Dreamworks Dumps Wallace and Gromit 189
Tiger4 writes "Aardman Animation and Dreamworks are splitting their relationship. Apparently Dreamworks feels they lost money on 'Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit' and 'Flushed Away.' So off to their separate ways they go. Aardman is going back to stop motion and clay, Dreamworks will be staying with their CGI ways." In addition, Aardman Animation announced that a new Wallace and Gromit film is in the works.
I say (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I say (Score:4, Interesting)
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Re:I say (Score:4, Informative)
In Flushed Away, it was CGI, including the characters. They *made* them look like clay though, and it looks pretty convincing, except their body language is kinda too smooth or versatile for a clay doll at times (required by the script though).
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Indeed, the movements and expressions have improved immensely in CGI features. This exact thing has made a great impression to me too.
Before we had those simple math based smooth artificial moves (and we still see them on amateur movies
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The thing is that "traditional animation" has been gone for 40-50 years. I'm talking about when the artists actually painted each and every frame. They have been making shortcuts for quite some time with using overlays, repeated backgrounds, CGI, etc.
Although CGI is not as good as it will be, to be honest, its more like "traditional animation" than animation has been in years. The ability to move the ca
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Re:I say (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I say (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:I say (Score:5, Interesting)
I think this is just Dreamworks trying to gloss over that by announcing that it didn't make them any money so they want out.
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Re:I say (Score:5, Interesting)
Dreamworks buried both Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Flushed Away. They had NO IDEA how to promote the movies, and basically threw up their hands and said "OMG it's too British." They also took Innocence: Ghost In The Shell II and buried it. That was a freaking impressive movie on a big screen. It just doesn't have the same impact on your TV.
Same with Disney. They have buried all of the movies they released for Studio Ghibli. They made more of a noise for Valiant than Howl's Moving Castle.
I think that both Dreamworks and Disney see Aardman and Ghibli product respectively as DVD fodder. I suspect that Miyazaki-sensei will be the next one to take his ball and play elsewhere. The Aardman move was in the works even before Flushed Away was released. Aardman was ticked, to say the least, about how Were-rabbit was released.
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The promoted it (Score:3, Informative)
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Hand made films are extremely expensive and are becoming out of style, like black and white films. We see this with Titan A.E. and the death of hand drawn animation.
What Aardman does is an art, and there is little room for art in the major studios. As much as I respect Dreamworks, serperating Aardman from the real plasticine is a crime. OTOH, I say no problem with supplementing the plasti
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Specifically (Score:2)
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Maybe now Aardman can go back to focusing on the kind of stuff that made them great to begin with, now that they're free of DreamWorks' "That's great, but can we put Will Ferrell in it and parody some pop stars?" philosophy.
Was the money really THAT
Dreamworks is dead (Score:4, Interesting)
Gromit (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Gromit (Score:5, Insightful)
-Eric
Re:Gromit (Score:4, Interesting)
As an animator, the level of craftsmanship, timing & pacing in Madagascar was pretty noteworthy. They pushed the CG animated medium pretty far with huge amounts of squash & stretch, smears and exaggeration. Disclaimer: I know a couple of guys that work on the PDI campus.
That's not to say that I don't long for old school claymation and traditional 2D sometimes, but the end result is slowly becoming more about the artists involved than the tools they use if you've got a good crew and director.
I'm both happy and sad to see Aardman more away from Dreamworks, though. They'll get even less exposure in the US, but they won't have a big US corporate megalith to report to, watering down their unique style and humor.
Dreamworks... (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Dreamworks... (Score:5, Funny)
I've had it with this cheap-ass movie industry. If Dreamworks doesn't apologized to Wallace and Gromit, I'm going to strap some blinking cartoon characters around my body and go to the next Academy Awards ceremony.
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No, but they are kinda like IOUs though, because it helps sell future works.
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That said, there were only 3 in the running for that oscar and even working in Blockbuster at the time it was just about every major animated film I'd heard of that year. (As I recall it beat Corpse Bride, Howl's castle and possibly Madagascar)
Lady Tottington (Score:3, Funny)
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Shaun The Sheep Of The Dead!
As Wallace might've said... (Score:5, Funny)
"...everybody knows Hollywood's made of cheese".
"They're crackers! We've forgotten they're crackers!"
