Dreamworks Animation Stigma

Do you feel there is still a stigma on Dreamworks(thinking they're still pop-culture heavy/ripping off pixar), or has it mostly died down? While since Kung Fu Panda it's been agreed Dreamworks has stepped up their game, things that still pervade the perceptions?

The stereotype is definitely still there, and the way that most animated movies are advertised these days doesn't exactly help.

There's still a "One step forward, two steps back" thing going on with them, like for every Dragons, Panda or Guardians, there's a Madagascar 3 or Turbo.

I heard Madagascar 3 was actually very good. And i don't know what Turbo is. (The Power Rangers movie?)

Apparently, about a really fast snail.

And even though they really did step up their game, the stereotype is still there. In Jesu Otaku's Brave vlog, for example, she compares the film she was disappointed in to a well executed Dreamworks film, which made me cringe somewhat.

If Dreamworks has any stigma, it's only the one they apply to themselves. They make good movies from time to time but will then make completely ass backwards decisions, like with their next movie, having it be codirected by Chris Sanders and the guy who wrote and directed friggin Space Chimps! Who would put him on anything, let alone team him up with somebody with actual talent!?

edited 21st Jan '13 7:52:58 AM by Brokenshell44

For me, it does frustrate me that they still have to maintain those cash cow franchises in addition to continuing their original films(though from what I've read it's because they're hounded by stockholders, need more detail on that). To be fair, Disney been employing this a bit as well among other studios.

I think part of the problem is that Dreamworks' output is a little too fast. Part of Dreamworks' problem as well is when a movie is successful, they plan out this huge franchise for it, because that worked so well for Shrek. Sometimes it's great, as Kung Fu Panda to was (IMO) a huge step up from the first, but sometimes it's not, like the first two Madagascar movies were fun, just mediocre.

However, while Dreamworks is working on a ton of sequels, they also put out a lot of new movies that aren't part of a series. They seem to have a balance.

I have to say though, really pushy stockholders don't seem to help companies very much.

edited 21st Jan '13 12:07:54 PM by Zendervai

True, not to mention they have devoted themselves to trying to release 2-3 films a year. That could put strain on a company.

Actually, I thought they were on a roll not ripping off Pixar for a time, except for this coming movie, Turbo, which seems to yet again rip-off elements of Cars! But that could just be a sudden Hollywood interest in car racing that's one of those mysterious coincidences that only happens when an astrological alignment occurs. Heck, they seem so confident this film will work that they greenlit an entire animated TV show before production is finished! They also seemed to have included less pop cultural references except when it is appropriate (ie- when they're dealing with a story set in modern times).

Dreamworks needs to get 3 films per year now because unlike Pixar, they're an independent company that needs to please strict investors all the time. When their film under-performs, it's cause for panic for them.

edited 22nd Jan '13 5:32:39 AM by Shota

Yeah, I have the feeling that won't work out too well for them.

Also, I don't think the Croods will do well, so we may have 2 Dreambombs this year instead of just one like last year.

Actually, how many Dreamworks movies came out last year?

I think it was Madagascar 3 and Rise of the Guardians.

Although Dreamworks has most certainly Grown the Beard the stigma is still around because their early works has still had a lasting effect on how animated films are currently made. It's just like how everyone and the mother was trying to copy Disney back in the 90's.

Even now, when they've moved on for making the types of films they've been bashed for, there's still movies like The Lorax and Chicken Little released to be like them.

I find it interesting that we've had so many upstart studios of late. To wit:

Blue Sky, with the four Ice Age films, Robots, Horton Hears A Who, and Rio.

Vanguard, the studio that did the aforementioned Space Chimps, had already done the mega-flops Valiant (once the lowest-grossing wide-release animated film ever) and Happily Never After. But after doing a DTV sequel to Space Chimps that's listed on our So Bad, It's Horrible page, they appear to have fallen of the face of the earth. Shame, becuase at least two of the ideas on their website (a heist film parody with squirrels and acorns called The Nut House; and an adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Twits) seemed to have potential.

Then you have Illumination, who's done Despicable Me, Hop, and The Lorax, all of which were fairly successful.

I'm just surprised at how many companies lately have been able to get their feet in the door. Or in Vanguard's case, make four bombs and then disappear entirely.

edited 22nd Jan '13 12:26:07 PM by Twentington

Don't forget Laika!

And Sony Animation Pictures, which has also been making $$$ with Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, Hotel Transylvania, and The Smurfs.

edited 22nd Jan '13 12:44:36 PM by Lionheart0

What did Laika do — oh, Paranorman and Coraline, both of which I've been meaning to see. Sweet.

Wonder how I forgot them. I loved Surfs Up, the only Sony Animation film I've seen, but I've heard plenty of praise for Meatballs.

edited 22nd Jan '13 1:14:58 PM by Twentington

Hop was successful?

And definitely see Coraline—one of the best animated films I've ever seen. Haven't seen Paranorman, but I've heard nothing but good things about it.

Sort of. It got a lot of merchandising tie-ins and an Annie nomination, and it broke $100 million.

Anywho, getting off topic. Back to Dream Works. I actually think that they seem to be doing well to break out of their stigma. As Exhibit A, I present the fact that each Madagascar sequel has successively higher ratings on Rotten Tomatoes than its predecessor. And outside the Shrek sequels (not counting Puss in Boots as a "sequel" per se), their films have been in the 75-85% range, which is pretty darn good. You hardly hear mention of their "bad" movies like Shark Tale or Bee Movie anymore.

(Also, if Bee Movie had been released a couple years later, they could've used "Imma Be" in it.)

edited 22nd Jan '13 2:24:17 PM by Twentington

I think the problem with Shrek is that after the second one they handed it off to people who didn't really seem to care.

I'm a tad worried it's a Pixar situation. You know, they have a period of putting out masterpieces (by their standards) and then they just kind of slump afterwards.

edited 22nd Jan '13 2:24:35 PM by Zendervai

Pixar isn't tanking by any means but they do need to step up their game again. It seems after Toy Story 3 they just kind of gave up. Granted, I liked Cars 2 better than the first Cars and Brave was better than I expected, but it didn't grab me like Up after seeing it.

Then again, it was Toy Story 3. I don't think they'll be able to have that affect on audiences again.

Yeah, Toy Story 3 had the whole "franchise loved by the world" and "people who were kids when they watched the first one are now going to college" thing going for it.

But, who knows, Monsters University seems like it'll be lotsa fun.

Dream Works tries to do something not many other studios do, which is appeal both to the Pixar crowd with some of their movies and the Blue Sky crowd with others. It caused a massive stock drop in the early 2010s (I think), though they are thankfully working their way back up from that.