DVDizzy Forum

Q: Chris, what exactly happened at Disney and how did that experience shape the projects you took on at DreamWorks?

Chris Sanders: You know…It’s a very common thing in Hollywood. Because I had the opposite experience at DreamWorks (and I’ll explain that in one second)… I was working on a movie there called “American Dog” and it had the normal amount of problems, I think, that those movies have. And we were working out those problems. I take fifty percent of the responsibility for that thing. But at the same time I think it wasn't exactly Pixar’s cup of tea – that sort of story. So they didn't want to go forward with that particular version of the movie. And as you know they made their version of the movie and the one that they made was the one that they were much more comfortable with.

I think that was when I realized that I wasn't necessarily going to be able to make the type of movies that I wanted to make there, which is why I decided to move on. So interestingly I came to DreamWorks and suddenly I was on the other side of the coin. I came over to work on “The Croods” but I was asked to take over the directing and writing responsibilities on “How to Train Your Dragon” because they were changing directions on that. I left a project they wanted to change directions with and came over to DreamWorks to work on a project where they wanted to change directions. I must say, I love DreamWorks. I like their openness to different directions. One of the things we've found at DreamWorks that’s a strength is that they don’t really have a “house style” per se, and if you've seen a lot of DreamWorks movies, you've seen that they’re very different from one another. And that’s really neat. Because if you’re working on an existing project or are pitching a new project, you have a great deal of latitude to set the course.

They have proven to be very, very good to you once they've decided that, yes, we’re going to go in that direction and actually keeping you on course. That happened on “How to Train Your Dragon” a few times where [DreamWorks Animation head] Jeffrey [Katzenberg] caught us being a little bit timid and he would point that out to us.

Q: Chris, since you've had experience in the Disney system, there are consistent accusations that the culture within the company has gotten more corporate and bottom line. Counter to that, how do you think the company has improved in the modern era to keep producing consistently interesting animation?

Chris Sanders: Well, when I started in Saturday morning animation, that was directly driven by product. I never had that feeling at Disney, where the product was even a consideration. It’s the same at Dreamworks. It’s really deep in the process when you finally get, ‘wow, I hope they make a toy of this.’ It was all was story driven at Disney, which was nice.

I did get to a point at Disney when I felt it was doubtful that I’d be able to write and direct the kind of animated films that I like. That was what prompted me to go to DreamWorks. It was ‘American Dog’ that I split on, and I take fully half of the responsibility for that. Sensibility-wise, it wasn't really Disney’s cup of tea, and that’s when I felt I couldn't carry on with the same voice that I like.

enigmawing wrote:I'm kind of surprised he referred to it as not being Pixar's cup of tea.

Sotiris wrote:

enigmawing wrote:I'm kind of surprised he referred to it as not being Pixar's cup of tea.

Well, didn't Pixar take over WDAS?

Pokeholic_Prince wrote:A lot of what he says is kind of very true. While, I love Disney and Pixar, they do tend to have a style that they don't like to divert from. One thing about Dreamworks is that they take more risks whether it be with idea, visual style, or just giving someone new a chance.

SWillie! wrote:Yeah, I've found that many people within the industry seem to still refer to Lasseter and Catmull as "Pixar" even when discussing their involvement with WDAS.

magicalwands wrote:Lately I've been loving Dreamworks films more because of their variety of film composers. The most recent ones being Silvestri's Crood score and Desplat's Rise of the Guardians. Being a huge fan of musical scores, their variety of composers is an advantage to Pixar always using Giacchino. (Note: I am a huge Giacchino fan!)

Semaj wrote:While there was nothing really wrong with Bolt, the film was kinda generic. Nothing truly memorable about it. Whatever flavor it did have was probably sucked out along with the rest of American Dog.

Disney's Divinity wrote:That's why I laugh when people say either Tangled or Wreck-It Ralph are "creative." It's too bad Dreamworks films are so hit-and-miss with me, because they do seem like the best company.

Semaj wrote:What Disney failed to remember about Lilo & Stitch was that film was so cool, in part because it was so different from what people came to expect in Disney films. The simple fact that it's still Disney's last major triumph in hand-drawn animation proves this. It seemed like that would've given Chris Sanders some leverage on his next project.

While there was nothing really wrong with Bolt, the film was kinda generic. Nothing truly memorable about it. Whatever flavor it did have was probably sucked out along with the rest of American Dog.

All that aside, I do feel that DreamWorks has matured enough from their Shrek phase ("HURR HURR, LOOKIT HOW ANTI-DISNEY WE ARE! HURR HURR HURR!!!1!!!11") that they deserve a fair chance.

milojthatch wrote:

Disney's Divinity wrote:That's why I laugh when people say either Tangled or Wreck-It Ralph are "creative." It's too bad Dreamworks films are so hit-and-miss with me, because they do seem like the best company.

Isn't that why DreamWorks films are hit or miss, because they are so much more experimental and free? You don't know if something will work till you try it!

Sotiris wrote:

Q: Chris, since you've had experience in the Disney system, there are consistent accusations that the culture within the company has gotten more corporate and bottom line. Counter to that, how do you think the company has improved in the modern era to keep producing consistently interesting animation?

Chris Sanders: Well, when I started in Saturday morning animation, that was directly driven by product. I never had that feeling at Disney, where the product was even a consideration. It’s the same at Dreamworks. It’s really deep in the process when you finally get, ‘wow, I hope they make a toy of this.’ It was all was story driven at Disney, which was nice.

I did get to a point at Disney when I felt it was doubtful that I’d be able to write and direct the kind of animated films that I like. That was what prompted me to go to DreamWorks. It was ‘American Dog’ that I split on, and I take fully half of the responsibility for that. Sensibility-wise, it wasn't really Disney’s cup of tea, and that’s when I felt I couldn't carry on with the same voice that I like.

Source: http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/news/21 ... the-croods