"No more Americans -- more trouble than they're worth! I could just fancy some cheese, Gromit. What do you say? Cheddar?... All's well that ends well, that's what I say. Uhmm... I do like a bit of gorgonzola..."
"It's the wrong company Gromit. And they've gone wrong"
Plus raised eyebrows and a pained look from Gromit of course!
Re:As Wallace might've said... (Score:4, Funny)
-Eric
Smart Move? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Smart Move? (Score:5, Informative)
And while WereRabbit was a brilliant movie, Flushed away was really not.
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Has to be said (Score:2)
Anyway, the spent over $100M on it, and it only made 30-40M back.
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Personally I thought Shrek had a much funnier and coherent script than Shrek 2 which pushed the "just like our world only done with magic" joke until it became stale.
BUT I never understood why oh why was Robin Hood bloody FRENCH in Shrek!?! That's like sticking in Paul Bunyan and giving him a giant pink sheep instead of a blue ox - or having George Washington do a guest appearance speaking like Sergeant Schultz! "I di
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I sometimes think I'm the only person that thought Shrek was tired, formulaic and uninspired. The animation was a bit rubbish, too.
My only problem with Shrek... (Score:2)
Maybe kids from the Far Right Side... (Score:2)
every kid who knows cats knows what this cat was doing. He was cleaning himself in the usual odd places. This is what cats do. That is funny and that is why it's in there. The idea that the cat was doing anything else at that time never occurred to me, but of course I was never exposed to Fritz the Cat when I was 8.
And she walked out, not in. Neh!
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The best two animated films Dreamworks put out since Toy Story and they're dropping the production company?
And was wrong since Dreamworks didn't put out Toy Story. I'm not really sure what WAG-COTWR or Howls Moving Castle is either.
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Uhm, HELLO!!! --> Hayao __Miyazaki__ [imdb.com] !!
Spirited Away ('01)
Princess Mononoke ('97)
Kiki's Delivery Service ('89) (Phil Hartman , we miss you
Castle in the Sky ('86)
--
Yes, you will come back, suicide or not. Sucks to be you!
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1) Toy Story - Pixar film, not DreamWorks
2) Shark Tale 2 - Will never happen, Shark Tale didn't make enough money
3) There is no such movie Farther Over The Hedge
4) Madagascar 2 and Kung Fu Panda are seperate films
Ardman movies have been the lowest box office returns for DreamWorks Animation.
At the end of the day, DWA is a business. If it is not making money, they can't afford to keep doing it.
And besides, I don't agree on the Ardman films being the best. They were ok, I preferred t
Re:Smart Move? (Score:4, Insightful)
Dreamworks CGI movies are a series of set-pieces held loosly together by a lame plot. This works great for kids because they just skip to the bit they like, and don't really get the plot anyway, but if you want to convince a parent to pay to go and see it at a cinema you need more. At best they draw an adult audience because of celebrity pulling power - and comes away feeling cheated.
Dreamworks was always going to be a poor choice for Aardman. Perhaps this will make Disney/Pixar wake up and adopt them. They seem to have similar goals. I'd also expect them to split their concerns so that they have Aardmen for clay and Pixar for CGI.
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Re:Smart Move? (Score:4, Interesting)
It's like Disney versus Warner Brothers. Initially, Warner Brothers was cheap and wanna-be, but over time they really came into their own by developed a cutting wit which simply wasn't present in the Disney pieces. I don't think Dreamworks is there yet, but it could happen.
Too bad... (Score:2)
Film at 11 (but I'll wait for the DVD) (Score:2)
Did any decent movie released in 2005 make money?
Anyway, "Wererabbit" was brilliant, but not noticably more so than the preceeding shorts - in fact, although I've watched the DVD several times I can't even remember whether I went to see it in the cinema or not. More half-hour shorts for TV/DVD, guys! Cinema is just a rather cost-innefective way of advertising DVDs.
Fixed that for you. (Score:2)
Nope. They haven't got the Scrooge McDuck-esque treasury built up yet.
Praise the Lord! (Score:5, Insightful)
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The decision was made years ago (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm not saying either party is in the wrong, but the whole deal was a disaster waiting to happen. The surprise success of Chicken Run gave everyone rose-tinted glasses. Katzenberg only ever really wanted W&G.
