into Disney entertainment. Case in point is Pepper’s absent father, whom she hopes will someday come home, but with the realities of divorce, that is unlikely to happen. This article from the New York Times in 1997 provides a good overview of the series.

Such an unfortunate situation could have easily been pawned off by the creators but instead it is made a main tenant of the show and gives kids watching a sense that characters can also have complex lives.

Pepper Ann is generally very easy going, but displays a steely determination to solve problems and dilemmas. In that regard she consults her conscience, who often appears out of nowhere and whose advice is mostly (?) correct.

As a show, Pepper Ann remains somewhat unique in the realm of animated TV. The show features a lead female protagonist but at the same time is surprisingly gender-neutral. Even though Pepper Ann is a girl, we rarely see her engage in all the stereotypes of one, or act as a tween for that matter. While this is certainly welcome, it is also unfortunately surprising, especially in this day and age, when 12 year olds are practically treated as adults.

Although a bit dated by the use of late-90s slang, and most definitely an American show from that period, Pepper Ann remains a great show with a fantastic lead.

Fun fact: A certain Mr. Warburton worked on the show, and random stuff has been known to pop up over on his blog.

Character Sundays: Pepper Ann Read More »

Michael Sporn Needs To Kickstart An Animated Film on Edgar Allan Poe

2 Comments / Animation, Independents /

Independent animator and widely respected blogger, Michael Sporn announced on Wednesday his plan to use Kickstarter to fund a feature-length film on Edgar Allan Poe. Michael is hoping to raise $21,500 and in the space of only a few days has manged to raise almost a quarter of that!

This project serves as a reminder that animation is much more than just the big boys. Independent projects like this are (in my opinion) the future as traditional channels become obsolete thanks to the internet. The connection of creators and fans is becoming ever stronger and the best way to show your support for a project like this is to fund it, and for as low as $5, for a lot of folks, that’s less than a Starbucks coffee!

Embedded below is the video on the Kickstarter site. Watch it before heading over and pledging to a great project.

Michael Sporn Needs To Kickstart An Animated Film on Edgar Allan Poe Read More »

Vote Bender B. Rodriguez for DC School Board!

Animation, Futurama /

Via: Nerd Bastards

Such a slogan may not be as outrageous as it sounds.

Via Techdirt, researchers testing an electronic voting system in Washington DC were able to breach the system’s security arrangements and above all, install fictional candidates on the ballot, one of whom happened to be Bender.

Choice comments from Slashdot include:

Why not Zoidberg?

If elected I promise to KILL ALL HUMANS! Hey, you said there’d be hookers at this convention.

Have you ever tried simply turning off the TV, sitting down with your children, and hitting them?

 

Vote Bender B. Rodriguez for DC School Board! Read More »

Analysing Animation With My Little Pony

2 Comments / Animation /

YouTube user gbaudette has been posting analysis of scenes from, er, My Little Pony. While some may deride the show and its concept, the fact remains that there are more than a few industry veterans either behind or formerly behind it, so it does make sense to look at it from a technique perspective.

Thus far, gbaudette has posted videos on walk cycles, camera moves and the one below, a complex throw shot.

The nice thing about these videos is that they break things down into their elements, and prove that complexity is not necessarily all that it appears.

The series is relatively new, but has racked up over 50,000 views in just two weeks and is well worth checking out if you’re a budding animator.

Analysing Animation With My Little Pony Read More »

12 Years of Putin in 2 Minutes

Animation /

We generally try to stay away from politics on this blog (there’s plenty of time for that down the pub), but I couldn’t resist posting this video by egorhzhgun which takes Vladimir Putin and mashes the last 12 years of his political career with the Simpsons and the original “Noah Takes A Picture of Himself video). At almost 1.4 million views, it’s proving pretty popular.

12 Years of Putin in 2 Minutes Read More »

Some Choice Quotes From The 2011 Disney Annual Report

Animation /

Disney has finally managed to get their 2011 annual results online, and as always, it includes letter to sharholders and the necessary financial documents as well. Seeing as this is something that animators and animation fans would not normally read, let’s see what kind of stuff they’re saying in there. (Don’t worry, we’ll get to DreamWorks as soon as they get it online)

It kicks off with this piece of marketing fluff:

 Fiscal 2011 was a year of great accomplishment for The Walt Disney Company, marked by creativity and innovation across our businesses globally, record financial results and numerous important steps to position the Company for the future.

In other words, we did our job the same as always and hope to continue doing so in the future.

