The Status of the Animated Film

[The_Iceflash]

A common tread I've noticed with the modern animate film is how cool and hip they try to be. Looking at the trailers alone, that's how they are being marketed. Why can't the focus be the story, animation, music, etc instead of the cleverness, wittyness, and advertising voice-actors for their star appeal (getting famous celebrities to voice solely for their star status) instead of their voice-acting talents.

Also, they are WAY more comedy-driven than before. I like a well-rounded animated film instead of one that is one big punch-line.

I would like to see more drama in animated films in general and tone down the comedy/sophisticate the comedy a bit.

What do you think about the status of the animated film?

[Dr Frankenollie]

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[PixarFan2006]

I think the main problem with a lot of animated films nowadays, aside from being CGI (which honestly does not bug me that much) is that they all seem to revolve around animals. This would not be a problem for me except that they keep recycling the same plots and jokes over and over again. I also agree that making all of them comedy-driven is pretty tiresome.

Another thing that sometimes bothers me about the most recent animated movies are the countless number of sequels they get. Having one or two sequels is good, if the story is as strong as the original, but going past that is an obvious cash grab.

[estefan]

I have to disagree with the above comments, as I think animation is practically at its peak at the moment. You complain that too many of today's animated films are too pop-culture driven. Well, before 2000, most animated films were just trying to copy the Disney formula. You had the occasional one doing its own thing, but most were musicals based on old stories. Nowadays, most animated films are doing their own thing and not trying to copy off the success of another studio.

Even DreamWorks, which is most often criticised with being too pop-culture joke happy, is starting to go a more dramatic route with How to Train Your Dragon and the Kung Fu Panda series. Even Megamind had an interesting message about destiny hidden inside its superhero homage. Blue Sky seems forced into making Ice Age sequels the rest of its life, but within that, they will do personal stories of things they love ala Rio. Smurfs aside, Sony Animation is doing plenty of creative projects and newer animation producers like ILM and Illumination are proving to be studios to watch for, right out of the gate. And, of course, there's Pixar. Not to mention, Disney producing high-quality animated films again.

Looking outside of Hollywood, there's some great animated films coming out of France, Great Britain, Australia and (as always) Japan. People say multiplexes are over-saturated with animated films, but I think the opposite. I say, bring it on! It's a wonderful medium that's being incredibly well-explored at the moment. The more creative minds bringing their own vision to the computer or paper or plasticine, the better.

[Goliath]

[...] This friction led to the lacklustre quality of the DACs from the latter half of the 1990's,

You don't think Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mulan and Tarzan are great films?

(And don't you worry, this will not lead to a four-page debate.)

[Dr Frankenollie]

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[Elladorine]

I pretty much agree with estefan.

And actually, before I even noticed this thread, I was sitting here thinking about how this is basically an amazing time to be an animation fan while in anticipation of picking up Rio tonight. The last few releases I've either seen or picked up have been pretty exciting for me regardless, like Rango, Despicable Me, Kung Fu Panda 2, Megamind, Tangled . . . these are all titles I'm very happy to either already have or will soon pick up for my collection, all of which are very different films from each other. Especially given that they were only released in the past year or so! And in just the past few years we got to see such diverse films as Coraline, The Princess and the Frog, The Corpse Bride, Asterix and the Vikings, Winnie the Pooh, etc. Even Shrek Forever After isn't all chocked-full of pop-culture jokes in the way that the previous Shrek films were, and I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing when they are. As already stated in this thread, most well-known animated films made in previous decades were either Disney doing their own version of pre-existing, well-established stories, or were other studios simply trying to be Disney doing their own version of pre-existing, well-established stories . . . often with mixed results.

Although I do wish we'd see more hand-drawn theatrical films being created and/or released in the states these days (I'm admittedly not well-versed in foreign films), there's still a plethora of great material to be seen. It's nice to see animation making money right up there alongside the live action films, to see adults actually wanting to visit the theaters for them even if they don't have children as an excuse or requirement to go.

