Moana

[DisneyEra]

From The Animation Guild: http://animationguildblog.blogspot.ca/2 ... t-hat.html

Visited Walt Disney Animation Studios' Riverside Drive facility this afternoon. ...

There are very few animation artists there just now. The Moana crew, now that it's plunging into full production, has just moved to WDAS's Tujunga Boulevard studio in North Hollywood (you know, the big building at the end of Bob Hope Airport's main runway?)

The Hat has had its interior spaces rebuilt in stages. The top two floors are now done, and the first floor and basement are currently under reconstruction. The completed interior looks great. It's light, airy, and modern; when the company has the unveiling of the "new" studio, people will be impressed.

And the artists are going to be delighted to be back under one roof ... that isn't at the end of an airport runway.

[Disney Duster]

Without going into a more caricatured design, there really aren't that many expressions in the first place, I'm sure most characters have made that expression at one point or another.

You won't try to believe there are infinite expressions? You believe in God but can't believe people can make infinite expressions? My word.

[ce1ticmoon]

I see Trolls preforming like Blue Sky's Peanuts: around $130 million domestic. But if it can preform domestically like The Croods/HttyD2 & Home: in the $180 million range, that would be good. I don't see this passing the "$200 million" mark. The last DreamWorks feature to do that was Kung-Fu Panda 1 in 2008, while 2009's Monsters Vs. Aliens missed it by just $2 million.

As for DreamWorks future their squeals "Croods 2 & HttyD3" will clearly make money, especially in the international markets, but their original features "Boss Baby & Larrikins" will be a tougher sell.

Off topic, but actually, both How To Train Your Dragon (2010) and Madagascar 3 (2012) grossed $200m+ in the domestic market.

[DisneyEra]

I see Trolls preforming like Blue Sky's Peanuts: around $130 million domestic. But if it can preform domestically like The Croods/HttyD2 & Home: in the $180 million range, that would be good. I don't see this passing the "$200 million" mark. The last DreamWorks feature to do that was Kung-Fu Panda 1 in 2008, while 2009's Monsters Vs. Aliens missed it by just $2 million.

As for DreamWorks future their squeals "Croods 2 & HttyD3" will clearly make money, especially in the international markets, but their original features "Boss Baby & Larrikins" will be a tougher sell.

Off topic, but actually, both How To Train Your Dragon (2010) and Madagascar 3 (2012) grossed $200m+ in the domestic market.

Your right about Dragon1, & I completely forgot about Madagascar 3

[disneyprincess11]

Yeah...I don't think Moana has any animated movies to worry about

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDnRVKPjj8k[/youtube]

[Lady Cluck]

Oh my sweet lord

[DisneyEra]

I'm just gonna leave this here for all....
https://45.media.tumblr.com/c34b89b29e3 ... r1_250.gif

[taei]

People can complain all they want, but no other studio has ever achieved visual mastery as much as DreamWorks has.
I just got back from seeing Kung Fu Panda 3, and the visuals in that movie are seriously and literally out of this world. Just stunning. I couldn't ever in my wildest dreams imagine that animation could look so breathtaking.

People might have their problems with DreamWorks, but if you are truly a fan of animation, you need to see this movie for it's animation. And see it in the biggest screen possible and in 3D. The 3D is phenomenal. Best use i've ever seen!

[DisneyEra]

A DreamWorks Animator vents her frustration over the Trolls teaser.
https://twitter.com/cliobablio/status/6 ... 8772102144

[Lady Cluck]

As much as I hate on DreamWorks, I really like the Kung Fu Panda series and found the animation gorgeous in those, especially the second. I find How to Train Your Dragon to be generally overrated by the masses but it's also very good.

Everything else from the last ten years...yikes. And their commitment to quantity over quality means there were a lot of mediocre films in that time frame.

Thankfully they're learning from recent mistakes and slowing down their output. Maybe their ratio of mediocre/terrible films will decrease over time.

[disneyprincess11]

Glad to hear that Trollz will be nothing like that garbage teaser. Why is the Dreamworks marketing so desperate?

[Tangled]

It's times like this when I feel regret for my chosen career field (I'm studying marketing at the moment). But then I realize that, if I get high enough in a company, I could work against terrible choices like those.

In short, using a Vine song that is already pretty outdated with kids is not "good" marketing. It just reeks of desperation and alienates a massive chunk of potential consumers. Hasn't Dreamworks learned from...anything? Like the recent successes of HTTYD and Kung Fu Panda? Successful animated movies are usually successful because older kids/teenagers/adults without younger kids to take pay money to see them too. That's why Disney is thriving again, and why Moana will probably crush Trolls. Relying only on the assumption that children are idiots and will see anything that is colorful and has a pop song in the trailer will not draw in a huge number of viewers anymore (probably because kids now rely more heavily on the internet for entertainment than watching movies).

