If rules tend to have exceptions that prove them, it’s
possible to suggest an axiom for CG-animated features with theatrical releases
in North America. At the end of 2014, the data sample of approximately 100 such
films provides a reasonable basis for hypothesis.
One might ask, why the focus on North America? Plenty of
animation studios exist in many countries around the world. But there’s a
component of prestige or desirability that comes with North American theatrical
releases, a consideration often apparent in films produced outside of Hollywood
and its satellite territories. Most CG-animated features produced emulate well-known
features that the Big Movie 6 (Disney, Fox, Paramount, Universal, Sony, and
Warner Bros.) have released in North America. Even so, many smaller feature
animation projects become video releases for American consumption unless they
are picked up by a major distributor, with no attendant guarantee of
profitability.
Of the features that have been released in North America,
it’s possible to differentiate between the work of major and minor animation
studios. No blockbuster financial success stories stand out among the minor
studios’ work, with one modest exception. A flurry of features made by minor
studios reached theaters in 2008 and 2009; except for Fox’s 2014 release of The
Book of Life, the last year in which any of the Big Movie 6 released a minor
project was 2011.
The delineations of major/minor projects distributed by each
of the Big Movie 6 are as follows:
Warner Bros. (with Village Roadshow) distributes the work of
established directors who partner with Animal Logic, a major animation studio
given the quality and success of its work. Recently this process has fallen
under a revived Warner Animation Group as the production company. WB also has
distributed the work of smaller animation studios, such as The Ant Bully (DNA
Productions, now defunct) and TMNT (Imagi Studios, now practically defunct).
Sony’s primary output of major CG-animated features stems
from its own Animation unit as the production company, with its Imageworks unit
as the animation studio. Sony also released minor project Planet 51 (from Ilion
Animation Studios in Spain) through TriStar.
Universal releases major projects through Illumination
Entertainment as the production company, with animation provided by the portion
of France’s Mac Guff studio that Universal owns. As a minor release, Universal
also has The Tale of Despereaux (animation by London’s Framestore) in its
history.
Paramount’s major releases so far mostly center on the
output of DreamWorks Animation, with upcoming projects to be released by its
new in-house animation unit. Minor releases like Barnyard (Omation) and Jimmy
Neutron: Boy Genius (DNA Productions) have come out of Paramount via production
company Nickelodeon Movies. It’s worth noting that Nickelodeon’s Rango
qualifies as a major release given its budget (reported at $135 million) and
its animation by ILM, a major animation/effects unit by any reckoning.
Fox distributes the output of Blue Sky Studios and
DreamWorks Animation, both major animation studios. Minor studios’ work
distributed by Fox includes Everyone’s Hero and Space Chimps, animated by
current studio Arc Productions in its earlier incarnations as IDT and Starz;
and the aforementioned The Book of Life, animated by Reel FX.
Disney’s all-in-house approach mostly results in major
releases from Pixar and WDAS—and arguably DisneyToon Studios can be counted as
“major” too (outsourced to Prana Studios, the TinkerBell and Planes features
are of good technical quality, and the box-office returns of the Planes
features have been at least as high as those of some other major releases). As
minor releases, Disney distributed Valiant (animated at Ealing Studios with
Vanguard Animation as the production company), The Wild (animated by C.O.R.E.
Productions), and Gnomeo & Juliet (animated by Arc Productions, distributed
through Touchstone).
Given the above definitions/examples of “major” and “minor”
animation studios, the following axioms emerge:
A CG-animated feature completed by a major animation studio
will generate at least $140 million in worldwide box-office receipts.
A CG-animated feature completed by a minor animation studio
will generate no more than $120 million in worldwide box-office receipts.
The exception: Gnomeo & Juliet, which generated $194 million
worldwide. Budget information on the film is reported at $36 million. It’s
likely that tax-credit considerations distort the real-world budget figures,
but it’s safe to state that Gnomeo & Juliet was a minor, modestly budgeted
project that achieved greater financial success than some major-league
offerings. Many smaller players have tried to achieve a similar goal of success
under constraint; only Gnomeo and Juliet has done so.
An interesting anomaly that could be construed to disrupt
the axioms’ veracity is Happy Feet Two. Rather than Animal Logic, who animated
the original film, new unit Dr. D Studios was established, presumably as a venture
that could springboard to future success. Unfortunately, the film was not
financially successful, and Dr. D closed. Given that Happy Feet Two’s
production budget was reported at $135 million, and given that it followed an
established successful film, it’s quite a stretch to consider it a “minor”
project, even though Dr. D was by no means a major animation studio with a
fully developed pipeline.
The rest of the minor CG-animated features released to date have
been distributed outside of Big Movie 6 channels. Weinstein, Lionsgate, and
Summit put out a handful of minor features, to no great success in financial or
critical terms. Ten or so one-shots have been released by the likes of MGM, Open
Road, Relativity, and Focus Features, with unspectacular results.
Among the films produced by minor animation studios, the most
financially successful release was Barnyard at $116 million worldwide on a
reported $51 million budget. The only minor release to enjoy both financial and
critical success was Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. Films that were either
profitable or critically successful, but not both, include The Nut Job, TMNT,
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Hoodwinked!
The examples above lead to two conclusions: production of a
small/independent CG-animated feature entails extremely high risk; and distribution
by one of the Big Movie 6 is all but necessary if financial success is a goal.
No doubt there are perils lurking within such partnerships, especially where
notions of profit participation are concerned. Given the potential for costly
class-action lawsuits and corporate leaks to increase Big Movie 6 overhead considerations
after 2014, mega-corporate largesse can hardly be expected to flourish.
Independent CG-animated feature production is not for the meek or the faint of
heart.
It’s worth noting that the most important gauge of success
to the animators and filmmakers who strive to make their CG-animated visions
available to wide audiences could be artistic merit. Aesthetically, some personal
favorites among comparatively minor offerings (and financial non-successes)
include Igor and The Book of Life, with their offbeat character designs; the gloomy
yet whimsical feature 9 by Shane Acker; and the peculiar vigor presented in
Astro Boy. It’s better that these films were made than if they had never graced
a theater screen. It would be no surprise to learn that great satisfaction can
stem merely from seeing on a silver screen the fruits of many thousands of
hours of one’s loving, painstaking labor. So, as daunting as it might be for
the small or independent animator to produce work that wide audiences can
enjoy, here’s hoping that the wells of such creative energy never run dry.
