by Hank Brockett
These questions arise just as coloring on a grand scale faces uncertainty. And while the thought of a pouch without fuschia or persimmon remains a farcical one, there could be credence to the fears of the movie industry.
Animation in the film age has become almost as big a part of childhood as a pacifier. Since Snow White revealed the possibilities of the animated feature, Disney and other companies have used the palate of the imagination to create indelible memories.
Each movie, contained inside those huge plastic VHS cases, became a comfort for kids of all sorts. Those memories stay with us, if the tears that well up when thinking about Bambi’s mom are any indication.
And, in an amazing string almost serving as a Midas touch, animated films dominated the childhoods of generation after generation. TV age? No problem! Here’s Robin Hood and An American Tail. Is there a computer in your life? Don’t worry! The Little Mermaid and The Lion King can fight through those modem beeps and whirls.
On top of a mountain of action figures, Happy Meal toys and coloring books, the world looked pretty good for the animation profession. Then along came that pesky hopping lamp ...
You might have seen this lamp before settling down in front of witty spectacles like Toy Story or Monsters, Inc. It’s the mascot of Pixar’s animation studios, and it shines a light on thousands of faces fearful of a total digital revolution.
Toy Story and its sequel, with their almost life-like images and crisp colors, set standards for computer-created animation and both sent animators into a tailspin. Because while Buzz Lightyear and his posse infiltrated imaginations, the business of animation meant animators had to think toward infinity ... and beyond.
The art of moviemaking demanded such thoughts. While a live-action movie can take a few months of shooting and a few months of post-production work, animated features inevitably take years for completion. Computers can cut a few months out of the process, but in both cases a studio picks its projects very carefully.
Financing the right story, though, remains an easy sell. In addition to the Toy Story franchise’s boffo box office earnings, Shrek drew $267 million in theaters before becoming a giant in VHS and DVD sales.
But an animated feature, while generally reliable for popularity, isn’t necessarily the gold standard. The recent bombs Treasure Planet and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron have doomsayers prophesizing the end of the drawn film cell.
However, everything’s not lost.
A host of factors contributed to these latest “failures.” (The term must be used loosely; a feature can earn plenty of money and still not meet expectations because animated movies cost so much to make.) And sure, the gleam and shine of digital animation makes for a wonderful viewing experience but both could have been technological vanguards and families still would have avoided them.
The reason? It’s all in the story and finding that elusive key to unlocking an imagination. Say you’re a movie producer and a hotshot writer comes to you with two proposals. One involves the secret world of lovable toys and their entertaining struggles with each other, and the second tells the story of a boy and his horse doing things. What would you greenlight?
While families look for quality, they still will settle for anything that can salvage a harrowing trip to the mall. At the movie theater I worked at, the longest-running movie wasn’t The Matrix or 10 Things I Hate About You. No, that distinction went to Baby Geniuses, one of the most depressingly bad movies in recent memory. And in a phenomenon that must have involved deals with the devil, families saw this story of talking babies three and four times.
Why? One, it was summer and family movies generally succeed during the summer. That’s because no matter what, children will go see movies when there’s nothing left to mess up at home. And with increasingly fanatical parents looking for a G rating instead of quality, there’s always an audience for these things when the weather heats up.
Spirit attempted to ride that trend but was bucked by an awful title and the simple fact boys don’t like horses all that much. You’re left with the I-want-a-pony young girl audience, and that usually isn’t enough for a major motion picture.
As for Treasure Planet, the timing overshadowed its attempts to combine conventional animation with computer-generated effects. While the holiday season also provides a great audience for family films, the film slipped through the cracks formed by The Santa Clause 2 and Harry Potter.
Even for those that saw the movie, once most likely was enough. The tale of fantastic technology proved a bit scary for younger viewers who support safer stories.
So what’s in store for animation junkies in the coming years? The people who draw and color each film cell would like to know, too. Disney just re-released The Lion King in IMAX theaters, which should reach another crop of five-year-olds for the first time. And Shrek 2 should prove to be another computer-animated big hit and probably will drive another traditional animator to drinking.
But maybe, in that drunken stupor, a timeless tale will emerge. One that, released during the summer, captures a million imaginations with the stroke of an ink-filled pen.
Don’t pitch those crayons just yet.