Dreamworks Animation: What Went Wrong?

[BadAtGender]

Part of the problem is that given the long production time it takes for top tier animation, the films that are currently slated up through about 2017 are probably well enough along that they can't easily be abandoned. And if they were, it would probably put a lot of people out of work.

 

Also, it's not so simple as reducing budget. Part of the problem DWA has is that if they're ambitious and they fail, people deride them for spending too much. (See: Peabody & Sherman). But if they apparently take an effort to scale things back, people criticize the films for looking bad (See: Home). There literally is no way to win in that situation besides having a breakout. And not every film can be a breakout.

 

What's weird is DWA actually has a more consistent success record than WDAS. Remember Tangled was a huge success... and it barely got to $200m, which was under both DWA titles released in 2010. And Wreck-It Ralph was a success, but also threw under DWA's efforts in 2012. It's only in the past couple of years that the narrative has changed.

 

Even so, something has to give. There are 6 remaining animated films due to be released this year. There are 12 scheduled for next year. 14 scheduled for each of 2016 and 2017, and 12 for 2018. So for the next several years, there's going to be more than one animated film a month, on average.

 

I love me some animation, but I bet I'm only going to get to a third of those.

[Vanilla]

I think Dreamworks needs to take back control on Dreamworks animation. When they gave it to Paramount and Fox to market them that's when shit hit the fan and things have never been the same.

[AniNate]

Just be selective, the same way you are with live action films. Something like Lego Movie or Dragon 2 undoubtedly deserves your coin, regardless of how many other animated films there are out there.

[dudalb]

The market was already crowded,and the Gigantic sucess of Frozen will only make things worse. IMHO animated films are going to have a real problem making themselves stand out from the pack.

Interesting what Warners will do with wanting to get into the Animated Feature Market. They have great sucess with their TV animated divisiion, but have not had any kind of sucess in the feature film division in a long time. (They had a Marty the Martian film in development but killed it off in pre production). Rumor has it that another Space Jam film (with Lebron James instead of Michael Jordan) in in the works,but if they can pull that of remains to be seen ,and Warners is going have to expand beyond their Loony Tune world if they want to be a major player.

[iEye]

I think Dreamworks needs to take back control on Dreamworks animation. When they gave it to Paramount and Fox to market them that's when shit hit the fan and things have never been the same.

 

Damn straight!!!!

[Jonwo]

I think Dreamworks needs to take back control on Dreamworks animation. When they gave it to Paramount and Fox to market them that's when shit hit the fan and things have never been the same.

I doubt that Dreamworks could afford to regain DWA, I think going public was a mistake on both their parts. I think Warner Bros would have been a better studio for DWA due to their rich animation history with not only Looney Tunes but also Hanna Barbera, Tom and Jerry, Thundercats etc I do wonder if they need new leadership, Jeffrey Katzenberg trying to make the company the next Disney but no one can outDisney Disney and I think if he wasn't one of the founders, he would have been gone already

[BK007]

Part of the problem is that given the long production time it takes for top tier animation, the films that are currently slated up through about 2017 are probably well enough along that they can't easily be abandoned. And if they were, it would probably put a lot of people out of work.

 

Also, it's not so simple as reducing budget. Part of the problem DWA has is that if they're ambitious and they fail, people deride them for spending too much. (See: Peabody & Sherman). But if they apparently take an effort to scale things back, people criticize the films for looking bad (See: Home). There literally is no way to win in that situation besides having a breakout. And not every film can be a breakout.

 

What's weird is DWA actually has a more consistent success record than WDAS. Remember Tangled was a huge success... and it barely got to $200m, which was under both DWA titles released in 2010. And Wreck-It Ralph was a success, but also threw under DWA's efforts in 2012. It's only in the past couple of years that the narrative has changed.

 

Even so, something has to give. There are 6 remaining animated films due to be released this year. There are 12 scheduled for next year. 14 scheduled for each of 2016 and 2017, and 12 for 2018. So for the next several years, there's going to be more than one animated film a month, on average.

 

I love me some animation, but I bet I'm only going to get to a third of those.

 

There were 16 releases in 2006 and every year since 2007 with the exception of 2010 had 11 or more releases.

 

So it's really nothing new, except for the fact that now, instead of 4-5 from the big studios, they are pretty much all from the big studios. The problem with this is of course that when everyone wants to put out multiples, they lose event status and every single one wants to be a $150m+, even $200m+ grosser. That's not going to happen.

 

As much as I love Pixar, if or when they start releasing 2 a year, it just feels less special, less to look forward to.

 

Anyway, just as I have been doing since 2006's boom, I avoid the crap and it's been incredibly easy to tell which movies will be crap.