[DisneyJedi]

In all honesty, I hold the Kung Fu Panda series on a high pedestal when it comes to Dreamworks for a few good reasons.

1) It proved that Dreamworks doesn't need fart jokes or pop culture references to have relevant movies

2) While it does have slapstick, the movies have their fair share of drama and other forms of humor

3) It helped tap Dreamworks's more (untouched for years) serious side

That's not to say the other Dreamworks films are terrible in the slightest. I mean, I like the Shrek (yes, even the "terrible" third one) and Madagascar movies. Not to mention the How To Train Your Dragon series is pretty fantastic too.

[DisneyFan09]

People can complain all they want, but no other studio has ever achieved visual mastery as much as DreamWorks has.

At least DreamWorks makes better visuals than Pixar does. Though DreamWorks used to aim for a better realism priorly, they're not as formulaic with their designs as Pixar are. I know that it looks like I'm slamming Pixar completely, but they usually stick to their stock components with their designs.

And their commitment to quantity over quality means there were a lot of mediocre films in that time frame.

I've probably said this priorly, but DreamWorks actually used to be more diverse and risktaking with their films. Both Antz and The Prince of Egypt were clearly evident of this. And their films used to be more distinctive. The Road to El Dorado was fun and enjoyable, despite it's lackluster screenplay. Shrek, despite it's flaws, took some risks as well. As did Spirit. It's after Shrek 2 that DreamWorks actually began to stuck with a certain routine.

In all honesty, I hold the Kung Fu Panda series on a high pedestal when it comes to Dreamworks for a few good reasons.

1) It proved that Dreamworks doesn't need fart jokes or pop culture references to have relevant movies

2) While it does have slapstick, the movies have their fair share of drama and other forms of humor

3) It helped tap Dreamworks's more (untouched for years) serious side

Fair enough, but the Kung Fu Panda franchise is actually dedicated to a serious cohesive story and has compelling characters. Though the thing with those movies is that it has quick cutting and snark, hammering wisecracks, but it's equally balanced with substance and depth.

I mean, I like the Shrek (yes, even the "terrible" third one) and Madagascar movies.

I never understood the fuzz about the third Shrek movie. I thought it was quite fun, enjoyable and a worthy entry to the Shrek franchise. The fourth movie was bloody awful.

I've never seen the Magadascar sequels, but the problem is that DreamWorks never truly makes a bad movie. The problem is that their movies (with pop culture reference routines) are mostly generic and forgettable.

[ce1ticmoon]

I haven't seen every single DreamWorks movie that comes out, but I think the whole "pop culture reference" thing is overstated. Yes, following the success of Shrek, that aspect became a huge thing, that became somewhat of a trend for them. But people act like those are still a big part of their films. I've seen most of their films in the past 6-7 years, but none of them have had any significant pop cultural references to speak of (if at all). Even Shrek Forever After toned that aspect way down, which is interesting to note considering the franchise had relied so heavily on them until that point. To me, it just seems like the easy jab to try to make at them.

To be sure, DreamWorks still has problems to work through in order to make compelling films, but I really don't think "pop culture references" is one of them. Marketing is marketing, and in the end, it has no bearing on the film itself (though I'm still not particularly confident about Trolls at all). We know that Disney has essentially done the same thing with their marketing in the past, and this isn't the first time the creative team at DreamWorks was disappointed with what the marketing team did with the trailer. (A major plot point was revealed in the HTTYD2 trailers, which the creative team was very much against revealing.)

I agree with the point that DreamWorks' films are more diverse in style and design than Pixar and Disney Animation, and I do think that is a quite significant point to note. And their visuals have been absolutely stunning the last couple of years. I haven't seen KFP3 yet, but even just looking at the trailers, those visuals are truly magnificent.

[Kyle]

Without going into a more caricatured design, there really aren't that many expressions in the first place, I'm sure most characters have made that expression at one point or another.

You won't try to believe there are infinite expressions? You believe in God but can't believe people can make infinite expressions? My word.

Its extremely rare that I see an expression I've never seen before. If I do its because its really out there. There's nothing unique about the vast majority of them.

[disneyprincess11]

We got our first lyrics!

From the Rock:

What's the lesson, what's the take away.. don't mess with Maui when he's on a breakaway.." #KillinIt #Disney #MOANA

[DisneyEra]

We got our first lyrics!

From the Rock:

What's the lesson, what's the take away.. don't mess with Maui when he's on a breakaway.." #KillinIt #Disney #MOANA

I heard about that. Moana could be the first WDAS musical with Rapping

[disneyprincess11]

While having LMM as the lyricist, there is no surprise that there WILL be rapping in Moana!

http://comicbook.com/2016/02/01/the-roc ... nes-photo/

[DisneyFan09]

Really? Rapping in a Disney film??

I'm speechless.