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Universal Pictures Creates New Family Film Unit
Filed under: Animation », Universal », Family Films », Newsstand »
Universal has finally decided that it's time to bring some of their attention to producing family films. Variety pointed out that Universal Pictures has not released a film devoted to a family audience or even an animated film -- rather, a successful animated film -- in a very long time. Their last attempt at releasing an animated feature was last February with Curious George, which received less than perfect reviews and brought in a meager $69 million in box office sales -- just above its production costs. Chris Meledandri plans to change all of that with one great and still unnamed plan.Meledandri is lobbying to create a 'new unit' at Universal Pictures that "will produce both animated and live-action pics that U will distribute worldwide under an exclusive five-year agreement." This new branch at Universal is much needed since they have been out of the CGI competition with other studios -- Dreamworks and Pixar to name a few -- and have a theme park that relies on attracting families for its admission.
How many films can we expect from the new family-oriented animation and live-action branch of Universal? Meledandri is expecting to release its first feature in 2009 and is predicting the release of about three films per year. It also seems that Meledandri is the right man for the job; he's responsible for the success of Fox's Blue Sky Studios and its release of films such as Ice Age and Robots; he is also currently working on The Simpsons Movie which is currently wrapping up production for a release this summer. Should Pixar and Dreamworks be shaking in their boots over their new competition? With Meledandri's resumé they should at least be shaking a little, but they may be shaking a lot when Universal announces what exactly is in the works for 2009.
Back to Hand Drawing for Disney
Filed under: Animation », Disney », Newsstand »
Pencil. Paper. Have you two met? I think the better question may be directed to the animator -- do you remember how to use them? I remember when Toy Story came out in 1995 -- it was huge! It broke barriers being the first full-length computer animated film. It was exciting and quickly became the thing to do; seemingly making hand drawing the thing of the past. Disney animation is now putting a stop to the CGI addiction and returning to a more traditional drawing plan.This change, just announced today by John Lasseter and Ed Catmull, will take place in Walt Disney Co.'s Burbank studios, leaving Pixar to exclusively work onCGI projects. There isn't a specific answer to why the change happened, but one rumor centers around Chris Sanders who is responsible for Lilo and Stitch and the upcoming film American Dog. Lilo and Stitch, if you can remember, was hand-drawn -- and was a huge success. Perhaps they're hoping the same hand-drawn success with American Dog.
I do think it's nice to know that there is an effort being made in preserving this art form. I often times get worried with how great technology has become that we get further and further away from our origins. Being a bit of a technology dunce I don't understand the steps necessary in making a CGI film but I do fondly reminisce about the making of Steamboat Willie. I still vividly remember watching how they drew out the story to create the film. It was exciting seeing the characters come to life right off the page. I find relief knowing that there are many films to come made in that same historical way ... and I'm sure many animators are relieved too.
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