WEEKEND JOURNAL
Hollywood Journal: An Animated Conversation --- DreamWorks's Katzenberg Talks 'Toons, `Shrek 2'; The `Mr. Ed' Problem
By Tom King
05/17/2002
The Wall Street Journal
W6
(Copyright (c) 2002, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
FOR YEARS, Jeffrey Katzenberg was dismissed as Hollywood's "golden retriever," the gofer for his former mentor Michael Eisner. He was dogged by that image even while he was head of Walt Disney Studios, where he played a key role in reviving the company's animation department. (Think "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King.")
But gofer no more. Now 51, Mr. Katzenberg, a co-founder of DreamWorks SKG, is almost one of the town's elder statesmen. This year, DreamWorks's "Shrek" won the very first Academy Award given for best animated film. And tomorrow, the company's latest animated picture, "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron," has its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Talk about a tough sell: It's a musical about horses, but the animals don't talk or sing.
Last week, Hollywood Journal sat down with Mr. Katzenberg for a discussion about everything from the current state of animation to why he's paying Cameron Diaz more than a half a million dollars -- an hour. Here are excerpts:
Q: While computer-generated animated movies like "Shrek" and "Monsters Inc." are all the rage, traditional, hand-drawn cartoons like "The Road to El Dorado" and "Atlantis" have misfired. Are the last rites of hand-drawn films being read?
Mr. Katzenberg: No way. But unfortunately, the last batch of traditional animated movies -- and we're included here -- have not been that good. They haven't had interesting stories and they haven't been told very well. But it was only three years ago that there was a traditionally animated movie -- Disney's "Tarzan" -- that was bigger overseas than any of the computer-generated movies have been. Bigger than "Toy Story" or "Monsters" or "Shrek."
Q: Still, at a time when audiences seem addicted to the computer-generated look of, say, "Ice Age," you're coming out with "Spirit," a film in which the main characters were mostly drawn by hand. Why?
A: I liken it to the difference between an e-mail and a handwritten note: An artist creating life with a pencil on a piece of paper is simply more emotional and organic than an artist creating life on a computer.
That said, the computer, in my opinion, is the savior of this art form; it's not the enemy. Many of the horses in "Spirit," for instance, are CG [computer-generated] horses. Our objective was to marry something from the old with something from the new.
Q: In "Spirit," you elected not to have the animals talk. What were you thinking?
A: I have two words and four letters for you to answer that question: Mr. Ed. Honest to goodness, as soon as you see a horse's mouth move, it's funny -- and you laugh. You could do a comedy with horses talking, but you couldn't do an adventure story. We brought in Matt Damon to provide some narration, to tell the audience what Spirit [a wild mustang] is thinking. And then it's Bryan Adams whose songs tell us what Spirit is feeling. There's a song in the movie called "Get Off of My Back" that Bryan dedicated to me. Very generous of him, huh?
Q: Even your marketing people concede the primary audience for "Spirit" will be young girls, a traditionally fickle audience. Given that it's teen boys who drive the box office, are you concerned "Spirit" might get trampled by testosterone-charged movies?
A: I will only say the following: "Little Mermaid." "Beauty and the Beast." "Pocahontas." These are hugely successful movies. The fact that nobody's done them in a long time to me is a lost opportunity. But this movie is a flat-out adventure story that is as compelling to boys as it is to girls. Now whether boys will come in at the outset as easily as the girls will, I'm not sure. I think we'll have to prove ourselves to them.
Q: Actors who provide the voices in animated movies typically are paid the acting equivalent of minimum wage. But with "Shrek 2," now in production, you're paying Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz a whopping $10 million apiece upfront. Why?
A: On any of these movies, in success we've tried to be very generous to our voice talent. I think they contribute an immeasurable amount to these films. For Eddie and Mike and Cameron, it's probably the single biggest salary in the history of the business. Each of them will work somewhere around 15 to 18 hours in total -- and they deserve every single penny they will get.
Q: From "The Prince of Egypt" to "Antz" and "Chicken Run," you've turned out animated movies in a variety of styles since DreamWorks was founded in 1994. What's next?
