Dreamworks Animation: What Went Wrong?

[Goffe]

Naah, GA doesn't give a damn about animation quality unless it is incredibly tacky and noticeable. Otherwise Big Hero 6 would be a much bigger film than Frozen.

GA does care. Can you point out one visually bad movie that performed well? Could you tell apart any Dreamworks movie from this decade? No, because they all look the same visually and their animation is mediocre at best (save for a very exceptions)

If your 200m movie has special effects of a 50m movie, it's almost a lock that your movie will bomb. Hard.

Edited December 1, 2014 by Goffe Ascending

[TalismanRing]

Why did Shrek 2's budget go up by more than 100%?

 

 

 

Actor's salaries.  Cameron Diaz alone made $10m for Shrek 2 which I thought was crazy since it's not exactly a distinctive vocal performances that can't be replaced, especially not compared to Murphy and Myers.

[mahnamahna]

Naah, GA doesn't give a damn about animation quality unless it is incredibly tacky and noticeable. Otherwise Big Hero 6 would be a much bigger film than Frozen.

 

Now Dreamworks scripts on the other hand keep ranging from mediocre to terrible. Maybe they should outsource their writing too.

Honestly, DreamWorks' scripts have been mediocre for a long time. Since 2002. And most of their films get a middling 60-70% on RT. So it's not really critical reception. Their movies just look horribly bland. 

 

Shrek 2, HTTYD 1/2, KFP 1/2.... 5 decent movies over a 12 year period. Aardman doesn't count IMO (they're similar to Pixar's connection to Disney) 

[BK007]

I just don't see how Dreamworks are going to survive with the slate they have. Where is their next hit going to come from?

 

Granted, besides Pixar and Disney, we know of none of the other movie slates for the other studios, but Dreamworks are completely out of ideas.

 

Captain Underpants and Boss Baby? How much money do they think those are going to make? They started off with Shrek and now they are trying to get babies in the seats.

 

HTTYD2 could be the high point for them for the next 3 years if they even survive that long. 

[Spidey Freak]

GA does care. Can you point out one visually bad movie that performed well? Could you tell apart any Dreamworks movie from this decade? No, because they all look the same visually and their animation is mediocre at best (save for a very exceptions)

If your 200m movie has special effects of a 50m movie, it's almost a lock that your movie will bomb. Hard.

 

None of the Dreamworks movies have had visibly terrible animation. I mean, they were beating Disney Animation pretty consistently until Tangled came along and WDAS has always had superior animation, Chicken Little and Home on the Range aside. GA cares about concepts and hooks more. Dreamworks got that with Shrek, KFP and Madagascar, but then they got very lazy and tried to rely too heavily on inferior sequels with scripts where they weren't even trying. HTTYD was an anomaly in that GA never cared until crazy Internet buzz made them go and see it. But unfortunately it didn't capture their imagination enough to be sequel worthy, as HTTYD2 proved.

 

Their budgeted animation is what is keeping them afloat for the meantime, not the cause of their downfall. The problem is the scripts and uninspired ideas.

[Spidey Freak]

Honestly, DreamWorks' scripts have been mediocre for a long time. Since 2002. And most of their films get a middling 60-70% on RT. So it's not really critical reception. Their movies just look horribly bland. 

 

It's more a case of GA beginning to wise up after Shrek the Turd. KFP did well after that but then it's all been downhill, Madagascar 3 and to a lesser extent, The Croods, being the only exceptions.

 

Even HTTYD would have drowned if it hadn't been for crazy critical buzz and lack of competition in early 2010 convincing folks to give it a chance.

[Dingdong123]

I can't believe that Dreamworks is run by the same guy who gave Disney their biggest blockbusters of the 90s.

Well their mediocre films caught up with their box office grosses. And probably the rise of WDAS means the fall for others, and this time it's Dreamworks. And tbh their films look unappealing.

[Spidey Freak]

I can't believe that Dreamworks is run by the same guy who gave Disney their biggest blockbusters of the 90s.