Great news. (Score:3, Funny)
Now Dreamworks can go back to concentrating on dire, 'hip' CG extravaganzas with all the lasting appeal of a rotten pear.
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I read a magazine article about Katzenberg - around the time of (I think) Madagascar's release. Possibly I have the wrong movie there. Anyway. The story was related of how Katzenberg has the Midas touch, and was watching an animation from a scene involving an altercation between two characters. Katzenberg's suggestion was to have one character "kick the other one in the ass" at the end. This really "made the scene" apparently, and was proof of Katzenberg's five-star comedy genius.
I remember making up
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-Eric
Purple and Brown (Score:4, Interesting)
Aardman don't need dreamworks (Score:2, Insightful)
Aardmann are an excellent creative company and the last thing they need is a company like dreamworks breathing down their back.
That said, dreamworks are good, I loved t
language barrier (Score:2, Informative)
It's kind of sympathetic (Score:3, Insightful)
Lost money on 'Curse of the Were Rabbit? (Score:3, Informative)
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Don't get me wrong. I love the movie and so did my entire family.
But if you advertise something as 'from the creators of Wallace and Gromit' you've put an image into peoples' heads before they've even seen the movie. No matter how good it is, if it doesn't match that image, they'll be somewhat disappointed.
Having said that, I think the real issue was that
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Apparently you are new to the field of Hollywood accounting. Surely after all the "expenses" have been deducted, Curse of the Were-rabbit will be shown to have lost $100 million or so.
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That's a crock of weapons-grade bullshit if I've ever heard one.
It's worse (Score:2)
Since I remembered Wallace & Gromit opening at #1 and staying in the top 5 for about a month, I did the same kind of math [hyperborea.org] you did, using IMDB figures. Even looking at the domestic figures, W&G pulled in $56 million -- that's $26 more than the movie's budget. I doubt they spent $50 million advertising a $30 mi
Life on Mars meets Camberwick Green (Score:2)
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Re:Simple reason (Score:5, Funny)
Oi! You leave Neil and Christine alone, thank-you very very much!
Saucy bugger.
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You lousy foreigners! I'd get up out of my Barcalounger and pound the bejesus outta you for insulting us but I'm too tired and my ankles hurt and I'd spill my bag of Cheetos and my Coke and I'd miss the game on TV. Never mind. I'm content. I don't care about transfats, global warming, or genocide. That's all for sissy liberals. Wallace and Grommit, hah! Any Hanna-Barbara is far better.
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Re:How bad was it? (Score:5, Informative)
Very, very [the-numbers.com] unprofitable:
Production Budget: $30,000,000
Worldwide Gross: $185,724,838
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Hmmmm let me see, cost you 30 million to make, you take in 185 million world wide, lets thats 150 million in profit? Ohh wait is that the Net, the Net Net, or the Net Net Net...?
I am seemingly unclear, you invest 30 make 185, lets see uhmmm 6 x 30 = 180... I guess 6 times your investment is not good enough.
Am I missing something here?
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Re:How bad was it? (Score:5, Funny)
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With accounting like that, New Line Cinema would be proud!
Perhaps Peter Jackson and Aardman could get together and film "The Grommit" in Claymation?
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This will require some knowledge of Boolean logic or basic Algebra.
A loss is a negative profit. We can express this as Loss = -Profit.
A profit is a negative loss. We can express this as -Loss = Profit.
Proofs of this are outside the scope of this post.
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Not according to Hollywood math. The poster was making a joke, but I guess that sadly it was way over your head.
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wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwoooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooossssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Re:How bad was it? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:How bad was it? (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:How bad was it? (Score:4, Informative)
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Easy solution here... Get a bunch of celebs to do a terrible dubbed version with "Americanized" jokes. Arnold Schwarzenegger an play Wallice etc... This will be a huge box office hit, and make tones of money.
They can then double the US revenue by also selling and/or screening the real version with the origial sound track.
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Flushed Away's problem was a $149 million dollar budget. Add advertising and it maybe broke even worldwide.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=wallaceand gromit05.htm [boxofficemojo.com]
Curse of the Were-rabbit had a built-in audience and made $22 million less worldwide, but only cost $30 million.
Who was the moron that thought $149 million dollars was a good idea?
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