DarkMeasures
New Member
What Polar Express has been getting in theatres may actually support a claim I have made. It is not GCI that is popular. It is the storytelling involved.
Pixar is the best example for this. The films do so well because it is one person deciding to tell a story and not be interfered with by anyone else. Brad Bird actually stated that he did not care if The Incredibles were hand-drawn or CGI. (note that the drawings for Incredibles is fantastic in design). This also keeps the budget down. Notice how The Incredibles has a much lower budget than Polar Express. Notice also how Tom Hank's name was flailed around. The Incredibles had some celebrity voicing but it was kept to a bare minimum and those who would know would only know by reading the end credits.
Now Shrek 1 and 2 both made money by the opposite way The Incredibles did. The Shrek films (as well as every other Dreamworks animated film). Relied heavily on pop-culture. It may be a good way to make money fast but it wont last in the long run. Timelessness is very important and is a very good reason in why to ignore pop-culture references in comedys. (only person I can see who can pull it off well enough is Kevin Smith who has slowly been moving away from that with each film he creates).
Now, Look at the latest Disney Animated films since Emperor's new groove. That was when traditional started to fall. It is not that the films were more adult oriented, it was because the stories became more corporate decided focus group tested films. The most successful in this "generation" of films would be Lilo and Stitch which was probably due to the fact that the director got to tell his story. The ride, the sequel, and animated series though are more of the problem seen with the other films. I do think though, that if the film released before Lelo and Stitch followed the premise of being the telling of a story, Lilo and Stitch would have done twice as good.
Also, Atlantis and Dinosaur are good examples. Atlantis would have been twice as long as the actual version and would have focused more of Milo and his father. The movie though was beaten into what it was. (sad because all the planned stuff for the movie such as Fire Mountain.)
Dinosaur, ran into the same problem. It would have been a much darker movie with a completly different focus. However, management thought that the audience would not get attached to the characters and that the old ending would not allow a sequel if the movie were to be successful.
I think I should write a Thesis paper on this. If I do the reasearch and have the well, I could easily support my claim.
Pixar is the best example for this. The films do so well because it is one person deciding to tell a story and not be interfered with by anyone else. Brad Bird actually stated that he did not care if The Incredibles were hand-drawn or CGI. (note that the drawings for Incredibles is fantastic in design). This also keeps the budget down. Notice how The Incredibles has a much lower budget than Polar Express. Notice also how Tom Hank's name was flailed around. The Incredibles had some celebrity voicing but it was kept to a bare minimum and those who would know would only know by reading the end credits.
Now Shrek 1 and 2 both made money by the opposite way The Incredibles did. The Shrek films (as well as every other Dreamworks animated film). Relied heavily on pop-culture. It may be a good way to make money fast but it wont last in the long run. Timelessness is very important and is a very good reason in why to ignore pop-culture references in comedys. (only person I can see who can pull it off well enough is Kevin Smith who has slowly been moving away from that with each film he creates).
Now, Look at the latest Disney Animated films since Emperor's new groove. That was when traditional started to fall. It is not that the films were more adult oriented, it was because the stories became more corporate decided focus group tested films. The most successful in this "generation" of films would be Lilo and Stitch which was probably due to the fact that the director got to tell his story. The ride, the sequel, and animated series though are more of the problem seen with the other films. I do think though, that if the film released before Lelo and Stitch followed the premise of being the telling of a story, Lilo and Stitch would have done twice as good.
Also, Atlantis and Dinosaur are good examples. Atlantis would have been twice as long as the actual version and would have focused more of Milo and his father. The movie though was beaten into what it was. (sad because all the planned stuff for the movie such as Fire Mountain.)
Dinosaur, ran into the same problem. It would have been a much darker movie with a completly different focus. However, management thought that the audience would not get attached to the characters and that the old ending would not allow a sequel if the movie were to be successful.
I think I should write a Thesis paper on this. If I do the reasearch and have the well, I could easily support my claim.