From there we get to this statement:

Our financial and capital strength has allowed us to make important near and long term investments, two of the most significant being Pixar and Marvel. Animation is the heart and soul of Disney, and since becoming part of the Company nearly six years ago, Pixar has greatly advanced Disney’s animation studio with incredible creativity and technological innovation as well as bringing us beloved new characters, magical stories, and an unprecedented number of hit movies. With Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, we have just begun to mine Marvel’s rich roster of characters and stories, and leverage them across our businesses to create all-important franchises.

I’m quite curious as to why a deal made 6 years ago needs to be included in the annual report like it happened this year. It also basically admits that animation at Disney was broken beyond repair.

Moving along:

And nearly 20 years after its debut, last fall’s extraordinarily successful re-release of The Lion King in 3D reminded us of the magic of Disney storytelling and how it touches people’s lives generation after generation.

I’m sure the fact that you’re still in business helps in that regard.

There’s the new releases:

 Two new animated features debut in 2012, starting in June with Disney-Pixar’s Brave, featuring a feisty heroine on a grand adventure in the Scottish highlands. Then, in November, Disney Animation Studios brings us, Wreck-It Ralph, a journey across the arcade through every generation of video games.

I’m just trying to imagine Bob Iger saying “feisty heroine”.

From there, we move into the 10-K, a substantial document that lays out the company’s business, how it does business and how it was conducted over the past year. It’s a lot of boring numbers for the most part, but there are still a few nuggets in there.

On the Disney Channel in Russia:

On November 18, 2011, the Company acquired a 49% ownership interest in the Seven TV network from UTH Russia Limited (UTH) for $300 million. The Seven TV network will be converted to an ad-supported, free-to-air Disney Channel in Russia.

On the company’s theatrical business:

We generally produce and distribute live-action family films and full length animated films.

So here, finally, after 23 pages do we get to animated films. What this represents is just how far down the list of priorities animation really is for the company (the TV stations and theme parks came first don’t you know). This should be a reminder that for Disney, animation is only a small part of doing business, despite what Bob Iger says in his letter.

Then there’s the risk factors (emphasis is their’s):

The success of our businesses is highly dependent on the existence and maintenance of intellectual property rights in the entertainment products and services we create.

The value to us of our intellectual property rights is dependent on the scope and duration of our rights as defined by applicable laws in the United States and abroad and the manner in which those laws are construed. If those laws are drafted or interpreted in ways that limit the extent or duration of our rights, or if existing laws are changed, our ability to generate revenue from our intellectual property may decrease, or the cost of obtaining and maintaining rights may increase.

The unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights may increase the cost of protecting these rights or reduce our revenues. New technologies such as the convergence of computing, communication, and entertainment devices, the falling prices of devices incorporating such technologies, and increased broadband internet speed and penetration have made the unauthorized digital copying and distribution of our films, television productions and other creative works easier and faster and enforcement of intellectual property rights more challenging. There is evidence that unauthorized use of intellectual property rights in the entertainment industry generally is a significant and rapidly growing phenomenon. Inadequate laws or weak enforcement mechanisms to protect intellectual property in one country can adversely affect the results of the Company’s operations worldwide, despite the Company’s efforts to protect its intellectual property rights. These developments require us to devote substantial resources to protecting our intellectual property against unlicensed use and present the risk of increased losses of revenue as a result of unlicensed digital distribution of our content and sales of unauthorized DVDs, Blu-ray discs and other products.

With respect to intellectual property developed by the Company and rights acquired by the Company from others, the Company is subject to the risk of challenges to our rights in intellectual property by third parties. Successful challenges to our rights in intellectual property may result in increased costs for obtaining rights or the loss of the opportunity to earn revenue from the intellectual property that is the subject of challenged rights. The Company is not aware of any challenges to its intellectual property rights that it currently foresees having a material effect on its operations.

While this essentially lays out why it is important for the company to be able to control its content (and thus charge money to do so), it does not take technological an societal advances into account, and as an investor, this rearward looking view should be of some concern.

The rest of the document is filled with lovely numbers and ratios that I would love to share but would ultimately bore you to death with.

Once DreamWorks gets their 10-K up, we’ll have a look at that, and compare Disney with a “real” studio.

 

Some Choice Quotes From The 2011 Disney Annual Report Read More »

Why FOX Can’t Seem To Get Animation Right Again

2 Comments / Animation, FOX /

FOX is well known for being the only consistent purveyor of animation on broadcast TV. Ever since 1989 when The Simpsons burst onto our screens, the network has been the only maintream network where animation has found success. The others do not lack for want of trying however, they’ve just never been able to crack the nut in the same way that FOX has.

It’s also well known that FOX has had problems over the years moving outside it’s traditional animation strongholds. Besides the Simpsons, the network has had only two other bona fide animated hits in King of the Hill and Family Guy. There were other shows, better shows, but none managed to last more than a few seasons (we’ll get to the McFarlane spin-offs in a minute).