I hope the industry keeps going this direction.

[Goliath]

Asterix and the Vikings

As a huge fan of the Asterix comics, I hated this movie with passion. Must be the English pop music in a film set in 50 B.C. That, and the addition of Hippix's love interest which wasn't in the comic. Yeah, I'm a big purist when it comes to my favorite comics (see also the Tintin-thread).

I feel obligated to state here that the above message was in no way meant to personally attack or offend you, nor do I wish to belittle or ridicule your taste in movies. (I know you know, but I feel like I'm forced to add this disclaimer.)

[Elladorine]

Asterix and the Vikings

As a huge fan of the Asterix comics, I hated this movie with passion. Must be the English pop music in a film set in 50 B.C. That, and the addition of Hippix's love interest which wasn't in the comic. Yeah, I'm a big purist when it comes to my favorite comics (see also the Tintin-thread).

I feel obligated to state here that the above message was in no way meant to personally attack or offend you, nor do I wish to belittle or ridicule your taste in movies. (I know you know, but I feel like I'm forced to add this disclaimer.)

Well to be fair, I'm not familiar enough with the characters to make a comparison . . . I watched it a couple of times a few years back and just loved some of the animation in it. And I found it odd that it's got some relatively big American voice actors for the English-language version but that it didn't get an official release in the states; it's not even on DVD here. And admittedly, the only real other exposure I've had with the characters was in Asterix and Cleopatra, which I haven't seen since I was a kid.

And no worries, I'm pretty sure I can read your post for what it is.

[toonaspie]

A common tread I've noticed with the modern animate film is how cool and hip they try to be. Looking at the trailers alone, that's how they are being marketed. Why can't the focus be the story, animation, music, etc instead of the cleverness, wittyness, and advertising voice-actors for their star appeal (getting famous celebrities to voice solely for their star status) instead of their voice-acting talents.

Also, they are WAY more comedy-driven than before. I like a well-rounded animated film instead of one that is one big punch-line.

I would like to see more drama in animated films in general and tone down the comedy/sophisticate the comedy a bit.

What do you think about the status of the animated film?

I feel exactly the same way about animated films ever since this century began. You can definitely see the obvious changes in how trailers are done these days in comparison to those done in the 1990s. The only time you'll ever see epic trailers now is in the live action films.

One of the things I hate about comedy-oriented trailers is that they do all the jokes in the trailers (and in some cases give away the whole movie). Then go to the movie see it and felt like you got ripped off cuz everything good was already seen in the TV trailers.

As far as the status of animation goes, there has been signs of improvements but they are slight. They've (mainly Disney and Dreamworks) gone away from really bad tongue-in-cheek animation films and are trying to put more substance and story into their films again. I think Disney has a farther way to go though than Dreamworks. I never liked Dreamworks all that much until "Kung Fu Panda". Since then, you could see a massive improvement in that studio (though I've yet to see "Shrek Forever After" or "Madagascar 2").[/i]

[ajmrowland]

shrek 4 worked.

[Disney-Fan]

Nowadays, most animated films are doing their own thing and not trying to copy off the success of another studio.

Really? The fact that animated movies are going on original screenplays hardly suggests that the studios are doing their own thing. Heck, most movies just feel like a copy-paste movie of the one before it with a twist or two added for good measure. Everything from character design to directing seems almost identical in nature. Thank god Pixar and Disney are still churning out good movies.

[estefan]

Yes, really. Maybe in the beginning of the decade, animated films were trying to copy the DreamWorks mold, but now, not really. I certainly don't see the same character design moving through the different studios. The birds in Rio, for instance, have a different look from, say, the ones in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. The children from "Despicable Me" certainly aren't cut from the same mold as those in How to Train Your Dragon.

Even background animation suggests something different in the studios. Illumination's art direction tends to look more European, while Blue Sky goes the colourful route and DreamWorks goes for realism.