 

He just managed the studio, mostly by yelling and screeching and being a terrible taskmaster in general. The creative heads behind the Disney Renaissance were Howard Ashman, Alan Menken, John Musker, Ron Clements, Glen Keane, Mark Henn and several others. Without that level of talent and creativity, Katzenberg and Katzenberg's Ego have really floundered.

[TServo2049]

I never cared much about DreamWorks. I saw Shrek 1, then didn't see another (non-Aardman) in theaters until Kung Fu Panda. They just did not appeal to me. My DWA apathy even caused me to miss HTTYD1 in theaters - I literally did not watch it until the week before HTTYD2 opened, and as with KFP1 my reaction was "Why doesn't DWA make more stuff that is this good?"

HTTYD3 is the only future DWA film I have any real anticipation for, and the only reason I have any interest in what happens to them.

[Michael Seng Wah]

After watching Penguins, I feel that Dreamworks should improve their idea on plot.

[Goffe]

 

 

None of the Dreamworks movies have had visibly terrible animation. I mean, they were beating Disney Animation pretty consistently until Tangled 

but I didn't say that Dreamworks sucked visually, I said their recent films were mediocre at best with very few exceptions 

 

None of the Dreamworks movies have had visibly terrible animation. I mean, they were beating Disney Animation pretty consistently until Tangled came along and WDAS has always had superior animation, Chicken Little and Home on the Range aside. GA cares about concepts and hooks more. Dreamworks got that with Shrek, KFP and Madagascar, but then they got very lazy and tried to rely too heavily on inferior sequels with scripts where they weren't even trying. HTTYD was an anomaly in that GA never cared until crazy Internet buzz made them go and see it. But unfortunately it didn't capture their imagination enough to be sequel worthy, as HTTYD2 proved.

 

Their budgeted animation is what is keeping them afloat for the meantime, not the cause of their downfall. The problem is the scripts and uninspired ideas.

I do agree with what you are saying, but I think the animation quality also plays a big part. Also, their budget stayed the same despite the cut of costs, Mr. Peabody & Sherman cost 145m and looked worse than Bee Movie from fucking 7 years ago.

[Intensive]

simply, quality over quantity.

[Melvin Frohike]

I can't believe that Dreamworks is run by the same guy who gave Disney their biggest blockbusters of the 90s.

There were really only two things he gave WDAS: the dynamic duo of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken (on the advice of his friend David Geffen, who had recently worked with these off-off-Broadway musical collaborators on Little Shop of Horrors), and a hard kick in the pants by moving WDAS off the studio lot and threatening to outsource their animated features overseas (making it easier to wipe out the old guard and to be bold in what they did).

Otherwise, he mainly got in their way a lot and put his face in front of the camera every chance he got, taking a lot of credit for what WDAS had accomplished. And by the way, he and Eisner were actually going to do what they threatened at first, but Roy E. Disney (Walt's nephew, who had brought these guys on board in the first place) stopped them and as an executive took responsibility for WDAS and whether they would succeed or fail (although Katzenberg still sucked up all of the credit in front of the public, which has made him a celebrity executive even to this day ).

That said, I do credit Katzenberg for helping get the whole Pixar animated feature enterprise going when other studios/distributors weren't that interested. Thank goodness he wasn't able to ruin Toy Story with his meddling, though.

 

Well their mediocre films caught up with their box office grosses.

This, in a nutshell. Quality doesn't always matter in the short run but I think in some areas it does in the long run. People will still flock to see even Pixar's less inspired movies these days, but even DWA's best movies--which can be better than some of Pixar's movies--are fast becoming non-events (especially in the DOM market) because DWA had never built up their reputation with any kind of consistency.

 

The creative heads behind the Disney Renaissance were Howard Ashman, Alan Menken, John Musker, Ron Clements, Glen Keane, Mark Henn and several others.