[Rudolf]

DreamWorks will be taken over by a bigger player sooner or later

[BadAtGender]

Tony Bancroft posted this on Facebook:

 

https://www.facebook.com/thebancroftbros

 

 

Not good news this morning! How to Train your Dragon 2 came in 2nd place at the box office to 22 Jump Street this weekend. We all know that Dragons 2 is probably a better film and deserved a 1st place standing but that's not the big problem. Dreamworks NEEDED a big opening for Dragons 2. Now you can argue till your blue in the face that $50 M should not be considered a bad opening or that "if they only made better movies they would do better in the box-office".

 

HTTYD 2 is arguably one of the best movies that DWA has made and it still is a downturn from the expectations. This is not about the creative but about the business side of animation. For DWA its the big picture that counts here. Three out of four of the last DWA releases have been a write-down for the company and this picture was to be their salvation (or at least hold back the tides a bit longer). The projections were for an over $65m opening and the HOPE was for even more then that.

 

So, what does that mean for DWA? Well, the stock is down dramatically this morning. Confidence is low that Dreamworks will be able to pull out of this down turn in their brand without drastic changes. I don't have a crystal ball but I know that Katzenberg and the board must be looking at some drastic changes to how they make animated movies. No, this does not mean the come-back of 2D animation, but it may mean cutting down the cost of making their movies. HTTYD 2 is estimated to have cost $145M to make. The company can not justify these high budgets anymore after the last 4 animated film openings they have had. They will have to make some choices that will most likely have a ripple effect in our industry. Cut backs and layoffs are only a small thumb in the crack of this dam. Their overhead, like all of the big studios, is tremendous.

 

My predication? Just like Sony Imageworks just announced, I think DWA will send their production overseas. Yup, I said it here. The most expensive costs in any animated film budget is the animation production. Animation production accounts for 2/3 of the budget easily. If they did only the pre production and post production aspects here in the states they could cut their budgets by well over half. AND if DWA does that it will not be long before every animation studio follows suit. They would have to just to be competittive. The animation industry would dramatically change.

 

This is not a new scenario just so you know. There were rumors of production moving overseas at Disney way back during the Great Mouse Detective days. It never happened then because there was not the technology, ease of communication, or talent and experience needed to be an effective option like there is now. DWA already has a group in India that they have been training and quietly using on some of their projects for years. So does Disney, Sony, Reel FX and many other VFX and animation studios. All of this from HTTYD 2 coming in a little under projections? I could be totally wrong in my ripple effect predictions (and I hope so) but I know one thing; we are all connected in animation. If one movie does well we all benefit. If not, things change. Ripple, ripple, ripple. What do you think?

 

 

(I've added paragraph breaks)

 

 

But also: http://www.awn.com/news/dreamworks-animation-secures-rights-felix-cat

[Mojoguy]

Tony Bancroft posted this on Facebook:

 

Interesting read. Yeah, 49M OW is hugely disappointing for DW. I can't believe people are still saying it isn't.

Edited June 17, 2014 by Mojoguy

[Jonwo]

TBH I think DWA would face a huge backlash if they moved all their animation overseas but I wouldn't be surprised if one of their studios closes,Outsourcing animation isn't new, All the Illumination films were animated in Paris while WB uses Animal Logic who are based in Australia. Blue Sky is based in Cincinnati which gets a tax break hence why they can make their films for under $100m

Edited June 18, 2014 by Jonwo

[CaptainJackSparrow]

TBH I think DWA would face a huge backlash if they moved all their animation overseas but I wouldn't be surprised if one of their studios closes,Outsourcing animation isn't new, All the Illumination films were animated in Paris while WB uses Animal Logic who are based in Australia. Blue Sky is based in Cincinnati which gets a tax break hence why they can make their films for under $100m

Blue Sky is actually based in Connecticut. Edited June 18, 2014 by Captain Jack Sparrow

[Jandrew]

Yep that's the thing that really sucks about this, is the loss of jobs. DWA will be laying off more and more, and then when you take the jobs overseas, what do we do? I know many members here aren't American, but it's a big issue to us. It's not like John Jones working with DWA animation is just going to pack up to India and move with them.

 

I hate to see people lose jobs like this, because it affects them, their families, their life, everything. And still in todays economy, it's not like you can just leave a job like that and hop to another just like it. You'll be looking for months, maybe longer if you're that adamant on it. I agree DWA has gone down quality wise and isn't focused, and I don't think Fox is doing any good for them, but for the workers sake and economy sake, I hope things start to turn around. Jobs moving from Cali to New York or Louisiana or Atlanta or even Toronto is manageable, but all the way to India and China and Korea? That's how Detroit and a lot of the rust belt got how it is today thanks to auto and steel bailing, and the south with textiles. Yes this is just computer animators, not steel and automotive workers, but jobs are jobs.