[Rose Dome]

In my opinion, the status of animation as a genre needs to improve, because without Pixar (and obviously Disney due to the last few DACs), all modern cinematic animation would be unequivocally awful.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that, but I agree that Disney(who have only just come out of a dark period themselves) and Pixar are currently the strongest contenders. Dreamworks made How To Train Your Dragon(and a few of their other films have been alright), but rather than trying to tell timeless and charming stories, they are apparently sticking to their same old formula ([fart jokes + pop culture references] x A Listers = Film) Apart from How To Train Your Dragon II, I'm not interested in any of the films (read:money grabbing sequels and spinoffs) that they currently have in the works. The other studios aren't yet matches for Disney or Pixar, but they've produced some decent films. It's a mixed bag at the moment IMO.

[BelleGirl]

Disney Geek wrote:

but rather than trying to tell timeless and charming stories, they are apparently sticking to their same old formula ([fart jokes + pop culture references] x A Listers = Film)

I think there are a few notable exceptions to this formula outside Disney/Pixar:

Horton (20th century Fox)
Wallace and Gromit The curse of The Were-rabbit (Aardman/Dreamworks)
Coraline (Universal)
Corpse Bride (Warner Brothers)
9 (cannot remember what company)
Chicken Run (Aardman/ Dreamworks): admittedly not very recent.

People may not all like and appriciate these movies equally high, but you cannot charge these with using fart jokes + pop culture references etc.

[PixarFan2006]

Horton did had Pop Culture references (maybe not as many as a DreamWorks film, but still).

[BelleGirl]

Horton did had Pop Culture references (maybe not as many as a DreamWorks film, but still).

Then I have to watch it again. But I think it's a good thing I don't recall them, just the charming story. Apparently they don't stick out that much.

Maybe you mean those references to 'facebook' and mobile phones in Whoville? That's more like incorporating our present time in the Whoville society, I think.

[milojthatch]

I had this discussion with my wife. It seems that animated films need to be "hip" and "funny." They need to be filled with some kind of toilet humor, and "adult" animation in the US will have crude humor, foul language and tons and tons of violence.

Why can't we get an animated film that, I don't know, is more like a drama? Maybe one that focuses on the human condition and emotion? Why can't we seem to get animated films about people anymore? I agree, animals are in everything. Not that I have issues with animal films, but it's nice to have humans at least sometimes.

[Goliath]

The current state of animation is this: an overcrowded field, too many competitors, too many sequels, too little quality. A lot of the studios are constantly imitating their competitors. I don't see any difference in animation or design when it's not Disney or Pixar. They all look alike.

They're mostly animal stories with main characters who have generic designs who walk around in unmemorable plots, which are often far-fetched (like Cloudy with a chance of meatballs). Jokes seem to be more important than the actual story. And when they *do* have a story with a little more thought put into it, it's the age-old 'outsider becomes hero', like you see in HTTYD. And even though that movie was entertaining, what's the next thing they do? Try to create a new original feature? Nooooo, let's do another sequel! Also, I don't care which celebrity voices the characters. I find it to be distracting.

Also, Disney is in bad shape. Yes, Rapunzel was great and I love it, but putting Pooh-sequel no. 829765, which was meant as a DTV-production, into the DAC-line and consider putting Mickey in a new DAC is creative laziness. Even Pixar seems to have fallen victim to churning out sequels for the sake of selling merchandise. So, I'd say animation is in a pretty rotten state.

[estefan]

Why can't we seem to get animated films about people anymore?

The Borrowers
Brave
King of the Elves
The Guardians
Pirates!
The Croods
The Lorax
Arthur Christmas
Gnomeo & Juliet (admittedly, they're gnomes. But people gnomes, nonetheless.)
Summer Wars
The Illusionist
Tangled
Megamind
My Dog Tulip
Despicable Me
Toy Story 3
How to Train Your Dragon
The Secret of Kells
Astro Boy
Mary and Max
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Ponyo
Up
Coraline

These are some examples of either upcoming animated films or animated films that have been released in the past couple of years that are about people.