Future of Full Length Animated Films?

[sun]

What do you think is the future of full length animated films? Some great hits lately, Shriek, but lots of duds too...In what direction will this, one of our favorite enjoyements, go? I would like to hear opinions on this...I think it will come down to Disney, and Dreamworks. Although, they may come out with good stuff, I do not know if they will give us great material? What do you think?

[Joe Wagner]

Well I think that it's starting to make a resurgence, esp. with the new Animated Oscar that will be awarded every year. I too think that Dreamworks and Disney are going to be the ones to compete with but over the next couple of years it could become real interesting. If Disney continues making cheap sequels and violating their classics they could very well lose the respect that they've garnered for so many years. Dreamworks on the other hand seems to be pushing the envelope a little bit more - especially with Shrek and the upcoming Spirit on their slate. Another film that looks pretty interesting could be Sinbad as a cel-animated feature. Disney could suffer in this department as soon as Pixar is done with their five picture deal and free to do the movies the way they want to. Another thing is that Disney seems to be pulling away from cel-animated features (except for most of the awful sequels) in favor of CGI.

While I like CGI I still prefer cel-animation in most stories, altho some stories just work better in CGI ala Toy Story and Monster's Inc. As long as these features continue to remain profitable it could be anyones ball game and with the profits they could pull in I could see WB, Fox, Universal and Paramount all crowding the market, re-opening their studios and taking their shots at what seems to be a growing area of hollywood.

Final Verdict - Dreamworks if it continues with movies that don't follow the same plot and offer something new. This also means that Disney continues on their cannabalistic attempts of sequelizing their classics.

If Disney realizes what they're doing before they lose all of their limbs I give them the edge to be the animator that's #1 in the future - after all there is a reason they are there today, altho it could be an interesting race into the future.

-Joe!

[GL2k2]

I think CGI is a passing fade for now, Hollywood likes to xerox everything until it's dead and stupid. I'd like to see more Anime in the theaters, and more regular American 2D films. We need a third Heavy Metal film to redeem the second, and this time make it an anthology, jeez, how many American cartoonists do we have nowadays? It can be done. Also, I'm glad that tv cartoons are popping up in theaters, cause those show Hollywood, that when made well, can bring in cash. Although I hate Pokemon and Digimon, I think Powerpuff Girls on the screen is a great idea. Skip th DTV, go for broke.

[RogueMartian]

Personally I don't think this country has a future in animated films, at least not seriously. Disney is simply learning that cheap direct to video releases makes just as much money, if not more, than expensive, time consuming original animated films. We are also limited to the fact that all our animated films must be rated G. Kids have buying power, but its adults and teenagers that go to movies and make them blockbusters, as long as animation is for children, they will never have the power that live action films have. This trend will not change either as long as the public is not introduced to the possibilities that animation offers. Its really quite sad.

[Joe Tully]

I think that the important thing is getting more major players into animated movies. The lack of competition for Disney has meant that they could let quality go down without losing reputation to someone else who could do the job better. With Dreamworks starting to enter, and with CN Studios wanting to get involved in movies, along with some more small names like Blue Sky and even....*yuck*....Nick, there's hope that we'll see more companies entering the business and bringing more diversity.

[sun]

The future may lie in direct release to DVD and video tape...When you put in costs of prints, and advertising, the cost of a full length high quality animated film probably starts at 30 -50 million....In any film released into movie theaters, the risks are: 1 in 5 is a big hit, 1 in 5 makes some money, 1 - 5 breakes even, 2-5 lose, and often lose a lot of money....Many full lenght animated films, have lost a lot. I bought Batman Beyound full lenghth version, Yea, I enjoyed it, watched it once, maybe twice....Maybe that is where the future lies....All those" Land Before Time Sequals would not have been made, if the producers, did not think, and did not actually make some money.....That is ultimiately the name of the game in this business.....There would only have been "Land Before Time 2, and that would have been it...Stuart

[Calhoun07]

I look at a movie like Waking Life and realize that people do not need huge budgets to make a great animated movie. I am not sure how much Waking Life cost to make, but I understand it was created on a Macintosh computer. I think in the future of animation, you will see studios falter and occasionally find a great formula, but for the most part people will disregard animation as being for kids and will ignore the more adventurous animated projects from the studios.