 

That and I don't want Shark Tale 2.

Edited June 18, 2014 by Jandrew

[AniNate]

Dreamworks already has a China base, and they're animating Kung Fu Panda 3 there. Their big production slate is probably the only thing keeping them in America right now.

[Walt Disney]

Yep that's the thing that really sucks about this, is the loss of jobs. DWA will be laying off more and more, and then when you take the jobs overseas, what do we do? I know many members here aren't American, but it's a big issue to us. It's not like John Jones working with DWA animation is just going to pack up to India and move with them.

 

I hate to see people lose jobs like this, because it affects them, their families, their life, everything. And still in todays economy, it's not like you can just leave a job like that and hop to another just like it. You'll be looking for months, maybe longer if you're that adamant on it. I agree DWA has gone down quality wise and isn't focused, and I don't think Fox is doing any good for them, but for the workers sake and economy sake, I hope things start to turn around. Jobs moving from Cali to New York or Louisiana or Atlanta or even Toronto is manageable, but all the way to India and China and Korea? That's how Detroit and a lot of the rust belt got how it is today thanks to auto and steel bailing, and the south with textiles. Yes this is just computer animators, not steel and automotive workers, but jobs are jobs.

 

 

 

I think there are just too many animation studios. I do expect some to not be able to make it. DWA has always seemed like Disney's biggest challenger in the animation field, so I am surprised to see them struggling so much. However, computer animation is a lot cheaper to make than hand drawn animation, so there are a  lot more studios doing it. I know that Disney will be fine because WDAS and Pixar are both doing a great job. However, some studios that are making computer animated films are not going to make it.

[AniNate]

I think there are just too many animation studios. I do expect some to not be able to make it. DWA has always seemed like Disney's biggest challenger in the animation field, so I am surprised to see them struggling so much. However, computer animation is a lot cheaper to make than hand drawn animation, so there are a  lot more studios doing it. I know that Disney will be fine because WDAS and Pixar are both doing a great job. However, some studios that are making computer animated films are not going to make it.

 

What really angers me are indie animation studios who just coast on the tropes and formulas of the bigger studios' films in order to make an easy buck. *Cough*Nutjob*Cough*Freebirds*Cough* They are big contributors to the sense of "animation fatigue".

Edited June 18, 2014 by tribefan695

[BK007]

What really angers me are indie animation studios who just coast on the tropes and formulas of the bigger studios' films in order to make an easy buck. *Cough*Nutjob*Cough*Freebirds*Cough* They are big contributors to the sense of "animation fatigue".

 

The only way to kill those movies is to open a big movie directly after it or in competition with it.

 

Otherwise, they develop legs because 99% of them will always hit a 3x unless faced with competition.

 

But, they populate the off-months, because they can. It's really up to people to be more responsible with what they watch.

 

I do wonder though if it's the same people who watch the Nut Job who then go and watch Peabody. It'd be cool to know the % of "repeat viewings". I don't think it's mutually exclusive so that if TNJ didn't exist, Peabody would make an extra $64m, but at the same time, you wonder which people saw TNJ and decided that it sucked and so they wouldn't see the next movie out there.

[Walt Disney]

What really angers me are indie animation studios who just coast on the tropes and formulas of the bigger studios' films in order to make an easy buck. *Cough*Nutjob*Cough*Freebirds*Cough* They are big contributors to the sense of "animation fatigue".

 

They are a huge part of the problem.

[BadAtGender]

What really angers me are indie animation studios who just coast on the tropes and formulas of the bigger studios' films in order to make an easy buck. *Cough*Nutjob*Cough*Freebirds*Cough* They are big contributors to the sense of "animation fatigue".

 

Well, yes and no. As someone pointed out, it's not that we're getting so many more animated movies now than we did several years ago, but at this point, there's a ton that are top tier, tentpole-like films. Everything WDAS and Pixar does. Everything Dreamworks does. Every Illumination/Universal film. Sony is more mid-range, and Blue Sky is, too, at least, DOM, but there's a ton of friction at the top. Add to that the likelihood that WB's future efforts are also going to aim at the top tier, and Paramount might do that as well.

 

The problem is that much like how mid-budget films have mostly disappeared from the live action side, the same is true for animation as well. Either go big or don't try at all.

 

DWA probably could survive in abstract if they dropped their budgets by about 20-30%. However, I'm not sure the environment that exists would be wiling to accept such a change.

[A Marvel Fanboy]

Elitism ? 

 

The world is big enough to have some both good/big/studio animations and small/indie/crappy animations.