A: One year from now is "Sinbad," which will have the voices of Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michelle Pfeiffer and Joseph Fiennes. We've tried to make "Indiana Jones" in animation. We'll have two movies for the summer of 2004: "Shrek 2" and "Sharkslayer," which has the voices of Will Smith, Angelina Jolie, Renee Zellweger, James Gandolfini and Marty Scorsese. It's kind of like "The Sopranos" meets "The Godfather" meets "Some Like It Hot" -- underwater in a reef.
Q: You left Disney in an angry dispute with Mr. Eisner. With your own company now, you've won the very first Oscar given for Best Animated Feature. How important was that?
A: It was very emotional to be sitting there in that theater that night. There's only one first. The fact that it happened at DreamWorks makes me grateful to [company co-founders] Steven [Spielberg], David [Geffen] and [principal investor] Paul Allen because they made it possible.
Q: While that was indeed triumphant, you spent a ton of money advertising to Academy voters, lobbying for not just a nomination for best animated movie, but also for Best Picture. Shortly before the nominations were announced, you told us you were "stupidly optimistic" that "Shrek" would get one.
A: Well, obviously the operative word there is "stupidly." Listen, the fact that the Academy has created a category to recognize animation as a filmmaking technique is a fantastic thing for the industry. It's a wonderful thing for all the young kids today who are flooding into the animation business.
---
Please share with Tom your questions about Hollywood. Write to tking@wsj.com. He will answer selected questions in this space.
--- Drawing Crowds
Jeffrey Katzenberg has been involved with a number of the biggest
animated films. Here's a list of the industry's most successful films,
with his projects in bold.
FILM DOMESTIC GROSS*
The Lion King (Disney, 1994) $312.9
Shrek (DreamWorks, 2001) 267.7
Monsters Inc. (Disney, 2001) 253.1**
Toy Story 2 (Disney, 1999) 245.9
Aladdin (Disney, 1992) 217.4
Toy Story (Disney, 1995) 191.8
Ice Age (Fox, 2002) 171.0**
Tarzan (Disney, 1999) 170.5
A Bug's Life (Disney, 1998) 162.8
Beauty and the Beast (Disney, 1991)145.9
* In millions; **Still in release
Source: Exhibitor Relations Co.
Copyright © 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Hollywood Journal: An Animated Conversation --- DreamWorks's Katzenberg Talks 'Toons, `Shrek 2'; The `Mr. Ed' Problem
By Tom King
05/17/2002
The Wall Street Journal
W6
(Copyright (c) 2002, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
FOR YEARS, Jeffrey Katzenberg was dismissed as Hollywood's "golden retriever," the gofer for his former mentor Michael Eisner. He was dogged by that image even while he was head of Walt Disney Studios, where he played a key role in reviving the company's animation department. (Think "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King.")
But gofer no more. Now 51, Mr. Katzenberg, a co-founder of DreamWorks SKG, is almost one of the town's elder statesmen. This year, DreamWorks's "Shrek" won the very first Academy Award given for best animated film. And tomorrow, the company's latest animated picture, "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron," has its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Talk about a tough sell: It's a musical about horses, but the animals don't talk or sing.
Last week, Hollywood Journal sat down with Mr. Katzenberg for a discussion about everything from the current state of animation to why he's paying Cameron Diaz more than a half a million dollars -- an hour. Here are excerpts:
Q: While computer-generated animated movies like "Shrek" and "Monsters Inc." are all the rage, traditional, hand-drawn cartoons like "The Road to El Dorado" and "Atlantis" have misfired. Are the last rites of hand-drawn films being read?
Mr. Katzenberg: No way. But unfortunately, the last batch of traditional animated movies -- and we're included here -- have not been that good. They haven't had interesting stories and they haven't been told very well. But it was only three years ago that there was a traditionally animated movie -- Disney's "Tarzan" -- that was bigger overseas than any of the computer-generated movies have been. Bigger than "Toy Story" or "Monsters" or "Shrek."
Q: Still, at a time when audiences seem addicted to the computer-generated look of, say, "Ice Age," you're coming out with "Spirit," a film in which the main characters were mostly drawn by hand. Why?
A: I liken it to the difference between an e-mail and a handwritten note: An artist creating life with a pencil on a piece of paper is simply more emotional and organic than an artist creating life on a computer.
