Look at this article guys.
It is called the 12 Days of Animation Industry. This article gives
us the information on how to make a good animated film like "Wallace & Gromit, The Incredibles, and
Finding Nemo". Most of these rules, you should distinguish, because Pixar used these guidelines in their
animation.
9. Enough with the talking animals.
I agree.
Enough with the talking animals already. And yet, here I am drawing my animal characters as I type this.
The thing is, when that’s all they give us, we’re gonna get tired of it fast. Throw in some humans
every now and then! The Incredibles, The Iron Giant,
and Monster House are some of my favorite animated movies, and if you don’t count
Squeaker, the deer, and the poor devoured doggie, there were no animal characters.
[b]11. Star
voices have little to do with it.[/b]
I remember a good friend and professor of mine talking
about voice actors in class one time. He compared Will Smith as Oscar from [i]Shark
Tale[/i] with Craig T. Nelson as Mr. Incredible from The Incredibles, and
he made a good point. When you hear Oscar speak, you can’t help but think about Will Smith. When you listen to
Mr. Incredible speak, you’re focused more on the character Mr. Incredible because Craig’s voice isn’t that
obvious.
Pixar follows this rule for the most part when casting. You can’t always abide by it
completely. Cheech Marin is one example of an obvious voice used by Pixar. But the majority of voice actors
selected for their characters are just great actors with perfect performances and voices to
match.
~~=oP
I too am getting tired of the
talking animals routine. Give it a rest already!!! Maybe sometime bring it back, but it’s getting tired
now.
Nice find, TSS! Those rules do pretty much all apply very well, and Pixar follows them (hence
why no Pixar film was used as a bad example.) I believe that the final rule is very, very true too- if a film
isn’t advertised well, then it won’t do well, full stop.
Interesting read. A
bit too harsh, I might add (it was Madagascar the ripped off The Wild), but true nonetheless.
And also
consider this. At the Academy Award, The Incredibles was going up against Shrek 2 and Shark Tale. Both films had
much more popular actors/actresses, yet, the Incredibles took it over. I mean, How many people out there would
recognize Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, and Spencer Fox more than Will Smith, Angelina Jolie,
Cameron Diaz, and Robert Di nero? Not a lot I am assuming.
Please try to minimize your
quotes, TSS.
[b]7. It’s the story,
stupid.[/b]
I agree that story is king, but it doesn’t always have to come first in
development. I have a great idea of my own in the works, but the characters came first. The story hit me as I
was sketching them. I take what I like and start off with that.
~~=oP
I feel you PV, I mean what would a good story do without
attractive or likeable characters? 
They did throw some blows at Cars though. 
That’s
true, and I’ve seen character-driven films that work very well. However you NEED to really perfect characters
when working with that kind of thing - One of the problems with most animated films nowadays is that they seem to
put too much effort into the characters, making sure they are Happy-Meal friendly and stuff so that they overlook
a good story. Y’know? 
BTW, what’s the idea? 
If I may temporarily go off-topic…Heheh. I’m still
working out the kinks, but the basic plot is this:
A bunch of animal mutations are put on display at a
zoo. The unwanted attention from the spectators makes them wish they were normal. Eventually, they escape and
attempt to mingle with other animals but become ostracized because of their abnormal appearance and behavior.
I’m trying to think of something they can do to win their hearts, but, that’s where I am.
Here’s a
drawing of the main character if you’re interested. You might know who he is,
Meg:
[url=http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/47415641/]Calico Zee
(Cal)[/url]
I came up with Cal because neither one of my cats is normal. 
Now, I am well aware
that this breaks the animals rule (even though there will be humans), but not all of my ideas involve animal
characters.
~~=oP
There’s no laws against having a story about talking animals… 
If you have a strong sotry that happens to
star animals, go for it. If your story stars animals just for the sake of staring animals (like most animated
movies nowadays), then you’re in trouble. 
Hey, nice find, [b]The Star
Swordsman[/b]. Very nice find, indeed. I quite enjoyed reading that, as pretty much of that (100% or
less, in my opinion) was true to the core. It just goes to show how important stories, characters, and marketing
are when it comes to creating successful films.
My favorite part:
[b]Let the artists
be artists.[/b]
Amen and hallelujah. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this one. Too
many times out of a hundred, the executives get their fingers into the cake and add their own ingredients,
ultimately messing the whole recipe up. Just let the artists do their job, for pete’s sake! Of course, this
probably won’t happen anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean things won’t ever change…
In any case,
thanks for the article, The Star Swordsman!
PixarVixen - You should make a movie/short out of that idea of yours.
It’s very cute and creative.
Or maybe a TV show or comic! It sounds like
it would do well in those mediums too.
Off Topic - Although there was evidence that The Wild
was in production first, it has been proven that Madagascar had spent 20 years in
development, first as a 2D feature. Trust me. I know my information. And it’s not the first time that a Pixar
movie and a DreamWorks Animation movie have been released so close together. If you recall, DreamWorks had
released Antz a few weeks before A Bug’s Life. And the
same thing applies to Shark Tale and Finding Nemo, and
even Ratatouille because DreamWorks released [i]Flushed
Away[/i]. Just want to make a point.
Sorry this is off topic.
Well Mr. “I know my information” let me point
out that neither was a Pixar film
And yes - I know my stuff here too - I’ve had the good privledge of
talking with Mr. Steve “Spaz” Williams (director of The Wild) and am convinced that The Wild was up
first but because it was out second it was under-advertised and thus failed.
Yea -
The Wild was techically in production for ten years, I think, and started out as a 2-D project called "Wild
Life" years back.
Dash - Oh geez! LOL! How did
that happen! Sorry about that,