DreamWorks Animation's Home

I think that part of Dream Works Animation's problem right now is due to a lack of promotion for their more recent movies by their distributors, Paramount for Rise of the Guardians, and 20th Century Fox for all their films released since that film. The reason Paramount fumbled with the promotion and release date for Rise of the Guardians was because they were about to lose their distribution contract with Dream Works Animation (which was due to Paramount setting up their animation division). The reason Fox has been screwing with the distribution of their movies since (and including) The Croods is because they actually own their own animation studios, which is Blue Sky Studios. Fox screws with the marketing by putting the Dream Works Animation films by putting them in less desirable release dates to movie theaters than for other films at least distributed by Fox, and Fox puts the Blue Sky Studios films in more desirable release dates. However, another part of Dream Works Animation's problem is their own fault. They are making their films with very large budgets. They most certainly should make films on a cheaper budget and focus more on storytelling than they already have (even though some of their movies as of late were good, storytelling wise).

They should also hire little to no celebrities for their future films, as hiring these people drives their films' cost up a lot.

edited 19th Oct '14 9:53:25 AM by Buzzinator

It's times like this that I wish Kung Fu Panda and How To Train Your Dragon were being handled by someone else. I don't know what's worse: a company that only makes bad movies, or one that makes just enough good ones that I continue to want them to succeed despite all evidence that they won't.

Oh, god, this thing comes out this week.

I'm super nervous you guys. I love The True Meaning of Smekday so friggin' much. I want it done justice.

You know, for a few seconds, I thought that the conversation you posted on #44 could be something they could get away with as a Getting Crap Past the Radar moment.

But then it hit me.

If the narrator in the book was Tip, that would mean she's half-black, half-white (at least in the book), so that conversation actually had a good chunk of racism. In fact, it probably was all about racism, wasn't it?

Yikes.

That conversation was honestly in the book this movie is based on?

edited 21st Mar '15 12:39:41 PM by TargetmasterJoe

Man, why are you potholing Unfortunate Implications? The implications in that conversation are 100% intentional. Chief Shouting Bear is racist, but he's also deliberately playing up stereotypes about Native Americans in order to convince white folks he's crazy so no one will suspect the UFO in his basement is real.

The book is about racism. It doesn't just contain it.

If you read the rest of my post, yes, Tip is half-white on her mother's side. As mentioned, this results in a decent chunk of the narrative where anyone involved with the search for Tip's mother besides Tip is useless because everyone's out looking for a black woman.

edited 21st Mar '15 11:11:12 AM by Wackd

The book is all about racism?

...

Pfft, forget double-yikes, that's triple-yikes material right there!

Geez, who in DW thought this would be a great thing to adapt into a family movie?

A Family Picture!

edited 21st Mar '15 12:46:29 PM by TargetmasterJoe

What's so wrong with making a kids' movie about racism? It's an important issue, and one that's the subject of many a Very Special Episode. Disney's done it a few times, albeit not that well.

You think it'll turn out as baffling as the animated Hunchback of Notre Dame?

And its not like things meant for kids haven't been pretty dark or mature. Racism has been a topic tackled by other kid's media before. Smekday doesn't seem any different.

Because Home is about institutional racism and holds society at large accountable for things like forced relocation and racial profiling. It's less "we should respect each other's differences" and more "most of the white folks you meet will obliviously make life difficult for you."

There's also quite a bit about sexism in there as well, with Gratuity often pointing out that adventure fiction doesn't tend to be about women.

That is not a message Dreamworks, a company that's struggling financially and wants appeal to as many people as possible, is likely to put into a film. I'm hoping I'm wrong, though.

edited 21st Mar '15 1:03:12 PM by Wackd

There's a thing called Fantasic Racism. I would like to see an animated film tackle real ones though.

edited 21st Mar '15 1:33:27 PM by kyun

You know, if there's one good thing about this film, it's that it'll get more people interested in reading the book. Because I sure as heck am now.

Why couldn't they name the Alien J.Lo...?

I don't know! It's especially weird because J.Lo herself is in the dang movie.

edited 21st Mar '15 6:04:41 PM by Wackd

You can tell which film gets released before the USA when there are people in other countries making edits to the page already.

Looks like the book might have an example of What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?.

My apologies for my late interjection.

As for the film itself, so far there is a personal red flag for Celebrity Voice Actor.

Alright then, to let you know I really enjoy Western Animation/Tintin while it has violence, a reccuring character being a drunk and drug smuggling as a plotpoint. Sorry if I provoked you.

edited 22nd Mar '15 9:31:16 AM by TheFarmboy

Look, man, if kids' books these days can be about kids being rounded up by a dystopian government and forced to slaughter each other, and kid's books in my day could end an intergalactic war with its leads getting PTSD, I think Smekday should be allowed to depict actual and allegorical race relations without people wondering if it's appropriate—especially since American kids are more likely to have direct experience with prejudice than they are with field combat.

It doesn't matter anyway. The reviews are in. Dreamworks homogenized it. The only time the critics mention race is the character of Tip. As for the final product, the consensus seems to be harmless fun for kids but still bland.

Ugh.

Gonna see it anyway. Homogenized to death or not, a kid adventure movie with a mixed-race female lead is something that deserves to make a killing at the box office, to pave the way for other, better such movies in the future.

Plus I kinda need to see for myself, y'know? Just for closure. This movie's existence has been looming over me for a year and a half.

So, something kept bugging me about the trailer. I kept thinking about a book, but I couldn't recall the title or author. Recently, I found it again, and I found out that this film is a loose adaptation of the book. Urgh.

So, is the film worth it? Should I bother picking it up at the library in a few months?

We'll find out Friday (or Thursday if they are doing those early screenings).

Also, this isn't only case of Adaptation Displacment for Dreamworks Animation. Shrek is a loose adaptation of a children's book by William Steig, the guy who did Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, and How to Train Your Dragon is loosely based on a book series. From what I can tell, unless the book is really popular, the studio feels no need to acknowledge that the movie is an adaptation expect the end credits and that sometimes means the filmmakers feel no need to be accurate to the source material, taking the basic idea and discarding everything else. This shouldn't be the case for the upcoming Captain Underpants since the book series does have a noticeable fanbase.

edited 23rd Mar '15 5:01:20 PM by DS9guy

Just because a film homogenizes or just "gets inspired" by a book, it doesn't mean it will be bad. I was an avid reader of Steig as a kid, yet I loved Shrek when it came out as did millions of others apparently!

I enjoy Shrek and How to Train Your Dragon even if they are not like the books. I'm just noticing a pattern.

edited 23rd Mar '15 5:09:49 PM by DS9guy

Weren't Shrek and HTTYD picture books? Ones with relatively slim plots?

Smekday is well over 400 pages. It's not like they were hurting for material.

The How to Train Your Dragon series are chapter books. Trust me; there was material they could have used but didn't.

EDIT: Rotten Tomatoes says "Colorful, silly, and utterly benign, Home is a passable diversion, but there's no shortage of superior animated alternatives."

edited 24th Mar '15 2:41:38 AM by DS9guy