Posted: Sat May 03, 2003 5:20 am
The problem with Katzenberg's films is that after Beauty and the Beast became nominated for 'Best Picture' he became obsessed with making a - for want of a better word - "worthy" animated film, one which could, just possibly win best picture.
Look at the Disney films after BatB (allowing for long developement times) - Pocahontas, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan or his films with Dreamworks - Prince of Egypt and Spirit.
Now, I don't want to critisise all these films - some are mighty fine films (Hunchback! - Hunchback!) and not all of them turned out as originally intended (Hercules and Mulan) but the reasons for selecting and making these films in the first place originate from the fact that Katzenberg was after "Best Picture".
Originally Pocahontas was to have more humour - she was to be given a comedy sidekick Turkey for example who was to spend the film avoiding being caught and eated by the British. However Katzenberg hated the idea and the character was cut. I don't know if this was the right or wrong decision - much as I find to enjoy in Pocahontas - such as it's art and music, I do feel the film lacks the humour needed to increase it's appeal. Pocahontas probably suffered most from Katzenberg's desire for a "worthy" animated film, as it was the first since Beauty and the Beast's nomination where he could influence the film from almost the beginning of its production.
Hunchback originally was going to end with the death of Esmeralda and the Gargoyles were strictly going to be shown as being figments of Quasimodo's imagination (as indeed they are in a few passages of the original novel). However Disney got cold feet and the concept was changed. It's a decision I regret, Hunchback is such a wonderful film as it is due to it being the most "adult" of all Disney animated movies (check out the "Hellfire" sequence) I can only imagine how great it would have been had Disney decided to go the whole distance when creating the film.
Hercules was to be more straight forward adventure, but after doubts were raised regarding the suitability of Hunchback for a family audience, Hercules was deemed to violent and reworked to add more humour and less conflict. Katzenberg's vision of Mulan originally was a straight retelling of the story with no dragon, just the cricket. (Incidently I'm amazed the content of Mulan wasn't cut down when Hercules' was - after all Mulan virtually commits genocide in one scene in the film!)
Of course it's hard to say how any of the films I've discussed above would turn out without Katzenberg. Most of them evolved from his original vision anyway during development, so who can say if his influence was positive or negative (I suspect it was both). Regardless each of the films range from fantastic to average (sorry, Pocahontas fans, but that's only my opinion).
I have to say that overall I think Katzenberg was an asset to Disney animation, but he does seem to have lost his touch at Dreamworks. It just goes to show that Disney animation is the best in the business and a group effort. A strong guiding hand is nothing, unless everyone on the team constantly does the best work.
Look at the Disney films after BatB (allowing for long developement times) - Pocahontas, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan or his films with Dreamworks - Prince of Egypt and Spirit.
Now, I don't want to critisise all these films - some are mighty fine films (Hunchback! - Hunchback!) and not all of them turned out as originally intended (Hercules and Mulan) but the reasons for selecting and making these films in the first place originate from the fact that Katzenberg was after "Best Picture".
Originally Pocahontas was to have more humour - she was to be given a comedy sidekick Turkey for example who was to spend the film avoiding being caught and eated by the British. However Katzenberg hated the idea and the character was cut. I don't know if this was the right or wrong decision - much as I find to enjoy in Pocahontas - such as it's art and music, I do feel the film lacks the humour needed to increase it's appeal. Pocahontas probably suffered most from Katzenberg's desire for a "worthy" animated film, as it was the first since Beauty and the Beast's nomination where he could influence the film from almost the beginning of its production.
Hunchback originally was going to end with the death of Esmeralda and the Gargoyles were strictly going to be shown as being figments of Quasimodo's imagination (as indeed they are in a few passages of the original novel). However Disney got cold feet and the concept was changed. It's a decision I regret, Hunchback is such a wonderful film as it is due to it being the most "adult" of all Disney animated movies (check out the "Hellfire" sequence) I can only imagine how great it would have been had Disney decided to go the whole distance when creating the film.
Hercules was to be more straight forward adventure, but after doubts were raised regarding the suitability of Hunchback for a family audience, Hercules was deemed to violent and reworked to add more humour and less conflict. Katzenberg's vision of Mulan originally was a straight retelling of the story with no dragon, just the cricket. (Incidently I'm amazed the content of Mulan wasn't cut down when Hercules' was - after all Mulan virtually commits genocide in one scene in the film!)
Of course it's hard to say how any of the films I've discussed above would turn out without Katzenberg. Most of them evolved from his original vision anyway during development, so who can say if his influence was positive or negative (I suspect it was both). Regardless each of the films range from fantastic to average (sorry, Pocahontas fans, but that's only my opinion).
I have to say that overall I think Katzenberg was an asset to Disney animation, but he does seem to have lost his touch at Dreamworks. It just goes to show that Disney animation is the best in the business and a group effort. A strong guiding hand is nothing, unless everyone on the team constantly does the best work.
... there's a lot of news on it... I'm sure you've been bound to have heard of it...
I thought you didn't like Cat 
.