That said, the computer, in my opinion, is the savior of this art form; it's not the enemy. Many of the horses in "Spirit," for instance, are CG [computer-generated] horses. Our objective was to marry something from the old with something from the new.
Q: In "Spirit," you elected not to have the animals talk. What were you thinking?
A: I have two words and four letters for you to answer that question: Mr. Ed. Honest to goodness, as soon as you see a horse's mouth move, it's funny -- and you laugh. You could do a comedy with horses talking, but you couldn't do an adventure story. We brought in Matt Damon to provide some narration, to tell the audience what Spirit [a wild mustang] is thinking. And then it's Bryan Adams whose songs tell us what Spirit is feeling. There's a song in the movie called "Get Off of My Back" that Bryan dedicated to me. Very generous of him, huh?
Q: Even your marketing people concede the primary audience for "Spirit" will be young girls, a traditionally fickle audience. Given that it's teen boys who drive the box office, are you concerned "Spirit" might get trampled by testosterone-charged movies?
A: I will only say the following: "Little Mermaid." "Beauty and the Beast." "Pocahontas." These are hugely successful movies. The fact that nobody's done them in a long time to me is a lost opportunity. But this movie is a flat-out adventure story that is as compelling to boys as it is to girls. Now whether boys will come in at the outset as easily as the girls will, I'm not sure. I think we'll have to prove ourselves to them.
Q: Actors who provide the voices in animated movies typically are paid the acting equivalent of minimum wage. But with "Shrek 2," now in production, you're paying Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz a whopping $10 million apiece upfront. Why?
A: On any of these movies, in success we've tried to be very generous to our voice talent. I think they contribute an immeasurable amount to these films. For Eddie and Mike and Cameron, it's probably the single biggest salary in the history of the business. Each of them will work somewhere around 15 to 18 hours in total -- and they deserve every single penny they will get.
Q: From "The Prince of Egypt" to "Antz" and "Chicken Run," you've turned out animated movies in a variety of styles since DreamWorks was founded in 1994. What's next?
A: One year from now is "Sinbad," which will have the voices of Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michelle Pfeiffer and Joseph Fiennes. We've tried to make "Indiana Jones" in animation. We'll have two movies for the summer of 2004: "Shrek 2" and "Sharkslayer," which has the voices of Will Smith, Angelina Jolie, Renee Zellweger, James Gandolfini and Marty Scorsese. It's kind of like "The Sopranos" meets "The Godfather" meets "Some Like It Hot" -- underwater in a reef.
Q: You left Disney in an angry dispute with Mr. Eisner. With your own company now, you've won the very first Oscar given for Best Animated Feature. How important was that?
A: It was very emotional to be sitting there in that theater that night. There's only one first. The fact that it happened at DreamWorks makes me grateful to [company co-founders] Steven [Spielberg], David [Geffen] and [principal investor] Paul Allen because they made it possible.
Q: While that was indeed triumphant, you spent a ton of money advertising to Academy voters, lobbying for not just a nomination for best animated movie, but also for Best Picture. Shortly before the nominations were announced, you told us you were "stupidly optimistic" that "Shrek" would get one.
A: Well, obviously the operative word there is "stupidly." Listen, the fact that the Academy has created a category to recognize animation as a filmmaking technique is a fantastic thing for the industry. It's a wonderful thing for all the young kids today who are flooding into the animation business.
---
Please share with Tom your questions about Hollywood. Write to tking@wsj.com. He will answer selected questions in this space.
--- Drawing Crowds
Jeffrey Katzenberg has been involved with a number of the biggest
animated films. Here's a list of the industry's most successful films,
with his projects in bold.
FILM DOMESTIC GROSS*
The Lion King (Disney, 1994) $312.9
Shrek (DreamWorks, 2001) 267.7
Monsters Inc. (Disney, 2001) 253.1**
Toy Story 2 (Disney, 1999) 245.9
Aladdin (Disney, 1992) 217.4
Toy Story (Disney, 1995) 191.8
Ice Age (Fox, 2002) 171.0**
Tarzan (Disney, 1999) 170.5
A Bug's Life (Disney, 1998) 162.8
Beauty and the Beast (Disney, 1991)145.9
* In millions; **Still in release
Source: Exhibitor Relations Co.
Copyright © 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.