That's right, Ashman was who did the most, when he first came on, to get WDAS back on track regarding solid storytelling, and he was their main inspiration in so many ways, which although he sadly passed away only a few years later, resonates inside the studio to this day. At the time, he was the one who helped build their confidence back up--he wasn't just the lyricist who worked with Alan Menken, he was a leader and visionary, and WDAS rallied around him. Luckily for WDAS, Ashman just happened to be a huge fan, and he poured his soul into their projects--working on these so-called "children's cartoons" was no meaningless side-gig for him at all (true story: he worked on Beauty and the Beast even when he was literally on his death bed and was barely able to speak ).

What WDAS needed was a couple of missing pieces and a big push, and that's what they got, which ultimately led to the animated feature industry and market of this century. Katzenberg gave them these things in hiring Ashman and pushing them hard, but it's not as though any other decisions he made were key to their success. Well, he sure knew how to sell these movies and Disney in general (and himself--not that Walt didn't do the same, but he was more subtle about it), and he's still trying to do the same with DWA, but the difference is that he doesn't have enough of the product (good product) and a reputation to back him up, and this is on him.

Edited December 1, 2014 by Melvin Frohike

[PatrickvD]

There's also a serious lack of vision at DWA. When I saw the trailer for Home I really just wanted to cry. Who does this appeal to? Hell, Nickelodeon would reject a TV show like this, so why make a feature film? All of the films on their slate, and recent features, are conceptually weak. PIXAR and Disney are high on concept and storytelling.

 

And thanks to those pointing out that Katzenberg was not solely responsible for Disney's renaissance. I would also point out Howard Ashman as the main man behind this success.

[Yandereprime101189]

They should really try to stop making like 2-3 a year and just do one a year. March and April are shaping up to be big months for movies, so take advantage of that.

[Melvin Frohike]

I just don't see how Dreamworks are going to survive with the slate they have. Where is their next hit going to come from?

I think that they're in big trouble, too.

Granted, besides Pixar and Disney, we know of none of the other movie slates for the other studios, but Dreamworks are completely out of ideas.

Captain Underpants and Boss Baby? How much money do they think those are going to make? They started off with Shrek and now they are trying to get babies in the seats.

Yeah, instead of making children feel like adults, which is a concept Katzenberg has talked about as the source of DWA's appeal (supposedly the opposite of how WDAS and Pixar make adults feel like children again), they're trying to make infants feel like adults now (Woo-hoo! FIVE-quadrant movies!).

My DWA apathy even caused me to miss HTTYD1 in theaters - I literally did not watch it until the week before HTTYD2 opened, and as with KFP1 my reaction was "Why doesn't DWA make more stuff that is this good?"

That's because they don't have enough filmmakers like Dean DeBlois, and they don't foster a culture and support system of quality and high standards like WDAS (currently, and at times in the past when executives haven't interfered too much) and Pixar. Their movies are only ever as good as the principal filmmakers who work on them, and some are a lot better than others. The other reason is Katzenberg giving the green light to bad ideas, especially of late, judging from their slate of upcoming movies.

[Rudolf]

Sooner or later someone will buy DreamWorks. But who? An outside investor who wants to enter the market or another studio that wants to build up its animation performance? Hasbro would have been Disney's nightmare.

[Jonwo]

I've mentioned this before but the best studios to buy DWA would be Paramount or Warner Bros, both have outlets that could use DWA IP and films and the latter has a strong animation history with Looney Tunes, Hanna Barbera and Tom and Jerry

[Walt Disney]

Sooner or later someone will buy DreamWorks. But who? An outside investor who wants to enter the market or another studio that wants to build up its animation performance? Hasbro would have been Disney's nightmare.

 

DreamWorks would have been Hasbro's nightmare. When news of the Hasbro purchase of DreamWorks got out, Disney made it known to Hasbro that they disapproved of the idea. Hasbro ended takeover talks with DWA after that. 1/3 of Hasbro's gross comes from selling Disney related toys. Hasbro couldn't afford to lose Disney as a toy licensor. Losing Disney to Mattel would be a bigger loss for Hasbro than buying DWA would be a gain.

Edited December 1, 2014 by Walt Disney

[Kvikk Lunsj]

I am waiting for Disney to buy Hasbro.