For the animation fans who want it, I think serious movies are within our grasp at a miminal cost with all the desktop technology now available to aspiring filmmakers.

[sun]

I have not seen Walking LIfe....Thanks Calhoun for the lead...I'll try to find it if it is on tape...You have made some very good points, but I still think the full lenght animation field is in trouble. But then, we are almost to the point where we could call "Attack of the Clones" an animated film, with a little live action thrown in....We sure have come a long way with digital animation..and its offshoots....thanks..STuart

[sun]

"Ice Age" has proved my wrong. If the box office holds up, there will be some more crow to eat. No one can be right always, I just want my fair share....

[Pilmedium]

Originally posted by GL2k2
I think Powerpuff Girls on the screen is a great idea

Sitting in my bed at 4pm awake doing absolutely nothing would be more enjoyable than watching a powerpuff girls movie. (Ignore me. I'm not a cartoon cartoon fan.)

Disney needs to get their act together. All this CGI and, worse yet, sequel stuff is getting annoying. On the other hand, CGI should be used in weird films, because it makes the characters look even weirder! :p

[Allen's Nickname.]

Where On God's Green earth did you see waking life?

[sun]

I guess we were all wrong............the future of Animated films is secure.
Pixar did it Cars!!!..but so did many others..Dreamworks Animation, with Shrek.
So, .now...how does it look in 2006..I read the full length Simpson movie is coming out soon.. Anyone willing to comment? ..........................................Stuart

[veemonjosh]

Why... in gods name... did you bump up a thread... FROM 2002?!?

If you really wanted to discuss this type of thing, you should've made a NEW topic and possibly quoted and linked back to this thread.

And you post is a big grammar nightmare.

[TheMecca]

Lookit me, ma, I'm necromancing a thread that I started.
The question itself is kinda dumb. Animated movies will always exist............................................................
ALWAYS.

[sun]

I was looking back at some old threads. I thought it would be interesting to compare the thinking in 2002 with that of today. While this may seem rediculous to some, and that view is ok with me. It may be interesting to some too.
..If the mods wish to close this, because it does this type of comparison, that is also ok..
By having the old ideas right here, we can easily look at the past, and view how we think now. If nobody wishes to add, this one will just go away.
..Nevertheless, we have come a long way since those days in Toonzone, and ideas in relationship to the past, and to the current future, may be of interst to some, or perhas many..That is why I brought this back..

[DarthGonzo]

Hey even 2D animation wasnt dead when this original thread was started. Lilo and Stitch wasnt even out yet. Lilo and Stitch.

Someone please put this thread out of it's misery.

[Super Sonic]

I still can't believe they're making another Shrek movie though...

[JDWeil]

In case anyone hasn't noticed, there will be a total of 9 animated features that will be released this year (all CGI!). That's the most I've seen in any one year. I think animated features are alive and well for the time being.

[sun]

In case anyone hasn't noticed, there will be a total of 9 animated features that will be released this year (all CGI!). That's the most I've seen in any one year. I think animated features are alive and well for the time being.
..Yes, I think that this is the most ever. It shows that companies are willing to risk money when they weren't before. GCI has revolutionized this type of film.
There was a time, 5 years ago, when we were lucky to get 3 or 4 a year.
...The more that are made, the more choices we have. The more choices, the better for all. Even adult films in full length animation are being made. (For example, "The Triplets of Belleville".) This is a very significant change in the film making industry. Although something like, "The Yellow Submarine" might be an considered "adult /teenage film...It was really a film by the most popular band of an era, and insured huge profits before it was made..This is not true with something like "The Triplets," . I think things have really changed..

[adoptedBatpuppy]

In case anyone hasn't noticed, there will be a total of 9 animated features that will be released this year (all CGI!). That's the most I've seen in any one year. I think animated features are alive and well for the time being.

Really, What are they?

To me traditionally animated films and cartoons on T.V will always be here, but not as much as the newer 3D animation which is being put up and pretty popular with the folks, nowadays.

