Geppetto’s Secret
May 2nd, 2004 -- by Augie De Blieck Jr.
I’m firmly in the camp that switching all animation to CGI is a large mistake. Giving further proof of this fact is the “Geppetto’s Secret” entry on Cartoon Brew this weekend. It’s very short, or else I’d quote it here. Click on the link, read it, and laugh.
May 2nd, 2004 at 10:34 pm
I kinda doubt this’ll make it to theaters. Not only is the concept ludicrous, the animation isn’t up to snuff either. Looks like a straight-to-video to me, if it actually is completed.
Does make you wonder what’ll be the first CGI bomb. A prime candidate would be Fox’s Robots (directed by Chris Wedge of Ice Age fame). Also could come from Dreamworks, the early reports I’ve seen of Sharkslayer do not sound that nice. Could be the independently produced Delgo (www.delgo.com), though I fervently hope not (I’m in love with the trailer for the film).
One thing’s for sure, it’s probably not going to come from PIXAR. Since they’re the main reason CGI is riding its tsunami of success.
May 2nd, 2004 at 10:38 pm
When will the suits get it that it’s not the medium, it’s the story that makes the difference? Disney sucked between about 1973-1989 when Little Mermaid was released…because they had become all about the formula, and the formula just started sucking.
The same thing’s happened recently, all of their movies follow the same formula. Pixar’s movies have succeeded because they use a completely different formula, but one day that too will fail, and then hopefully they’ll figure it out and move on.
Disney won’t get it again though because they rely on focus groups to tell them what they want to see, rather than old fashioned creative talent.
May 3rd, 2004 at 9:58 pm
Does make you wonder what’ll be the first CGI bomb.
There’s already been at least one, maybe two, depending on your definition of “bomb”. ‘Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within’ was definitely a bomb, resulting in the (premature, IMHO) closing of Square’s feature animation division. Personally, I liked the film, but I can see how it would’ve had trouble capturing a large enough audience to turn a profit.
The other “bomb”, while more arguable, is more interesting: Disney’s own ‘Dinosaur’. It actually made nearly $140m in its domestic theatrical run, but considering unofficial estimates of its budget reach the magic $200m mark, it may still be in the red. I remember reading at the time that its less-than-expected performance caused Disney to abandon the idea of CGI movies at the time; either that report was wrong, or the head honchos at Disney made a remarkable 180-degree turnaround on a major, major issue in just over 2 years…