There doesn’t seem to be a good forum to post this, so I hope it’s OK here. I was just reminded (yet AGAIN) while talking to a friend that most people – unless they are animation fans – DO NOT KNOW the difference between a Pixar film and one of the dozens of others out there. Yet again (I keep saying this because it happens ALL THE TIME) someone mentioned how much better Ratatouille was than their last film – about the dancing penguins (another person said how Ratatouille was much better than their last film – Madagascar). These aren’t stupid people either… they’re simply your average Joe and Jane American who don’t care to cover the business or fan end of animation. I had yet another friend say the same thing (this time, saying “well, their last film Meet the Robinsons was pretty good too…” – and he works at the local cinema!)
Is this the Pixar “curse” because they made the first successful film of the current 3D/CGI genre (“Toy Story”)? It seems no matter how much Pixar tries to brand itself, people think EVERY 3D animated film is made by the same company (and most can’t even say who that is). The Pixar name doesn’t stick much outside of fans, I’m afraid (though for that matter, neither did Disney in this case, as Madagascar was DreamWorks!) It seems a large amount of people (I’d be willing to wager the vast majority of movie-goers) don’t know who made the 3D animated movie they’re talking about, and tend to think they all come from “Disney” as well (including the spouse of someone I know who works for Warner Bros). I’ll be willing to bet you that more people know that Fox produced the “Die Hard” franchise than could tell you who made “Happy Feet”, “Madagascar” or even “Ratatouille.”
I don’t know if there’s much to be said about this or not. I’m just venting.
miafka- Then again, I’ve talked to people who have no real interest in CGI films, yet on some occassions they know exactly who Pixar are and what they’ve created. I think it really just depends on the individual- a lot of people don’t realise that Pixar have made certain CGI films but not others, but then there’s still plenty of people that do know about it. I mean, I’ve seen all the Die Hard films but I had no idea that Fox was behind them!
Honestly, I think it just depends. It can be very annoying when people refer to Happy Feet as being a Pixar film, or even worse, Shrek as being a Pixar film! Or when they say that Dreamworks created Toy Story. But I guess we just can’t expect everyone to take an interest in these things, especially since in these cases, the films in question are aimed at children, most of which don’t notice that kind of thing themselves.
Yeah, well there’s always going to be those people who think that all animation is for kids…and from Disney. Yikes! Disney rarely does animation anymore. Well, everyone’s stupid.
I hear this a lot with my friends, mostly, but I won’t blame them… I mean, before I really got into Pixar, I used to think the same exact thing. I guess it’s just a matter of how much attention you pay to the credits and such, or how much you know about the different companies.
Think of it this way: it’s like a blind taste test! Because they are glib, their opinions aren’t colored by sheeplike devotion to any one particular studio, so they’re unbiased!
But yeah, Dreamworks and Pixar aren’t the same thing guys.
Dreamworks and Pixar are both really good CGI animation studios. I like movies by both…although I AM partial to Pixar (they’re this much better). There is a difference in styles if you pay attention, but I’m willing to bet the average person doesn’t. And…what can you expect from people who don’t even know basic geography or common knowledge stuff???
