I'm not against GCI animation, but I do feel people are jumping on the CGI bandwagon with little thought. CGI is, after all just a tool - neither good or bad.Talent Medley Draws First Sony Animation Toon Slate
Fri May 9, 4:05 AM ET
By Josh Spector
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - A year after its creation, Sony Pictures Animation has unveiled its initial development slate, featuring five computer-animated projects to be spearheaded by a group of directors whose past work includes such blockbusters as 'The Lion King,' 'Monsters, Inc.' and 'Shrek.'
The projects include adaptations of the cartoon 'Open Season' and the children's book 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,' the Celtic folk ballad-inspired 'Tam Lin,' a 'Romeo and Juliet'-inspired story called 'Surf's Up!' and a feature-length version of the Academy Award-winning short film 'The ChubbChubbs!'
Sony formed its animation division in May 2002 in an effort to compete against similar units at the Walt Disney Co., DreamWorks and Fox and take advantage of its Sony Pictures Imageworks visual effects facility, which has more than 500 staffers. It is headed by DreamWorks alumnae Sandra Rabins and Penney Finkelman Cox.
'Our goal was to find unique voices that had stories to tell,' said Rabins. 'We're not trying to brand Sony animation as revolving around one type of storyteller or one type of story, and we don't want to develop just one look which all our films share. Our hope is that each movie will be very unique.'
Although Sony executives expect each project to have its own distinct look and feel, they hope the common thread will be a broad-based appeal.
'It's important to us that we keep the notion that we are working for a very broad audience, something that every member of a family can enjoy,' said Finkelman Cox. 'That was a very rewarding process for us when we worked on 'Shrek,' and we'd like to have the same kind of results. We want to create films that are attractive to a wide audience. That's our hope and our ambition.'
The initial projects speak to that intention.
Based on the humor of cartoonist Steve Moore, the comedy adventure 'Open Season' tells the story of what happens in the wild when the animals scheme to turn the tables on the hunters.
It is being directed by Jill Culton and Anthony Stacchi. Culton, who was credited with the original story for 'Monsters, Inc.,' has also worked on 'Toy Story 2,' 'A Bug's Life' and Universal Pictures' upcoming 'Curious George.' Stacchi also worked on 'George,' in addition to 'Antz' and 'James and the Giant Peach.'
Directors Roger Allers and Brenda Chapman, who collaborated on such films as 'The Lion King,' 'The Little Mermaid' and 'Beauty and the Beast,' are reuniting to work with best-selling artists Brian and Wendy Froud on 'Tam Lin.' Set against the fantastical worlds of the Frouds' imaginations, the film is loosely based on the Celtic folk ballad of the same name.
Twin brothers Paul and Gaetan Brizzi, who have worked on 'Fantasia 2000' and 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame,' are signed on to direct 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,' based on the Judi and Ron Barrett children's book about a land where food falls from the sky.
The Brizzi brothers are also set to direct 'Surf's Up!' -- a 'Romeo and Juliet'-inspired story set against the high-energy world of surfing.
Rounding out the initial Sony Pictures Animation development slate is a feature-length version of Sony Pictures Imageworks' Academy Award-winning short film 'The ChubbChubbs.'
'All the directors we have brought in have different artistic styles and backgrounds, which we think is important,' said Yair Landau, vice chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and president of Sony Pictures Digital. 'We are trying to be an open shop, open to new ideas and talent from outside the company -- as opposed to places like Disney and Nickelodeon, which tend to be very closed.'
While it has yet to be determined which project will be first into production (the announced projects are in varying stages of development), Landau said production will likely begin on the division's first feature in the next six to nine months, with a 2006 release date eyed. He added that he would like to eventually have one production a year, 'but realistically we would like to have one at least every 18-24 months.'
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
However I do feel that the tone and nature of the film has to be assessed and the animation medium chosen based on that assessment. Not every animated film would make a good CGI film, just as not every CGI film would make a good 'traditional' animation film. Choose the method suitable for the film. My fear is that CGI is being chosen with little regard to the content and subject of the film just because it's "hot" at the moment.
Out of all the CGI films I've seen, only Pixar seems to be making films suited for the medium. The "Toy Story" films were a good choice due to the plastic nature of the toys themselves. "A Bug's Life" was a good choice due to the requirement for shots with lots of characters. And "Finding Nemo" seems to be a good choice due to the exceptional underwater lighting GCI can produce. I'm not so sure about "Monsters, Inc." and would be interested to see how the film would have turned out if produced by Disney in 'traditional' animation.
I think that the film that really seems to have kickstarted the GCI craze - "Shrek" - would have been a better film if made with 'traditional' animation. If for no other reason, the snide and cutting Disney references would have been more successful.
I really think that with the big push for CGI animated features by all the major studios there will be a big CGI backlash from the public in the next 3-4 years.