http://www.fusedfilm.com/2008/08/kung-fu-panda-2-and-madagascar-3-in-talks/ Hollywood, By the Fans For the Fans Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:14:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.fusedfilm.com/2008/08/kung-fu-panda-2-and-madagascar-3-in-talks/comment-page-1/#comment-513 movie buff Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:11:26 +0000 http://fusedfilm.com/?p=782#comment-513 The first Kung Fu Panda was certainly lucrative enough to inspire a sequel, even if the second makes half as much as the first that wouldn't be too bad The first Kung Fu Panda was certainly lucrative enough to inspire a sequel, even if the second makes half as much as the first that wouldn’t be too bad

]]> http://www.fusedfilm.com/2008/08/kung-fu-panda-2-and-madagascar-3-in-talks/comment-page-1/#comment-511 Space Coyote Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:23:27 +0000 http://fusedfilm.com/?p=782#comment-511 When I went to see 'Wall-E', I was assaulted by a loud hoarde of trailers for animated movies featuring unfunny singing chihuahuas, unfunny singing African animals, and mad scientists. All of these movies looked remarkably milktoasty, playing to the kids while pandering to adults. Having just seen Michael Arias' fantastic animated film 'Tekkonkinkreet' (which was made in Japan), I immediately became depressed, mainly because American animation lacks a unique, visionary voice in the mainstream. Granted, animation that comes out of foreign lands isn't always incredible, but most of the interesting animated features I see aren't made in America. There are plenty of guys on the fringe like Lewis Klahr doing interesting stuff, but they make avant-garde shorts, not feature films. I know a lot of people feel that Pixar makes great animated films, and they do, but it's mostly the scripts and the directing that make Pixar films fantastic, the animation itself isn't unique. Every studio that isn't Pixar makes animated films with talking animals that are good for kids but are horrible about trying to bring Mom and Dad in with pop culture references. The thing is, these lifeless, talking animal opuses make money. I could have a free pass to 'Madagascar 2' and I still wouldn't go see it, it looks like mindless entertainment for children that won't bother to engage them. I hear 'Kung Fu Panda' is alright, and I'm sure it's worth seeing (I have the Hans Zimmmer score and it's pretty good), but it's sad to me that we don't see a lot of risks taken in American animation, this story is proof that they're going to stick to safe, boring ground. When I went to see ‘Wall-E’, I was assaulted by a loud hoarde of trailers for animated movies featuring unfunny singing chihuahuas, unfunny singing African animals, and mad scientists. All of these movies looked remarkably milktoasty, playing to the kids while pandering to adults. Having just seen Michael Arias’ fantastic animated film ‘Tekkonkinkreet’ (which was made in Japan), I immediately became depressed, mainly because American animation lacks a unique, visionary voice in the mainstream. Granted, animation that comes out of foreign lands isn’t always incredible, but most of the interesting animated features I see aren’t made in America. There are plenty of guys on the fringe like Lewis Klahr doing interesting stuff, but they make avant-garde shorts, not feature films. I know a lot of people feel that Pixar makes great animated films, and they do, but it’s mostly the scripts and the directing that make Pixar films fantastic, the animation itself isn’t unique. Every studio that isn’t Pixar makes animated films with talking animals that are good for kids but are horrible about trying to bring Mom and Dad in with pop culture references. The thing is, these lifeless, talking animal opuses make money. I could have a free pass to ‘Madagascar 2′ and I still wouldn’t go see it, it looks like mindless entertainment for children that won’t bother to engage them. I hear ‘Kung Fu Panda’ is alright, and I’m sure it’s worth seeing (I have the Hans Zimmmer score and it’s pretty good), but it’s sad to me that we don’t see a lot of risks taken in American animation, this story is proof that they’re going to stick to safe, boring ground.

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