Disney definetly needs some more original ideas, then making sequels, every couple of months.
I can definetly see Dreamworks and Warner Brothers/CW doing an animated film that surpresses Disney, in the future.

[HG Revolution]

Really, What are they?

Curious George (2D)
Doogal
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
The Wild
Over the Hedge
Cars
A Scanner Darkly (roteroscoping)
Monster House (mo-cap)
The Ant Bully
Barnyard
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shambala (2D)
Everyone's Hero
Open Season
Rennaissance (mo-cap)
Happy Feet
Flushed Away

That's not 9, but 16 animated films! That's a lot. And they're not all CGI either. However, I think quantity doesn't equal quality, as I see half of these films as flops. Next year, with Simpsons and Shrek leading the way, should be of a higher overall quality in terms of animated films.

[Lutochris]

You forgot Hoodwinked. Though it's probably better left forgotten.

[judyindisguise]

Disney is making a movie called "Enchanted", of which the first few minutes will be 2-D animated as per "Cinderella" and "Snow White". Supposedly Lasseter and Iger wish to bring back 2-D, and from what I've read about "Enchanted" it's an excellent vehicle for such a comeback, being that it's of the fairy-tale genre Disney is most noted for.

[Doz Hewson]

To me,the future of fulllength animated films doesn't lie w/corporations;it lies,rather,with us:People who love and respect animation,want to tell,through it,stories never before told,and who care enough about the USA and its cultural future to want/need to produce/make these films ENTIRELY IN THE USA.
And,contrary to a long-widespread lie,there are MORE THAN ENOUGH people in this country to help us do just that.

[sun]

To me,the future of fulllength animated films doesn't lie w/corporations;it lies,rather,with us:People who love and respect animation,want to tell,through it,stories never before told,and who care enough about the USA and its cultural future to want/need to produce/make these films ENTIRELY IN THE USA.
And,contrary to a long-widespread lie,there are MORE THAN ENOUGH people in this country to help us do just that.
Demand will create supply..Just look three or four posts back...17 animated films this year..Why? People want them, and will go to see them..Consequently, Production Companies will make them..(I didn't believe that myself untill it was presented) that is incredible.
..Without demand, or the desire for people to see these films,( and of course the potential profit in doing so), there wouldn't be 17 films this year...(and possiblly a Shrek III as someone said) It is a kind of revolution in Animation.. Gradually evolving over the last 15 years, but taking off in the last five...
..We are the reason that this revolution exists..And you are right.There will be even more, if more people go to them, and buy them on DVDs then other categories of film and entertainment.................

[The Weed Of Cri]

Years ago, when Disney had back-to-back box office failures with Atlantis and Treasure Planet, Dreamworks' Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron went belly-up, and even some good 2-D films like The Iron Giant and Titan A. E. failed to find an audience just as Pixar was riding the crest of a string of hits (Toy Story, Monsters Inc.), I predicted that Hollywood would turn its back on traditional 2-D animation if favor of all-CGI productions. Of course, all my animation-fan friends said I was crazy. I got the last laugh on them, but I wasn't really laughing, because I grieved for the loss of a great art form. Now with the floundering over-supply of CGI animation that's pouring out of every studio that has a computer network on tap and rolling into theaters this year (and rolling right out again, just as fast), I'm beginning to think that the gild is pretty much off the lily. What we need now is a visionary. somebody like Disney, or Richard Williams, or Brad Bird, who will convince a studio to invest in a traditional 2-D animated film which, if it hits big, can start a new renaissance of traditional animation. I don't know who that visionary is; Disney's dead, Bird's still flirting with 3-D, and Williams....well, I don't know what he's been up to these last few years, but I don't think it's making cartoons.

Right now, all the best American cartoons are on TV, and I think some of those creators can revitalize 2-D animation if they can prove it's profitable.

Paul Dini, Bruce Timm, Greg Wiseman...go for the gold!

[DarthGonzo]

Next year, with Simpsons and Shrek leading the way, should be of a higher overall quality in terms of animated films.

Funny - I was thinking that it could very well be the opposite.