Naturally, FOX hasn’t been resting on its laurels but has been actively searching for potential replacements for its incumbent shows. Its success in that regard has been lackluster to say the least. Family Guy is the only show to have come close to toppling the Simpson’s strangelhold on the network, and even then it was canned before it was brought back to life after a year and half.

Since then it has become a massive success, which has lead to the two spin-off shows in American Dad and The Cleveland Show. However, all three shows and the Simpsons are essentially the same formula in that they revolve around a family. Now that’s not to say its a bad thing, but it does tend to limit your audience if you do that. Besides, the McFarlane children exist only because of Seth’s midas touch and his accute wisdom to stay within his safety zone; unlike Matt Groening, who went beyond with Futurama and got burned because of it.

Secondly, FOX is broadcasting shows whose formulae are well out of date. The Simpsons is 20+ years old, Family Guy is almost a teenager. Yes, the shows have kept ‘up-to-date” but they are still rooted in those eras. Things just aren’t the same as they were back in the day. Styles and tastes have moved on. Admittedly FOX has attempted to catch up but its efforts with Futurama and Sit Down, Shut Up were pathetic to say the least.

Lastly, we need to ask ourselves if big-budget scripted animated shows of the caliber of the Simpsons and Family Guy are even worth creating any more? The historical context is that broadcast networks drew a much larger audience than cable. But everyone and their wife knows that broadcast ratings for even the highest shows are perilously close to those of cable. The fractitous nature of the viewing audience has resulted in a proliferation of networks that cater to more nuanced tastes. Thankfully some of those tastes have included animation.

So the question is not really why can’t FOX get another animated hit so much as should it even bother trying?

My position is that it should not, at least not on the scale that it currently produces. If animated shows are to survive in “broadcast” TV they need to be leaner and smarter and sadly FOX is searching for neither.

Why FOX Can’t Seem To Get Animation Right Again Read More »

5 Great Sources Of Inspiration

Misc. /

This morning as I sat down to write the usual Monday list post, I immediately drew a blank. Normally, I would search around for some inspiration (and in reality, I should have it lined-up and ready to go) but unfortunately this morning, I was beaten by the clock and had to rush off to work.

Where does inspiration come from? Well, it can come from just about anywhere. It’s a topic I’ve covered before (not un-coincidentally after I drew a similar blank when attempting to write a post) so I won’t go into it again, but here are a few good sources that you can use when searching for inspiration.

1. The Great Outdoors

Not to be blatantly obvious, but a lot of what I write about is surprisingly enough, influenced by my surroundings. Seeing a sticker on a car or a T-shirt in a shop can turn on the lightbulb in the old noggin’. You’ll surprise yourself; I certainly have.

2. Blogs

I don’t think I can emphasise this one enough. You don’t have to follow a lot, but you should follow a few regular ones at least. There’s nothing worse than finding a great blog and to learnt that it’s only updated once a year, or even worse! Great blogs will do more than give you something to think about, they will cause you to build on the original topic, and hopefully come to some new and excting conclusions yourself. At the very least, they will give your mind a rest from thinking of something on its own.

3. Books

Books, books, books. Yes, if you aren’t a regular reader, you certainly are missing out. They don’t have to be boring books either. They can be fiction or fact. I prefer fact most of the time, but that’s just because I simply don’t have the time to read much anyways (although my claim to fame is reading all the Harry Potter books in  days. Let’s jsut say I haven’t really put 18 hours a day into anything much since).

Books are much like blogs, but they tend to operate at a much slower pace, and they generally afford the mind more time to muse over ideas and thoughts. This can be good too, as you will tend to linger on what you read in a book for longer than you would a blog post.

4. TV

Yes, further down the list is the good ol’ tube. TV can be a good place for inspiration, but only if you vary things a bit. Sure, you could watch Nicktoons all the time, but you would be neglecting a whole host of others. The same could be said for Disney films. Yes, they’re all mostly excellent, but they do tend to stay within a fairly well-defined set of limits. Use TV for inspiration in small doses and you can get some god inpiration from it.

5. Education

Some may consider this a dirty word with no place in the arts, but truth be told, a little education here and there can do you wonders. I’m not strictly talking about formal education, but more the kind that teach specific skills and techniques. Things like photography, live-drawing, HTML, etc. All these are not absolutely necessary for your job or life in general, but they can help enhance it. Say you take a photography class, the practice and techniques you learn could come in handy in other areas, or you may learn about something that you previously did not. At the very least, you’ll mix with a group of people with similar interests to yourself, and that can only result in a cross-pollination of ideas.

 

5 Great Sources Of Inspiration Read More »